Labour ‘will have to build on greenfield’ to hit 1.5m house target, planning chief says

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will change the system to help meet the goal of building 1.5 million more homes over the course of the Parliament.

It said: “The planning system must be an enabler of growth – enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built.”

It will also mean landowners forced to sell up to make way for new developments will be paid a “fair but not excessive” price where important infrastructure or social housing is being built.

Labour has said it will prioritise brownfield sites, land with buildings on, or so-called “grey belt” land, which it says is ugly green belt areas of wasteland or abandoned car parks.

But North Yorkshire Council’s Cabinet member for planning, Coin Mark Crane, said hitting the targets would be impossible without building on greenfield sites.

“Targets are always difficult, we had them under the Conservatives and a number of councils failed to hit them,” he told the Yorkshire Post.

“They became a bit of a blunt weapon, which is why the Conservatives eventually removed them.

“There are simply not enough brownfield sites in North Yorkshire.

“The so-called grey belt sites, there will be some, and I would support the government in its wish to build on those.

“There simply will not be enough of them and we will have to build on greenfield to get to the housing numbers they are talking about.”

The government will force every council and local authority to come up with a local plan, in consultation with residents, to decide where houses should be built in their area.

If developments on land marked for housing are blocked by locals, the government may decide to force it through.

It said it would take similar action around big infrastructure projects.

Coun Mark Crane added: “I think some of the things they want to do are laudable and they want to support.

“If you remove a number of the planning constraints what you will find is local residents will be very upset about that.

“Whenever there is a planning application for a significant number of houses, local people are upset.”

Magnus Gallie, senior planner at Friends of the Earth, said the new government should be wary about “unlocking the system too much”.

“Labour must ensure that in 'taking the brakes off', it does not undermine the legitimate concerns of local communities and other stakeholders, which would invariably lead to more legal challenges and delays,” he said.

“Addressing the housing shortage, and building vital new infrastructure, need not be in opposition to protecting the environment – we can do both with a robust and workable planning system.

"Friends of the Earth supports true planning reform, which gives councils much needed resources and powers to plan positively for a range of developments, without adding further red tape to an already complex system.

“This must work alongside ensuring communities are involved in local decision-making, while key protected nature sites and habitats are duly respected."

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was one of 15 pieces of legislation slated under the broad heading of “economic stability and growth”, the key focus of the Sir Keir’s administration’s first session.

These included establishing a state-owned energy production firm, Great British Energy, a new package of workers’ rights and a £7.3 billion national wealth fund.

And the Fabian Society heaped praise on the new Prime Minister’s agenda.

Andrew Harrop, general secretary, said: “This King’s Speech shows Labour is prepared to take on vested interests for the public good.

"With sweeping reforms to employment law, housing and planning, and a greatly expanded role for the public sector in transport and energy this is an administration that knows the power of government to improve people’s lives.

"The package of laws will change Britain decisively and irreversibly including comprehensive devolution in English, the end of hereditary peers and controls on tobacco and junk food to improve the nation’s health.

"If this is what Labour can do in just one year of law-making, over the whole parliament the party will transform the country."