Support for the metro mayor’s decision over housing strategy

WITH the leaders of the four local unitary authorities, Metro Mayor Dan Norris has been developing a strategic plan for his area that will set priorities for building new homes, particularly affordable homes.

On Friday, he issued a statement saying that he has temporarily halted work on the plan because the unitary authorities can’t agree on its content and he intends to complete the plan working directly with the Government.

I am relieved that the metro mayor is standing his ground in the face of the continuing stubborn resistance of four unitary authority leaders to agree on strategic matters that affect everyone who lives in and everyone who works in their areas.

That inability to work together has a long history. It led to the abolition of the County of Avon and the inspector’s rejection of the Joint Spatial Plan (JSP), to name just two of its consequences.

Completing the Plan with politicians who can’t agree what is good for their residents would only lead to yet more time wasting on another inconsistent plan that would be likely to go the same way as the JSP.

Can I ask Post readers to write to WECA, as I have done, to express support for Dan Norris’s determination to produce the plan for the benefit of residents despite the inability of the four unitary authorities to even compromise.

In whatever format WECA’s Strategic Plan moves forward there needs to be public consultation as with any other strategic or local plan and the public consultation(s) and the consultation needs to cover the current WECA area and North Somerset, where I live.

All four of the unitaries have made climate emergency declarations. These declarations imply carbon emission reductions. Within the likely period of the plan and in the longer term, the main influence that the strategic plan is likely to have on carbon emissions is through its effect on commuting.

Consequently, if the plan is to support the councils’ climate change emergency declarations the plan should aim to reduce carbon emissions by driving down commuting distances.

The transition to electric cars will initially need continued use of existing fossil fuel power stations so, roughly speaking, this transition will, initially, just transfer emissions from the cars to the power stations. The ongoing energy price increases will lead commuters to review their commuting costs, the main driver for which is the distance between home and work.

Consequently, the demand for homes that have no employment close by will fall, making them attractive to those who can afford higher commuting costs i.e. higher carbon emissions.

Dave Gray Bristol