West Midlands set to be the new South East
The government is putting pressure on the West Midlands for a greenfield housing bonanza. It could make the controversy over house building as intense and heated as it is in South East England, according to the countryside campaigners Campaign to Protect Rural England.
CPRE warns that a huge increase in house building in the countryside around Birmingham threatens to sabotage urban regeneration, encourage more people to move out of urban areas, consume Green Belt land and destroy open green landscapes.
The latest Government predictions of housing requirements could see 50% more land than currently planned being allocated for house building across the West Midlands over the next 25 years, with the figures more than doubling in some areas.
That would be incompatible with the region's present emphasis on brownfield development and urban regeneration and the West Midlands Regional Assembly has been consulting West Midlands councils about the implications.
Some councils – for example Shropshire and Herefordshire – have told the Regional Assembly that they could not meet the higher figures without great damage to the countryside and market towns.
And some urban authorities are warning that they have limited building land, and that developers would abandon house building on derelict or under-used sites that need remediation if they were given cheap green field alternatives.
But some other councils in the region want to go along with the government. Worcestershire County Council is contemplating expansions of Worcester and Redditch into the countryside and Coventry and Warwickshire seem willing to sacrifice large areas of Green Belt to let cities and towns expand outwards.
Towns such as Burton-on-Trent, Hereford, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Telford and Worcester – all already targeted for development – would also be in the firing line. Some might even double in size over twenty years. Others such as Lichfield and Warwick / Leamington which have been growing fast in recent years would have to keep on growing to fulfil the higher numbers, risking serious damage to their environmental quality.
CPRE says the government's new household projections are of limited relevance to the West Midlands because they assume a continuation of past trends and policies, whereas the current West Midlands planning strategy aims to take the region in a new and more sustainable direction.
The Government's fundamental premise, that building more houses will reduce prices, is misguided say CPRE who are not convinced that the house building industry would build at the much higher rate and believe developers could end up cherry picking the most profitable greenfield sites.
The government is putting pressure on the West Midlands for a greenfield housing bonanza. It could make the controversy over house building as intense and heated as it is in South East England, according to the countryside campaigners Campaign to Protect Rural England.
CPRE warns that a huge increase in house building in the countryside around Birmingham threatens to sabotage urban regeneration, encourage more people to move out of urban areas, consume Green Belt land and destroy open green landscapes.
The latest Government predictions of housing requirements could see 50% more land than currently planned being allocated for house building across the West Midlands over the next 25 years, with the figures more than doubling in some areas.
That would be incompatible with the region's present emphasis on brownfield development and urban regeneration and the West Midlands Regional Assembly has been consulting West Midlands councils about the implications.
Some councils – for example Shropshire and Herefordshire – have told the Regional Assembly that they could not meet the higher figures without great damage to the countryside and market towns.
And some urban authorities are warning that they have limited building land, and that developers would abandon house building on derelict or under-used sites that need remediation if they were given cheap green field alternatives.
But some other councils in the region want to go along with the government. Worcestershire County Council is contemplating expansions of Worcester and Redditch into the countryside and Coventry and Warwickshire seem willing to sacrifice large areas of Green Belt to let cities and towns expand outwards.
Towns such as Burton-on-Trent, Hereford, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Telford and Worcester – all already targeted for development – would also be in the firing line. Some might even double in size over twenty years. Others such as Lichfield and Warwick / Leamington which have been growing fast in recent years would have to keep on growing to fulfil the higher numbers, risking serious damage to their environmental quality.
CPRE says the government's new household projections are of limited relevance to the West Midlands because they assume a continuation of past trends and policies, whereas the current West Midlands planning strategy aims to take the region in a new and more sustainable direction.
The Government's fundamental premise, that building more houses will reduce prices, is misguided say CPRE who are not convinced that the house building industry would build at the much higher rate and believe developers could end up cherry picking the most profitable greenfield sites.
posted by tony at 5:05 PM
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