news story

8th October 2008

Local Green Belt "Up For Grabs"

Steve Webb with local protestors outside Downing Street

Local MP Steve Webb has expressed dismay at the Government’s “disgraceful” refusal to guarantee protection of the green belt around South Gloucestershire from the development of 32,800 new houses.

The MP secured a 90 minute debate in Westminster, which was attended by MPs of all parties from across the South West, and called on the Communities Minister to impose limits that meant developers had to build on brown field sites before being allowed to apply to build on green belt land.

In a passionate speech, Mr Webb made clear that the local council had already decided that the local area could cope with a certain number of new houses, but the Government proposals imposed half as many again. This would cause a real problem for local infrastructure as hospitals were already full to capacity, local roads were already gridlocked and the commuter trains between Yate and Bristol, even if expanded, could only carry a few hundred of the thousands of extra commuters.

The MP also raised concerns about the difficulty of responding online to the Government’s consultation, due to the complexity of the website and failures in the technology allowing people to submit their comments.

Mr Webb was supported in the debate by MPs from across the South West region, all of whom agreed that the proposed housing levels in their areas were unacceptable.

In response, Iain Wright MP, the Minister for Communities, refused to give any commitments about the protection of the green belt and explained that it was necessary to build thousands of houses to support the future population. He said that a sequential test for building on brown field sites first would be “rigid and old-fashioned”, and what was needed was flexibility.

The public gallery was packed with local residents who had hired a coach to come up to Westminster and listen to the debate. Afterwards, they walked to Downing Street with Steve Webb and neighbouring Kingswood MP Roger Berry to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister, protesting against the housing proposals.

Speaking to the BBC outside Downing Street, Steve Webb said:

“Every MP who was at the debate was shocked by what the Minister said. He said that the green belt was fair game.

“We cannot tell developers to go to the brown field and developed areas first. They can go to the prime sites on day one. It was a disgrace.”
 

Click here to read the debate in full

Click here to watch the debate (available for 28 days)- starts at 01:30:57