EAST OF ENGLAND PLAN
Download Mike's letter to Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Click here to download (.doc)
Mike Penning calls for House of Commons debate about East of England Plan
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mike Penning called on Leader of the House, Jack Straw, for a debate about the proposals to build thousands of houses in the green belt at Hemel Hempstead.
Mike asked:
"...may we have an urgent debate about how the East of England Development Agency can propose thousands of new homes in my constituency when my council has no right to oppose such development? As we do not have enough water for our existing houses, how can more houses be imposed on us?"
After the debate, Mike added:
“It is outrageous that unelected quangos and Regional Assemblies have more power than local, democratically-elected Councils in these matters.”
“In almost every area – health, education, planning - we have seen centralisation on a massive scale leaving local authorities with little power and local people badly served by Government.”
“These quangos are spending huge amounts of taxpayers money with no accountability to any elected body.”
“It was clear from the debate yesterday, that many Labour members – including it would appear the Leader of the House – have similar concerns”.
“I will take this matter forward and apply to have an Adjournment or a Westminster Hall debate on the subject.”
Click here for text of debate
MP condemns East of England Plan
Mike Penning has condemned the Minister’s statement that specifically mentions Hemel as an area from expansion and proposes massive changes to the green belt in Hertfordshire.
Mike Penning has condemned the Ministerial statement presented to the House of Commons on Tuesday by The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Meg Munn.
Hemel Hempstead was specifically mentioned by the Minister as a place of ‘additional growth locations close to London’.
Mike Penning said,
“The Government must understand that Hemel cannot take more houses without the proper infrastructure being in place first. That means roads, schools, sewerage, water, power and, of course, a hospital… It is nonsense that one Government department can close our hospital at the same time as another department is identifying the town for additional growth!
“We are also under threat from new homes being approved by St Albans District – technically within their boundary but actually on the outskirts of Leverstock Green – this would enable them to meet their quotas but would actually be put pressure on the infrastructure in Hemel”.
The Minister’s statement called for the review of the greenbelt in Hertfordshire – especially around Harlow, Welwyn Hatfield and St Albans. The green belt in Hertfordshire is a vital buffer between us and London. It also acts as an incentive to ensure our planners make proper use of brownfield sites within our towns.
The Minister said that where development takes place within the green belt, there would be “Compensatory Green Belt Extensions”.
“This is clearly just a technicality as you cannot just create green open space from nowhere! These extensions may not be designated green belt, but clearly they are already open space,” he added.
Mike Penning said:
“It is time for local people to be in charge of local planning. We need decentralisation of our planning system away from remote unelected bodies such as the East of England Regional Assembly”.
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