MP hits out at Green Belt ‘mixed messages’
HALTON’S MP gave an in-depth case in Parliament for keeping as much of the borough’s Green Belt land free of developments as possible.
Derek Twigg spoke in the House Of Commons focusing on his constituency and how the Government ‘keep sending mixed messages’ over priorities in Local Plans and house building.
Mr Twigg told the House Of Commons that he and many of his constituents disagree with the first draft of the borough’s blueprints, which is open to public consultation until Thursday, February 15.
The MP said that Halton Borough Council has told him the Government’s current rulebook – the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) – has made it ‘impossible’ to meet requirements without going into the Green Belt.
The council said last week the plan envisages 10,700 new homes being built in the borough.
Mr Twigg spoke of the borough’s history with the chemical industry and the legacy of contaminated land which it left in Runcorn and Widnes.
Despite admitting Halton Borough Council has done a ‘good job’ with dealing with this since its formation in 1974, Mr Twigg warned the Government must recognise the local authority’s lack of funds for remediation and the impact this could have on the future of the area’s Green Belt.
He said: “If the Government are serious about their commitment to protecting the Green Belt and delivering sustainable growth, they need to provide funding for infrastructure – which they do not.
“They have a fund, but I have not seen anything coming through in any significant numbers in Halton – for land assembly and for remediation.
“Halton was really where the chemicals industry was born.
“It was a huge area for that industry, which provided many jobs.
“That was important, but the industry left a huge legacy of contaminated land in Halton.
“Few local authorities will have to deal with the scale of pollution that Halton Borough Council has faced.
“It has done a good job since 1974 in dealing with that legacy and ensuring that a lot of that land has come back into some use, but the council does not have the funds to remediate the contaminated land that is left and the Government must recognise that in their future guidance.
“If things continue to follow the same path, we will have little Green Belt left for future generations to enjoy in my constituency.”
Mr Twigg said the only land left in Halton – apart from brownfields sites allocated for housing or employment, as well as 60 hectares that is ‘too contami- ● nated’ to be used for either – is green space and Green Belt.
He asked if the Government could offer funding to the borough to decontaminate the land, rather than ‘force us’ to use Green Belt.
Mr Twigg also appealed for a meeting with housing minister Dominic Raab to discuss Halton’s ‘specific challenges’ and called on him to answer the ‘defining factor’ for the borough and the ‘strongest weight’ to give to a particular argument.
He said: “He (Mr Raab) and his department, in the guidance, have consistently given out mixed messages about what should be taken into consideration, but they do not make it clear what should be given the greatest weight.
“Should it be what is important to the local community and what they want, or is it the guidance that the Government have sent out for the inspectors to deal with?
“We do not want inspectors coming to Halton and saying that, because the council has not done what they think it should have done, it should go back and reconsider or even that it should have powers taken away from it.
“The minister really needs to address that.”
Mr Twigg added: “Many local authorities have much more Green Belt than Halton.
“Surely there is a balance to be struck for an area such as Halton, which has urban developed land taking up the great majority of space.
“My constituents do not want Green Belt land to be built on.
“We have suffered a massive legacy of pollution and contaminated land.
“Our council has worked hard to deal with that, but we are entitled to enjoy our green space and our Green Belt in Halton as much as anyone anywhere else is.”