The Green Belt

When John Prescott said a few years ago that the green belt was a Labour achievement and they meant to build on it, everyone knew it was an amusing slip of the tongue.

But now it appears that some people in the Labour party are taking that idea very seriously. This quote appeared in an article in politico:

We DO need more houses in this country - and the Conservative manifesto also promises to build more - but this approach really isn't the best way to achieve that objective.

• Approving every planning application in sight is a recipe for sending hundreds more cars down already congested and unsafe roads, building on flood plains and leaving nowhere for water to go but into people's homes.
• It isn't even the most effective way to get more affordable homes - because developers do not need  to comply with requirements in a local plan to include a share of affordable homes in all large developments if they know you will approve every application they put in anyway.

The new houses we build have to be where people want and need them - and that isn't usually in the Green Belt.