Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers has urged the Prime Minister to abolish excessive housing targets that are damaging suburban areas, such as Barnet.
For many years, Theresa has been campaigning against suburban overdevelopment driven by housing targets.
During Prime Minister’s Question Time today, the former Environment Secretary asked Rishi Sunak: “Excessive housing targets are placing greater and greater pressure on councils to approve development that damages our environment.
“When the Prime Minister came to Finchley over the summer, he said that he wanted to abolish those targets. Will he use the report stage of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to bring forward Government amendments to do that?"
In reply, the PM said: “The Government are committed to making home ownership a reality for a new generation, and we must build homes in the right places, where people want to live and work, but, as my right honourable Friend knows, and as I have said, I want those decisions to be taken locally, with greater say for local communities rather than distant bureaucrats. The Secretary of State [for Communities and Local Government] is happy to meet her to discuss how best to make that a reality.”
Speaking afterwards Theresa added: ““I hope to meet with Secretary of State, Michael Gove, to urge him to get rid of these targets that bear no relation to what an area can cope with, and which are undermining local control over planning decisions".
“What I said to the PM in Parliament echoed points I made at Hendon Town Hall this morning to the Planning Inspector who is considering the new draft Barnet Local Development Plan.”
The MP has previously said Barnet’s Local Plan that earmarks sites for 46,000 homes over the next 15 years could “urbanise the suburbs” and do serious damage to the local environment and to the quality of life of residents.
