Less than a week after suspending Home Information Packs and indicating that council tax will be frozen next year, the new Government has written to all local councils indicating that it will shortly legislate to abolish regional plans, including the unpopular central housing targets.
This is of particularly good news to Councils int he South East, which had faced the prospect of being forced to reduce the size of the Green Belt in order to accommodate the extra houses required under the South East Plan.
Cllr Julian Ellacott, ward member for Redhill West, said:
“In Reigate & Banstead we had been told by the previous Government to find room for an extra 10,000 houses before 2026, which would have meant either cramming too many houses into already built up areas or building on the Green Belt – neither of which was particularly acceptable to local residents.
“The Conservatives promised to abolish these centrally driven targets and give councils the responsibility to decide on their own housing levels – it is good to see that this promise has been acted upon so quickly. The Council knows that it needs to build some houses to accommodate the increasing population; under the new policy we can decide on the right level of development rather than meet an artificial target set in Whitehall.”
The text of the letter setting out the interim position (prior to full abolition, which requires legislation), can be found at the following link: 05-27-SofStoCouncilLeaders-AbolitionofRegionalStrategies
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