Opposition Day Debate on Planning

House of Commons

21st June 2006

Hansard, Volume 447, No 170

Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex) (Con): I agree with the points made by my hon. Friend, but does she accept that none of those developments are sustainable without proper investment in infrastructure? Whether we are talking about an inner-city area or East Grinstead in my constituency, where 2,500 houses will be built on the Government’s whim without any additional investment in infrastructure, how will such development improve people’s quality of life?

Mrs. Spelman, (Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government: My hon. Friend gave me advance notice of his intervention, and as he rightly suggests, the Government have applied the word, “sustainable”, to communities that are not in the true sense sustainable.

Column 1390-91

Mr. Soames: I agree with the Secretary of State’s comments about hard choices-they are, indeed, hard choices. Will she make the hard choices that her Government have failed to make about infrastructure in areas where the Government impose onerous building targets without providing one extra penny of infrastructure spending? Will she make those difficult decisions and enable us to deliver the homes in a sustainable climate?

Ruth Kelly, (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government): If the hon. Gentleman knows of local authority areas where there is a genuine demand for new homes, but they want investment from the Government to support the necessary infrastructure, he should invite those local authorities to approach the Government and bid to be a new growth point. Yesterday, I announced the conclusion of the bidding round for new growth points. Many local authorities expressed an interest, but 22 had worked out detailed bids. They were keen for new houses to be built, and included the Tory-led council of the hon. Member for Meriden, which proposed new developments. In total, the proposals represent 80,000 new homes by 2016 on top of what is already planned. [Interruption.] I am delighted that the hon. Lady says from a sedentary position that she supports that increase in housing supply.

column 1399 – 1400