Andrew Griffith MP, the re-elected Arundel and South Downs MP who has always focussed on planning during his time as MP, has commented on the new government’s plans for housebuilding targets and the impact this will have on villages and towns in the local rural areas.
Rachel Reeves, the Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced that she will bring back compulsory top-down housebuilding targets forcing councils to build 1.5 million homes over the next 5 years, including in green belt areas, by bulldozing through current planning rules.
Their plans run contrary to the bottom-up housing delivery through neighbourhood and local plans. Andrew Griffith MP had called for greater protections of these which were included in the last revision of the National Planning Policy Framework announced in December 2023.
The new government are also expected to establish an independent taskforce to identity the sites for several new towns. One of the first battles Andrew Griffith fought after being first elected in 2019 was to stand up for residents to see off the proposed Mayfield Market Towns 10,000 houses – a new town on the edge of Henfield.
Commenting on the Chancellor’s speech, Andrew Griffith MP said:
“Rural communities and nature will pay the price for Labour’s “command and control” approach to planning.
The truth is that it was always Labour run urban councils who failed to build their fair share and missed their targets whilst developers use top down targets as a weapon to override democratic local decision making.
Today’s change will not of itself build one extra home in London with its abundant facilities and infrastructure. But it will certainly jeopardise green fields and communities across West Sussex.”