GOVERNMENT HOUSEBUILDING PLANS MUST RETAIN BROWNFIELD FIRST APPROACH

19 April 2006

As Parliament returns this week, countryside campaigners CPRE [1] are calling on MPs and peers around the country to back their housing campaign [2]. The group is asking MPs to show their support by signing an Early Day Motion which calls for a brownfield first – greenfield last approach to new housing development [3].

The Government’s proposed new planning policy on housing (PPS3) [4] would give market forces a much stronger role with demand for housing met where possible within the same ‘market area’ where it arises. CPRE is campaigning for changes to strengthen the final policy, expected this summer.

Kate Gordon, CPRE’s planning officer, said:

‘In the last four years we’ve seen major progress in regenerating our towns and cities. This proposed new policy risks undermining all that. Unless it is changed, it will damage the prospects for urban renewal and lead to increased greenfield sprawl – yet do little to tackle the need for more affordable housing.

‘The Government has said it remains committed to a brownfield first approach. CPRE welcomes that. But its proposed new policy would make it harder to achieve in practice. Councils won’t have the powers they need to make sure brownfield sites take priority over development on greenfields. This is potentially bad news both for the countryside and urban areas.

‘We urgently need new homes, but it is vital that they are affordable, well designed and environmentally sustainable. We’re calling on the Government to strengthen its policy before publishing the final version this summer.’

‘It makes no sense to develop in the countryside and at the same time fail to tackle problems of urban decline and decay. We need to make much better use of the thousands of empty homes and swathes of derelict land and underused buildings that exist within our towns and cities.

As well as a clear ‘brownfield first’ approach, CPRE is calling for:

· robust assessments of an area’s environmental capacity to take new development before deciding how many homes should be built and where;

· stronger planning powers to secure better design and layout of new development;

· a strengthened Code for Sustainable Homes [5] which ensures all new housing incorporates principles of sustainable design and construction; and

· more resources for and powers to secure affordable housing in urban and rural areas.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Sir Max Hastings. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen.

2. A briefing Planning for sustainable development - or letting the market rip? has been sent to all MPs with an English constituency and a selection of Peers. If you would like a copy, please contact CPRE’s press office on 020 7981 2880.

3. Early Day Motion 1770 Brownfield first approach for new housing, was tabled in the House of Commons 8 March, by David Drew MP. The full text reads:

‘That this House welcomes the progress made on recycling brownfield land and increasing the supply of housing with house building reaching its highest level for 16 years and 72 per cent. of homes now built on brownfield sites; notes the positive role played by planning policy in housing provision, especially the sequential brownfield first approach in PPG3; and, in the light of this achievement, is concerned and perplexed by the emphasis the Government's draft planning policy on housing places on meeting market demand where it arises, rather than where capacity for development exists; notes the lack of a clear sequential approach which ensures urban brownfield development takes priority over greenfield development; and further notes the lack of measures and resources to secure more affordable housing and encourage urban regeneration; and calls on the Government to retain a strong emphasis on the sequential brownfield first approach when it publishes its new planning policy on housing later this year.’

4. Consultation closed on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s draft Planning Policy Statement 3 — Housing (PPS3) on 27 February. The final version is expected this summer. A copy of CPRE’s response to the consultation can be obtained from the press office or downloaded from CPRE’s website.

5. The ODPM published a consultation paper on Proposals for Introducing a Code for Sustainable Homes at the same time as draft PPS3.

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