‘GOVE’S BUILD ON BROWNFIELD PLEA WON’T MEAN MORE HOMES IN CITY’
Councillor says it’s not local authority planners delaying developments but the Government’s own agencies
GOVERNMENT plans to force councils to allow more homes on brownfield land will not address the issue in Stoke-on-trent, a senior councillor has said.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove announced that Stokeon-trent and 19 other towns and cities in England would have to follow a ‘brownfield presumption’ if housebuilding dropped below target – in theory making it easier to gain planning permission on brownfield sites.
But Dan Jellyman, right, chairman of the planning committee at Stoke-on-trent City Council and leader of the Conservative group, says that local authority planners are not preventing brownfield development in the Potteries, with other factors, such as the prohibitive cost of remediating ex-industrial land, more to blame.
He thinks that the government should be looking to address these other barriers instead of simply blaming local councils.
Mr Jellyman said: “There are two main factors. Firstly, there’s the cost of remediating former industrial land, removing all the chemicals and things associated with industries like ceramics and mining. In Stoke-on-trent, those costs are much higher than the developer would be able to make back through selling the houses.
“If you look at where brownfield development has happened in Stoke-on-trent in recent years, it’s often been on land where the government has provided money for the remediation work.
“The other main issue is when the government’s own agencies stand in the way of development. The new homes on the Victoria Ground were held up for years because of the Environment Agency’s concerns over flooding – even though this was land where there had already been development in the past.
“There have also been objections to other schemes from agencies like Highways England and the Forestry Commission. These objections are nothing to do with the council – they’re national government agencies.
It’s easy for Michael Gove to point the finger at councils, but he should be tackling the government’s own agencies.”
Under the government proposals, if an ‘urban uplift’ area such as Stoke-on-trent fails to hit 95 per cent on its housing delivery test (HDT), there would be a presumption in favour of all sustainable development on brownfield sites.
At the moment, there is a presumption in favour of all development if an area slips below 75 per cent on its HDT.
Latest figures show that in the three years up to 2022, a total of 1,854 homes were built in Stokeon-trent, compared to a target of 1,289, giving the city an HDT score of 144 per cent.
The government claims that the brownfield presumption could potentially result in 11,500 more homes per year in London, although it is unclear what impact they would have elsewhere. A consultation on the proposals runs until March 26.
Mr Gove said: “Our new brownfield presumption will tackle under delivery in our key towns and cities – where new homes are most needed to support jobs and drive growth.”