LOCAL authorities have been warned by the government they should not evade their responsibilities when it comes to housebuilding.
“They must do everything to identify other land suitable for development,” Michael Gove said when it came to eschewing builds on the green belt.
Speaking at RIBA just before Christmas, he renewed calls for local authorities to have a five-year plan in place to ensure a “strong pipeline of future homes”.
Local authorities that fail to meet demand will be made to produce an action plan if it falls below 95% of the need, with more stringent action promised if a council falls below 75% of its target.
League tables will be produced showing how local authorities respond to planning requests, the level of their approvals, and their delivery against targets.
“In the two years to September, only 9% of local authorities determined 70% or more of non-major applications within eight weeks,” Mr Gove said.
“On major applications, it is even worse: strip out the Extension of Time Agreements and only 1% of local authorities managed to get through at least 60% of planning applications within the statutory 13-week period.”
Mr Gove said a new National Planning Policy Framework, which sets the number of houses a local authority needs to build based on population growth and affordability criteria, was to be tweaked to ensure it would take into account local situations better.
“Local authorities that have sought to vary the number to take account of the need to protect the Green Belt or other areas of environmental, heritage or aesthetic importance have found the Planning Inspectorate invincibly attached to the number first thought of, with only very few exceptions,” Mr Gove said.
“Local authorities have the comfort of knowing that they need not re-draw the green belt or sacrifice protected landscapes to meet housing numbers.”
Cllr Lindsay Ferris, Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for the local plan, said the details of Mr Gove’s announcement are being studied and will be fed into the changes needed for the next draft local plan.
“We have been lobbying for a number of changes, especially those relating to whether over-provision of homes can be taken into account from one local plan into another and also issues relating to five-year-land supply,” he said.
“At present, we cannot see anything specific on these two topics in the new NPPF issued, but we have also seen accompanying documentation to the NPPF which covers both these, and other areas.
“We are still in the process of understanding the full consequences of these points, and as is usual the devil is in the detail.”
Discussions with council officers are ongoing and will be picked up in the new year.
“This is a very complex subject, and it is one that needs a lot of understanding to ensure our Borough gets the best opportunities from the changes.”
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, leader of Wokingham Conservatives on the council took a different view.
“Michael Gove’s announcements are a reminder that Wokingham’s Liberal Democrat administration is placing our Borough at risk of speculative development by failing to get on with a new Local Plan. We will also face Government intervention, like West Berkshire, if the Lib Dems don’t meet their obligation to plan for new homes,” she said.
“Having made promises to reduce the numbers of houses to be built before they were elected, the Lib Dems have dithered and delayed.
“The Housing Secretary said that housing numbers are advisory and that protecting the Green Belt along with other environmental and heritage concerns can be considered.”
She said if the party regained control of the council in May, it would set out a case for housing levels that would meet the borough’s needs.
“The Conservative Group is committed to ensuring housing numbers are sustainable for our area, while protecting the semi-rural character of our Borough,” Cllr Jorgensen said.
“The Government recognises the need for infrastructure and services to be delivered ahead of new housing. The Government is also putting in place greater protection for green fields and putting the focus on brownfield development, which would be the policy of a Conservative Council in Wokingham Borough.
“If the Labour Party wins the next General Election, they have promised to roll back protections on Green Belt and impose more houses on areas like Wokingham. The Liberal Democrats have wasted time and risked green spaces across the Borough.
“A Conservative administration will deliver a Local Plan with the right homes, in the right places and the infrastructure they need – ensuring new homes for young people, while protecting our green spaces.”
Cllr Andy Croy, leader of Wokingham Labour, said Mr Gove’s speech was “a bizarre statement”.
“The Conservatives promised 300,000 new homes per year in their last manifesto and have never come anywhere close to meeting this target and will never meet the target.
“They will never meet the target as they only see local authorities as the authority rather than a key part of delivering new homes. Britain has only built enough new homes when local councils are empowered to build new homes.
“There is no hope in this statement for local people who cannot afford to rent or buy.”
He continued: “Councils are already at risk of losing planning powers. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 Act gives the government gives this power to the government, indeed, West Berkshire Council has been threatened with government intervention.
“Crucially, the Housing Delivery Test rulebook does not seem to have been updated which means the Borough will continue to be unable to take into account historic over-delivery against housing targets which has been a key part of local deliberation on the plan.”
He concluded: “Instead of the government setting a target, Wokingham Borough Council will now have to calculate its own target.
“This is buck-passing of the highest order from a government that is out of ideas and – increasingly – out of time.”
