9:50am Tuesday 12th May 2009
By Richard Vernalls
THE shadow housing minister has repeated an election promise to scrap current plans to build thousands of houses.
Grant Shapps said the Tories would do away with proposals for 24,500 houses across south Worcestershire but cautioned councils against relying on any Government to support any new infrastructure following the election.
Mr Shapps was visiting Lower Broadheath, near Worcester, to talk to parish and district councillors about the Conservative’s promise to give councils responsibility for housing developments on Monday.
He criticised the “centralisation” of the planning system under the regional spatial strategy (RSS), which has seen district councils drawing up plans for thousands of homes to meet Government growth targets.
Mr Shapps said: “We will scrap the RSS and go back to the district level. At the moment, local authrorities have been told how many houses they need, but instead we would ask them how many they need.
“We think that’s the way to get houses built.”
He repeated plans to grant incentives to councils who build homes including returning all council tax receipts to local authorities who agree developments.
Councillors would also get powers to lower business rates to encourage start-ups and employers.
He unveiled proposals for Local Homes Trusts which would allow villages like Lower Broadheath to buy plots of land on which to build affordable houses solely for use by people from the village.
Although the Conservatives want new housing, Mr Shapps cast doubt on the accuracy of the latest Government numbers suggesting there will be another 26,000 households between now and 2026 in south Worcestershire, 3,000 more than previously thought.
But he suggested with the country’s finances in a bad state and councils unable to rely on planning windfall cash from developers, councils may struggle to fund infrastructure such as schools and roads. Mr Shapps said: “I wouldn’t say that local authorities are on their own but I don’t want to raise expectations. If we get rid of these quangos like the regional development agencies that will free up some money.”
An examination in public of the regional spatial strategy is currently running in Wolverhampton.
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