New
Whitehall planning rules on housing fail to tackle ‘garden
grabbing’
Gosport’s gardens still face threat
of bulldozer and concrete mixer New Whitehall planning
rules on housing fail to tackle ‘garden grabbing’.
Local
MP, Peter Viggers, expressed disappointment this week at
the publication by the Government of new planning rules
on housing – on grounds they fail to stop ‘garden
grabbing’ and the over-development of local neighbourhoods.
In
2000, John Prescott introduced new national planning regulations
for housing – which are forcing all new
developments to cram in at least 12 new dwellings per acre
(30 per hectare). The flawed rules also classed gardens
as ‘brownfield’ land (like old industrial land),
meaning blocks of flats are increasingly being dumped on
gardens. Government minister, Ruth Kelly, has now published
revised guidelines – but has kept in place the definition
of gardens as brownfield land and has maintained the minimum
density targets.
The
Government has admitted there is now a glut of flats in
the housing market and a shortage of family homes. Yet
Conservatives are arguing that the cause of this imbalance
lies firmly with these Whitehall planning rules.
Peter
said. “It has become increasingly difficult
for families on modest incomes in Gosport to buy a home
suitable for children to grow up. But house prices don’t
change in isolation from government policy. Labour’s
national planning rules, laid down on high from Whitehall,
are creating a surplus of pokey flats and a shortage of
family homes with gardens across the country.
“The
new rules still fail to protect gardens from over-development
and are continuing to impose arbitrary density targets
on our local neighbourhoods. Gosport’s gardens still
face the threat of the bulldozer and concrete mixer. Instead,
we should allow local communities real freedom to protect
the environment and decide what’s best suited for
their neighbourhood.” |
