Andrew Griffith, the Member of Parliament for Arundel & South Downs, has welcomed news that the Government will be changing the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill to make clear that centrally-dictated targets are "advisory" instead of mandatory.
The new rules will mean that town halls will be allowed to build fewer homes if they can show that hitting the targets would significantly change the character of an area.
They also include a crackdown on developers keeping land unused even when it has been granted planning permission and a government review on making it easier to build on brownfield land.
Andrew Griffith MP said:
“This is the news that West Sussex has long waited for.
Giving local communities the power to tackle the blight of overdevelopment is a positive step forward.
Since very first being elected I have always made clear my opposition to top-down housing targets leading to unsustainable development on green field sites.
This new flexibility in our planning reforms will help protect our precious environment and countryside whilst prioritising brownfield land developments.”
