Conservatives Must Face the Facts

Local Conservative politicians really should look at the facts behind the East of England Assembly's plan for homes and jobs in the region.

There is a national and local social. housing crisis. Local authority housing waiting lists, increasing homelessness, house price inflation and demographic data all confirm this. Young adults and low-paid skilled workers cannot afford to rent or buy in the private housing sector.

The regional assembly, while having 32 stakeholder members who are not councillors, does have 40 elected Conservative members, against 17 Labour and 14 Liberal Democrats.

The regional Planning Panel has a majority of Conservative councillors and a Conservative chairman.

The principle local problem for Epping Forest district is the proposal to regenerate Harlow and expand its population o 100,000 so that it will become a sub- regional centre by attracting national department store retailers.

This was originally promoted by Essex and Hertfordshire county councils, as part of the strategy to concentrate development on existing towns to prevent urban sprawl. They seemed to forget Harlow when they submitted their 'no growth' offer in 2003.

Last year, I abstained from voting on the Herts-Essex amendment to the draft RPG14 because it was unrealistic in respect of Harlow. At the time there was no sustainable body of evidence to refute the 18,600 homes allocation.

Liberal Democrats do not like the quango element of the regional assembly any more than the Conservatives do, but we have to live with the reality that regional strategies are developed and planned by its officers and panels.

If no-one argues the case on the basis of evidence, unsatisfactory conclusions may be reached. Affirmations alone are not enough.

My repeated strong representations of Epping Forest district's environmental constraints, backed by evidence from district council officers and regionally sponsored studies led to the reduction of the Epping Forest district allocation by 41 percent to 11,000 (of which 2,700 are Harlow growth).

By contrast, East Herts district, which failed to present sustainable evidence or talk about the possibility of Harlow expansion into its district, had its allocation increased from 9,700 to 20,800.

Liberal Democrats do recognise the housing crisis but also want to see development contained within existing towns and villages, using Brownfield sites and Greenfield only when absolutely necessary.

Liberal Democrats are also very conscious of the environmental impact of traditional building methods. Lib Dem regional planning members presented an amendment, accepted by the panel, for higher standards of environmentally-friendly construction and for more direct Government funding. Without it, too many large and expensive homes will have to be built to fund social housing.

We do not want to build on the green belt. We do not want Stansted expansion. We do want Government money to be spent to approve the appallingly congested transport infrastructure as well as all the other infrastructure needs to support the homes that are so needed by so many.