Green Belt campaigners welcome Coalition Government's statement

7.21.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 8th Jun 2010

Safeguarding the Green Belt is one of the first achievements of the new Coalition Government

Campaigners against plans to build on the Green Belt have welcomed confirmation that the inflated housing figures imposed on Surrey by the previous Labour Government should no longer be used to give the go ahead for new developments.

It had been feared that until the legislation was in place to abolish Regional Spatial Strategies (the plans that imposed the housing figures on local authorities), Planning Inspectors would continue to use them to overturn decisions by local planning authorities to refuse new developments in the Green Belt. Now their calls for clarification from the Coalition's new Secretary of State have been answered.

Cllr Fiona White (Lib Dem, Guildford West) said, "I am delighted that the new Secretary of State has written to all local authorities and the Planning Inspectorate making it clear that when they make decisions on new developments they should now take into account the Coalition Government's intention to abolish Regional Strategies and return decision making powers on housing and planning to local councils. It would have been a tragedy if developers were allowed to go ahead with their unwanted schemes on the basis of plans that will soon be abolished."

Lib Dem MP Steve Webb, who wrote to the new Secretary of State asking for a letter clarifying the situation, said: "One of the first achievements of the new government will be the abolition of the top-down housing targets which have blighted sensitive areas for too long. We now need to put in place a planning process that will allow local communities to judge their own housing needs and the best sites for housing development, instead of having this all imposed from Whitehall".