MP: We don’t want more houses here

11:20am Saturday 26th April 2008

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By Jack Blanchard »

A WORCESTERSHIRE MP has launched a stinging parliamentary attack on Government plans to build more houses in the county.

Mid-Worcestershire's Tory MP Peter Luff told the House of Commons he was outraged by the Government's "undemocratic" demand that house-building be increased even further than local authorities want over the next 20 years.

Worcester's Labour MP Mike Foster has defended the Government's stance, saying more homes are needed to combat the severe shortage of affordable housing which is now affecting thousands of families in Worcester.

The long-running argument over house-building numbers appeared to have been resolved last year with the publication of the West Midlands Spatial Strategy, an important document outlining how the region will develop over the next two decades.

But just days after the draft strategy was released, the Government told its authors at the West Midlands Regional Assembly that the number of new homes planned - which included 36,600 in Worcestershire - was insufficient, and that it would now be commissioning its own research into how extra house-buuilding could be accommodated.

This week Mr Luff told Parliament that the Government's response was "one of the most undemocratic and unwarranted interventions in local affairs I can recall."

He said: "The Regional Spatial Strategy had been subject to considerable debate and consultation - including with local authorities, businesses and other so-called stakeholders.

"However, the Government have now intervened in the democratic process to impose its own research.

"How a bunch of London-based experts - or so-called experts - with a few months to do the work, can come up with a better answer than the local councils working through the regional assembly, I do not know.

"What message does that send to voters? How can anyone have faith in a consultation process that is being so blatantly and openly manipulated in the Government's favour?"

Mr Foster, however, told your Worcester News more homes were desperately required in Worcester.

"I met with senior officers last week to discuss the situation, and found we have in the region of 3,000 families in Worcester on the housing waiting list," he said.

"We know the average house price in Worcester is around nine times the average salary for a local worker - so for many young families, getting their foot on the housing ladder is impossible. That's why we have to have a commitment for more homes to be built."