Surrey County Conservatives

Surrey Conservatives condemn unsustainable government housing targets (25th November)

Surrey’s Conservative Councillors today condemned government attempts to enforce unsustainable house-building targets on Surrey. Under plans from Hazel Blears’ department various parts of Surrey, especially Guildford and Reigate & Banstead, would be subjected to unrealistic housing targets without any guarantee that the necessary infrastructure would be in place.

David Harmer, Executive Member for the Environment at Surrey County Council, remarked; “If the Secretary of State does impose these proposals the impact upon Surrey would be considerable. They would make planning for infrastructure development impossible because the projected increase in housing could not be predicted with any degree of accuracy. This means that local authorities would be unable to make reasonable long-term plans for the provision of services, including school places and social care provision, and it would also make it difficult, if not impossible, for any planning authority to produce a ‘sound’ Local Development Framework.

The fact of the matter is that the South-East Plan has been so revised by the Secretary of State as to be no longer a plan in the conventional meaning of the term, but rather a ministerial wish-list”.

During the debate at County Hall those present heard critical comments from a number of Members including Lynne Hack and David Davis.

Lynne Hack commented, “the effects of the proposed modifications to the South-East Plan would be unfair, short-sighted and akin to a sustained attack on Surrey’s Green Belt. People living in Surrey do not want to be overwhelmed with new housing developments and they don’t want to see new housing being built without the accompanying schools, medical services or leisure facilities. Under these proposals local authorities would be unable to plan for the future properly, and this would not be good news for people living in Surrey, particularly those living in Reigate & Banstead.

I am also concerned that insufficient account has been taken of water supply. Despite frequent bouts of flooding, the South East receives on average 50% less rainfall than the rest of the UK and since an adequate supply of fresh water is fundamental to our way of life this is a really important issue.

I urge that the Secretary of State to change her mind”.

David Davis argued against proposals that he said would “fundamentally alter the character of Surrey by placing arbitrary targets ahead of sustainable development. If you build a house you put the foundations in first but under these proposals we wouldn’t have the infrastructure needed to support the extra housing. I don’t think that the Secretary of State has thought these proposals through properly and I would hope that she thinks again”.