Government is ‘leaning on councils’ to build houses Clegg’s claim snubbed by senior councillors

aclaridge@thekmgroup.co.uk targets have been scrapped, the coalition government leans on councils to build homes through cash incentives which are vital to their financial health.

Mr Clegg’s remarks came as he tried to persuade fellow Lib Dems in Maidstone that the government had “relaxed central control over planning” which results in “communities having a much greater say”.

Earlier this year, Canterbury City Council published its draft Local Plan which proposes the building of 15,600 new homes across the district in the years leading up to 2031.

A system called the New Homes Bonus means the council would benefit to the tune of £400,000 a year for house-building schemes.

Cllr Peter Lee, the Tory-controlled city council’s executive member for finance, said: “They have switched the emphasis so that if councils don’t give planning permission or build homes, they will not receive money they used to receive in the form of a grant.

“The government would simply give it to other councils which do build homes.

“At a time like this when money is extremely tight – we have already lost 40% of our grants from central government in the last five or six years – it’s a huge incentive to build homes so you can get money to provide services.”

Among the major proposals in the Local Plan are 4,000 homes in south Canterbury, 1,000 homes in Sturry and Broad Oak and 800 homes in Hersden.

Another 3,200 are planned for Whit- stable and Herne Bay.

Council leader Cllr John Gilbey said: “We didn’t want to build so many new homes, but we have to.

“The government is being quite clever because it’s not giving councils a target, but is forcing them economically into building homes.”

And Cllr Alex Perkins, the Lib Dem group leader, did not seek to defend his party leader, saying: “The council can decide where to build houses and how many there should be.

“But for Nick Clegg to claim that there is autonomy is total nonsense.

“There are two ways they are pressuring them.

Untrue

“If you produce a Local Plan which does not have enough housing, the government will reject it.

“Then there is the New Homes Bonus which says that if you want the money, you must build more homes.

“It’s completely untrue to say there’s local self-determination for councils.

“But I’m not going to lie for Nick Clegg.

“He has already got a tough job trying to prevent a bunch of right-wing lunatics from wrecking the country.”

Canterbury City Council is currently consulting on the draft Local Plan.

Go to www.canterbury.gov.uk/planning/planning-policy/local-plan/ for more information.

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