'Don't turn countryside into massive concrete dormitory'

The Government is today being warned not to turn green fields into "a massive concrete dormitory" in its battle to meet demand for affordable housing.

Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, has backed MPs on the all-party Commons Environmental Audit Committee in calling on Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to ensure that basic infrastructure is in place before building begins.

He said no one was arguing the basic point that there is an urgent need for affordable housing in the UK.

"Of course there is. But what is important, and what the EAC has highlighted is that simply throwing up hundreds of thousands of new houses is not the answer," he said.

"The Alliance has long said that planning on this scale must be rural proofed; the Government must balance development needs with the needs of existing communities.

"What is vital is that planning is sensitive to communities and that new developments are integrated into them.

"What we cannot have is the South East turned into a massive concrete dormitory, separate from older communities.

"With thousands of small shops, Post Offices and pubs facing closure every year, real thought must be given to how those who need affordable housing are going to be served by amenities as well as how they can interact with and contribute to sustainable communities."

The EAC in a report says there has been a "fundamental lack of urgency" by Ministers in their approach to planning for 200,000 new homes per year by 2016 in the south east.

More attention should be paid to the increased risk of drought and water shortages and the extra traffic and strain on services that an expanding population will bring.

Committee chairman Tim Yeo MP said "As a committee, we accept that the need to address the problem of housing affordability will inevitably result in more new homes being built, but we are concerned that consideration of the environmental impacts of these new communities ranks below a significant number of other economic and social factors.

"Indeed houses are already being built, and will continue to be built, without sufficient regard to strong environmental standards.

"Reliance on developers to gradually begin to "do the right thing" on a voluntary basis, we believe, is misplaced and is symptomatic not only of ODPM's reluctance to take on the building sector but also of a fundamental lack of urgency in the Government's approach to ensuring that new housing and new communities are truly sustainable."

Andrew Stunell, Liberal Democrat spokesman on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a sustainable city for the future. We should be pushing back the boundaries of what is possible in terms of microgeneration, energy efficiency and waste.

"Instead the government is doing what it usually does talking big and acting small."

But Dr Phyllis Starkey, Labour MP for Milton Keynes and Chair of the Commons Committee on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, defended the Government.

She said it is vital that the extra housing needed to meet demand is supported with the necessary infrastructure, but "it is a pity," that the EAC seemed "not to have taken account of the available evidence documenting infrastructure investment already allocated by the ODPM, Health, Transport and Education and Skills Departments in areas of housing growth."

Dr Starkey said ministers had repeatedly made it clear that infrastructure would be funded in parallel with housing growth and the current consultation on the Planning Gain Supplement provided an additional mechanism to supplement Government funding.

"In my own constituency, the innovatory "infrastructure tariff" is already creating a guaranteed source of future funding," she said.