Controversial homes targets scrapped after MP’s campaign
West Sussex has been spared a massive increase in housebuilding after a dramatic change of heart by the Government.
A high-profile campaign in Parliament which Arundel & South Downs MP Andrew Griffith helped orchestrate has been successful in preventing a change to a controversial algorithm that would have significantly increased housebuilding across West Sussex.
Well-placed sources confirmed last Wednesday that the Government had dropped changes to the existing housing numbers formula and instead there will be a greater focus on building new homes in the UK’s largest urban areas.
The huge increase in development that the algorithm would have necessitated in West Sussex had already sparked major concerns amongst residents and councils.
Mr Griffith said: “I am pleased that we have seen off this threat and to have spoken out passionately in Parliament for the residents of West Sussex.
“We faced a disproportionate amount of housing development had these plans gone ahead.
“Residents understand that we need new homes but numbers should reflect local need and be located where the infrastructure already exists or on brownfield sites not our precious green spaces.”
Having raised the issue in his very first speech in Parliament a year ago, Mr Griffith has been at the heart of a campaign against over-development ever since.
On September 7, he was the first to coin the phrase ‘mutant algorithm’ during a debate where he flagged up the impact of housing numbers on West Sussex.
He went on to organise a group of almost 80 backbench Conservative MPs in holding top level meetings with ministers and special advisers to make clear their opposition to the plans.
In November, Chichester Harbour Trust raised serious concerns about future development in the district, saying the Government’s ‘one size fits all’ proposal was taking the wrong approach.
The trust sent a robust response to the white paper expressing fear the proposals would bring about ‘irreversible decline to the fabric of our communities, landscape and biodiversity, primarily through the delivery of the artificiallyhigh housing targets specified by the Standard Method algorithm’.
Following the news, John Nelson, chairman of the Chichester Harbour Trust, said: “This is very good news for Chichester and the Harbour AONB.
“It is the result of a huge amount of effort from a number of MPs, community and environmental bodies and the overwhelming support of the public. However, the Chichester Local Plan needs to be put on hold now and revised to reflect the new government planning priorities. If it isn’t, the permanent damage to the harbour, the community and the Chichester district will have been done before the new policies become effective.”
Louise Goldsmith, speaking as chairman of the SOSCA (Save Our South Coast Alliance), said: “Andrew Griffith’s strong intervention reflecting the concerns of so many of his constituents and as well as of many outside was very much welcomed, and it is good to see that the issues he raised so determinedly have been heard and acted on by the Government.
“However, in Chichester we still need to know how many houses will be designated in the district in the light of this announcement. We continue to believe that any top down approach of central government setting housing numbers should stop and be devolved.
“Chichester is special – with only 30 per cent of land available for development, and inadequate sewage and road infrastructure, housing numbers must reflect the challenges of the area.
“Hopefully, there will be more good news when more detail is announced, but for now we applaud the work of MP Andrew Griffith.”