A Nottinghamshire council leader says his area "simply cannot sustain" more than 8,000 new houses after two major developments were officially dropped from a local plan. As part of a Government target to build 300,000 new homes every year, local authorities have been drawing up plans to show how they can deliver thousands more properties in their area.
In Ashfield, Government calculations produced a target for 8,226 homes to be delivered over the next 15 years. Major developments were therefore drawn up, including the Whyburn Farm project which would have seen 3,000 homes being built on green belt land in Hucknall.
But Ashfield District Council said that it would scrap the Whyburn Farm development earlier this year after significant local opposition to it. The authority has now officially dropped both Whyburn Farm, along with a 1,000-home development in Sutton, from its local plan.
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Instead, it is moving forward with a local plan which reduces the initially proposed housing supply by nearly 2,000. The plan has to be formally adopted by 2023, and another consultation with the public will take place next year before that happens.
The move was unanimously backed by councillors on Ashfield District Council's cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday (December 13). Speaking at the meeting, Jason Zadrozny, the leader of the authority, said: "What we're saying very strongly to the Government is that Ashfield, which is one of the smallest districts by geography, simply cannot sustain 8,000 plus houses over the next 15 years.
"It was always a tough target to meet and it was always driven by a desktop exercise of the Government rather than looking at the needs of each different district. This Government are determined to foist unprecedented numbers of houses on our precious green spaces. I think by having a robust plan that at least for the next 10 years we can protect that which we hold dear."
Government housing targets have also caused controversy at other Nottinghamshire councils, including in Gedling where its borough council U-turned on plans to build hundreds of homes on green belt land in the village of Stoke Bardolph. The council said it had listened to concerns from residents and called for clarity on the Government's housing strategy.
A House of Commons vote had to be scrapped last month after dozens of Conservative MPs proposed an amendment calling for the mandatory housing target to be scrapped. Housing Secretary Michael Gove now says that the housing target will become "advisory."
He said: "Our planning system is not working as it should. If we are to deliver the new homes this country needs, new development must have the support of local communities.
"That requires people to know it will be beautiful, accompanied by the right infrastructure, approved democratically, that it will enhance the environment and create proper neighbourhoods. These principles have always been key to our reforms and we are now going further by strengthening our commitment to build the right homes in the right places and put local people at the heart of decision-making." The Government has not yet set out further clarity on how it will work with councils on future housing targets going forward.
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