Strong Local Voice, Strong Local Champion

Westminster Hall Debate: Regional Spatial Strategy (South-West) (22 January 2008)

Annette Brooke (Mid-Dorset and North Poole) (LD): I congratulate the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) on securing this debate. For once, we have a great deal in common, and I shall reiterate some of the important points that he made. I shall be fairly brief because, having had the general introduction, it is appropriate that I refer to specific constituency points.

I begin with a basic point about the report's lack of democratic accountability. Like many other MPs, I asked to attend the examination in public. In fact, I requested that three times. I tried to get beyond the secretariat to the examination in public, but that person seemed to have all the power at their elbow. I could not get beyond them.

What concerns me particularly is that we frequently have statements from the Government that the green belt is safe, that it is Government policy not to encroach on it, but that of course local authorities might make adjustments. So where does an unelected regional body that is proposing massive changes to the green belt, regardless of what local councils and elected representatives might say, come into the equation?

I notice, for example, that the Government office for the south-west indicated that an approved green belt should be altered only in exceptional circumstances. The examination in public panel concluded that the scale of demand and the application of the principles of sustainable locations provide the exceptional circumstances to justify alterations to the green belt in the region. At what point can locally elected representatives challenge that conclusion?

There is a further conclusion that I find unsatisfactory. The strategic authority suggested that greenfield development in my area needs to be phased in to ensure that it does not prejudice the rate of development within the area, particularly the Poole regeneration area. That is a large brownfield site on which people would support the building of 2,000 dwellings, if they could be secured-it is proving to be difficult-a high proportion of which would be affordable housing. Development on that old power station site is supported by all. Surely that should be attended to before this development comes forth, but the panel's view was that no evidence had been provided to demonstrate that there was a need for phasing.

Without phasing, how will our existing infrastructure cope? Any Members who have visited Dorset or attempted to travel through it will be aware that it is beautiful but that there is not even a tiny bit of motorway within it, that it has incredibly poor public transport and that it is difficult to travel westward in general. The county lacks infrastructure, yet the thrust of the report is build, build, build, everything will follow. I do not have confidence in that strategy.

I would like to mention the situation in east Dorset, to which the hon. Member for Christchurch also referred. Corfe Mullen is a large village in my constituency. It was proposed that the authorities working together should undertake a large development in the green belt. An interest group was formed, and it produced a massive petition. The parish council did not just go along with the interest group; as in West Parley, it did a detailed house-to-house survey on the right balance between building and tackling the serious local problem of the lack of affordable local accommodation for our young people. As soon as the results were in-the survey was very well done-they were presented to East Dorset district council. There was hard evidence from local people, and it is absolute nonsense, as the report suggests, to say that East Dorset had a change of political control. That is just one example of the many flaws in the report, and a very obvious one.

I want to refer particularly to the western extension, which is a location around a village called Lytchett Minster. It is true that, originally, the concept of a new town was explored. Natural England objected to that, and, for all sorts of reasons, the whole thing was thrown out. The south-east Dorset joint study area group commissioned a study to consider a reduced scale of development from a transport perspective. The study concluded that substantial highway infrastructure costs would be associated with the development. As a consequence, in evidence to the examination in public, Dorset county council, Purbeck district council, and Lytchett Minster and Upton town council all objected to any development in the area. Lytchett Matravers parish council would have been included, if it had been invited. There was no local support for any development in that green belt and flood plain area.

However, evidence was submitted on behalf of the developer. It is interesting that such evidence could be submitted, whereas I as an MP was told that my viewpoint would not be strategic enough. The person who appeared on behalf of the developer challenged the finding of the study commissioned by our local authorities and said that a development of that scale could be accommodated without the need for additional lanes on the A35. In due course, the examination in public supported an extra 2,750 dwellings.

At the start, Purbeck was asked to provide 2,100 extra dwellings. That has gone up to 5,150, which is an increase of 3,050 and half the increase for the whole of the Bournemouth-Poole conurbation. That is absolutely phenomenal. Purbeck has a wonderful world heritage coastline, it is in an area of outstanding beauty and it has an enormous proportion of heathland. Highly concentrated housing would be quite alien to the nature of the place.

I understand how the statistics might look from the outside. Purbeck has one of the highest ratios of house prices to earnings. Well, perhaps one should just build houses to bring house prices down. That may be the view from outside, but if one also considers the proportion of second homes, one begins to realise that building more and more houses and trying to build a way out of the situation is not the way to tackle the problem.

What is needed is a proper approach to providing affordable housing for local young people. It will involve working with local councils and communities. The right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin) gave some examples of how we should tackle the problem at local level. We need to protect the quality of life.

At present, my constituency has a rich diversity of rural and urban areas. It is fascinating to see how the two sectors come together. They are dependent on one another, and it is a delight to live in the area. The proposals will turn it into one large urban sprawl, apart from the land on which Natural England would object to any development whatsoever.

Martin Horwood: I am struck by the similarities between the opposition in Dorset and the opposition to urban extension around Cheltenham, where all elected and community representatives opposed the extension and only planners and developers supported it. Does my hon. Friend agree that a possible explanation for the way in which extensions are happening is that they are simply more profitable for developers than urban regeneration, development in counties such as Cornwall that need and want more housing, or smaller developments around villages with shops and schools that are dying for lack of smaller-scale development?

Annette Brooke: I agree entirely, and think that we should return to that issue.

Finally, if the Government really believe in localism, let us have a local response.