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HOUSING: SOUTH WEST NEXT UNDER THE BULLDOZER? House builders seek 300,000 new greenfield homes
22 November 1999
If the House Builders' Federation (HBF) gets its way, almost 300,000 new homes could be built on greenfield sites in the South West by 2016, according to figures released today by Friends of the Earth.
In its response to draft Regional Planning Guidance for the South West, the HBF has called for a total of 460,000 new homes in the region by 2016, of which only 35% would be on brownfield sites, leaving 65% (a total of 299,000) to be built on greenfield sites [1]. The HBF is a rich and powerful lobby group, with close links to New Labour.
The HBF's proposed total housing level for each county is as follows:
former Avon 79,000 new homes
Cornwall 40,000 new homes
Devon 95,000 new homes
Dorset 69,000 new homesGloucs 55,000 new homes
Somerset 52,000 new homes
Wiltshire 70,000 new homes
Mike Birkin, Friends of the Earth's South West Regional Campaigns Coordinator, said:
“If the House Builders Federation has its way, thousands of acres of greenfields in the South West will be concreted over for housing. The consequences could be enormous: it's not just new houses, but new traffic, congestion and pollution as well.”
Some house builders have suggested an even higher level of housing. One consortium has called for the building of a total of 536,000 new homes, a level 44% higher than that proposed by South West councils, and has rejected any regional target for the use of brownfield land [2]
The figures for the South West will further fuel the public and political debate over future house building, already raging after a proposal by Government planning inspectors that 1.1 million new homes be built in the South East by 2016 [3]
Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth's Housing Campaigner, said:
“These figures show that the threat to green fields from housing isn't confined to the South East. The House Builders Federation seems only to be interested in the profits of its members and won't let the British countryside stand in the way of this selfish objective. If people don't want this sort of future, they should make their views known”.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The House Builders Federation (HBF) calls itself “the voice of the housebuilding industry in England and Wales. The industry itself is highly diverse and the members of HBF range from large, multi-national companies to small, locally-based businesses. Together, they build over 70%of all new homes in England and Wales each year”. (from HBF website). The figure is taken from the HBF's response to the Draft Revised Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) for the South West,which was prepared by the South West Regional Planning Conference (SWRPC), constituted by all the local councils in the south west. Comparative figures for each county are given in the table below.
In the draft Regional Planning Guidance, SWRPC proposed that a total of 373,000 new homes be built in the south west between 1996 and 2016, and that 36% of these should be on previously-developed (brownfield) land and buildings. The public consultation on the draft RPG has just ended, and a public examination, before a panel of Government-appointed planning inspectors,will take place next Spring.
[2] The consortium consists of David Wilson Homes Ltd, Persimmon Homes (Wessex) Ltd, Redrow Homes (South West) Ltd, Robert Hitchins Ltd, Trencherwood Homes Ltd, Trencherwood Developments Ltd, Wilson Bowden Properties Ltd and The Berkeley Group plc. A submission was made on behalf of the consortium by Chapman Warren, planning consultants. .Comparative figures for each county are given in the table below.
[3] The Panel Report of the Public Examination into the SERPLAN draft regional planning guidance for the South East, published last month, recommended that councils in the region outside London should plan for 1,098,500 new homes between 1996 and 2016. SERPLAN had recommended that councils should build between 696,000 and 718,000 new homes between 1996 and 2016.
COMPARATIVE HOUSING PROPOSALS
| Draft RPG(see note 1) | House Builders'Federation (see note 1) | % higher than draft RPG | Chapman Warren (see note 2) | % higher than draft RPG |
| Avon | 69,000 | 79,000 | 14% | 95,000 | 38% |
| Cornwall | 36,000 | 40,000 | 11% | 47,000 | 31% |
| Devon | 85,000 | 95,000 | 12% | 105,000 | 24% |
| Dorset | 52,000 | 69,000 | 33% | 89,000 | 71% |
| Gloucs | 40,000 | 55,000 | 37% | 65,000 | 62% |
| Somerset | 40,000 | 52,000 | 30% | 49,000 | 22% |
| Wiltshire | 51,000 | 70,000 | 37% | 86,000 | 69% |
| SW TOTAL | 373,000 | 460,000 | 23% | 536,000 | 44% |
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jul 2008
