So many of my letters, I'd say probably half my postbag, are complaints about planning applications and 'over development'. Constituents are worried about the way that our townscapes are being wrecked by over intensive and unsympathetic development. They are also worried about flooding and similar environmental problems by continued building in the flood plains. And all this in spite of the fierce opposition of local people and their elected councillors. In my replies to these letters I think it is fair to lay blame at the door of the Government for imposing unrealistic house building targets via their hated and undemocratic regional governments; for constraining the discretion of elected and accountable councillors with quite inappropriate guidance on housing densities imposed from Whitehall; for losing control of immigration; and for operating a crazy policy of demolishing thousands of homes in the north whilst seeking to concrete over the South with no thought for the necessary infrastructure and water resources. I did actually raise the issue of housing density with John Prescott at question time. I said that the problem was his 'one size fits all' policy: what might be quite appropriate for housing density for redeveloping the Paddington basin in London is wholly inappropriate in, say, Fordingbridge. That seemed obvious to me but never the less the Deputy Prime Minister disagreed.
Having said all this there is another side to the coin: so many people stop me to tell me that they worry because there is now so little prospect of their children being able to afford to own a home of their own and certainly none at all in this area.
I still believe that it is desirable to continue extending home ownership and we should always be on the side of young people with that aspiration and ambition. It is becoming more and more difficult: the average home in the UK now costs over £175,000; mortgage costs on an average property for a couple with two young children typically swallows up over a third of their disposable income; and in the last ten years the average deposit put down by a first-time buyer has risen from £5,500 to £24,000 (more than four-fifths of the average first-time buyer’s salary). It is getting to the stage that entry into the property market is being restricted to those who have family wealth to start with, and I think that is very wrong.
I think that there are a number of things that could be done make houses for young people more affordable but ultimately there is no escape from the reality that more houses have to be built in the areas of highest demand. How do we square this with the fierce opposition to further development that I have already described in our town and villages?
Well, I think it is vital that this is done in a way which works with the grain of public opinion instead of riding rough-shod over local feeling when planning new developments.
Communities face additional costs in dealing with new developments, and the additional pressure that is placed on public services such as schools, transport, hospitals, water and sewerage. The Government is not ensuring that new housing is matched with proper resources for local communities to fund the infrastructure they need. Additionally, many local communities have very important concerns about the environmental impact of new development. New houses have not always been of a high aesthetic standard, in keeping with the character of local areas and built with appropriate materials.
I think that the answer is to put local communities in the driving seat, and provide them with the incentives to encourage the right sort of development.
I believe that there are very few hamlets in the country which wouldn’t welcome a few more homes, there’s scarcely a village which wouldn’t welcome 15 or 20, very few towns which wouldn’t welcome a hundred and so on. In order to help local communities embrace this development I want to see the system of local government funding reformed so that areas which welcome development get appropriate additional support. I also want to ensure that proper funding for infrastructure is provided. And we have to ensure that new housing is of an aesthetic and environmental standard that communities will welcome. These decisions can only be properly be taken locally, not centrally. I do believe that if we create the right incentives we can secure the right sort of development which will help meet our housing needs.
I would add that it is the local communities that are best placed to ensure the precious green spaces we need to preserve are protected. This is why I am also so vigorously opposed John Prescott’s drive to build on garden space which the Government now designates as brownfield land.
We must continue to campaign against infill development and garden-grabbing, which supplies flats rather than the family homes for which there is a more pressing need, it is robbing our towns of their green lungs and can alter the character of our communities very much for the worse. Only by giving effective power over planning back to local communities can this all be got right.
The most persistent complaint that now dominates my mailbag is the way that our townscape is being wrecked by high density development as John Prescott's unrealistic housing targets drive forward infill development and garden grabbing. I think people are right to campaign against some of the blocks of flats which are replacing family homes, for which there is still a more pressing need, and which are fundamentally altering the nature of many of our neighbourhoods.
At the same time people complain that there is now no prospect of their children buying their own home in this area and that only the wealthy can get on the housing ladder.
How can we square this circle?
I don't think that we have a village that wouldn't welcome 15 or so new houses or a town that wouldn't welcome a couple of hundred IF ONLY the local community could A) determine the type, location, design and materials for the new housing. And B) be assured that the infrastructure to support the new housing (school places; health service; roads; water and sewerage) would be put in place.
Instead of riding rough-shod over local feeling when planning new developments we must build in a way which works with the grain of public opinion. This can only be done by returning real power over planning to accountable and elected local councils instead of the real decisions being in the hands of Whitehall; developers; and the hated unelected regional quangos.
To put it simply, as with virtually all our problems, the solution is to return power to the people |
