Theresa Villiers appeared this morning on the flagship Sky News politics show. “Sophie Ridge on Sunday” to talk about her amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which has secured the backing of 56 MPs, and led to the Government postponing the vote on this legislation.
The Chipping Barnet MP has long been saying that excessively high housing targets are putting pressure on local councils to give the green light to building plans which amount to overdevelopment, damaging the environment and the quality of life of her constituents. She has raised this many times in Parliament, including at a recent session of Prime Minister’s Questions.
She has campaigned against overdevelopment in and near her constituency at locations such as North London Business Park, Victoria Quarter, High Barnet station, Cockfosters station, Beresford Avenue, Barnet House, and Whalebones.
In the interview with Sophie Ridge, Theresa emphasised that a fresh approach is needed which restores the primacy of local decision-making in planning and which ensures that home building is more evenly distributed around the country.
Speaking after her appearance on Sky, Theresa said “The support which my amendment NC21 has gained shows the depth of concern felt on the backbenches about mandatory top-down housing targets.”
“If we stick with these sky-high targets we risk repeating the mistakes of the 60 and 70s because it will mean more and more high rise blocks of flats, as well as permanent loss of greenfield sites.”
“Of course we need to build new homes but they need to be the right homes in the right places.”
“Future generations will not thank us if the push for new homes does irreparable damage to the natural environment. These targets are based on out-of-date population figures and they seek to impose a disproportionate number of new flats into the crowded south of England. There should be a greater emphasis on delivering new housing as part of regeneration projects in cities in the midlands and the north. We also need to do more to make sure that new homes are accompanied by the infrastructure needed to support them.”
“NC21 is part of a package of amendments which include measures to increase housing supply in a more sustainable way, for example by penalising developers who are given planning permission but fail to build and then come back with new applications for even more flats. The package would also help ensure derelict land is brought back into use for new homes, something I have backed in my constituency.”
The amendments were due to be considered tomorrow (Monday) on the second day of the Report Stage of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. In response to the breadth of support shown for NC21, this debate was postponed by the Government, with no new date yet announced. Over recent days, Communities Secretary, Michael Gove, has publicly stated that he understands the concerns of backbench MPs and wishes to provide reassurance.
Over the past two years, Theresa and her colleagues have had many meetings with Mr Gove and his predecessors at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and they hope to continue this dialogue.
