FAO: Helen Wilson Programme Officer
8 January 2019
RE: LEEDS CORE STRATEGY SELECTIVE REVIEW
As you will be aware, I am one of the many who have vehemently opposed the housing target proposed by Leeds City Council and I have been disappointed that the justifiable concerns of my constituents and all other individuals and professionals who would be forced to live with the consequences of the Council’s Plan have been ignored. The approach of the Council has been deeply flawed from the beginning and this has now become so complex that many of my constituents are isolated from the process and unable to defend their area against unwanted development.
That being said, I do welcome the approach of the Planning Inspectors and I fully appreciate their efforts to listen to these concerns. I note that they have made several requirements to the Council in order to make the Site Allocations Plan sound, as required by the National Planning Policy Framework. I would like to reiterate that the impact of this excessive housing target on the Green Belt was the essence for the majority of those concerned and I am pleased by the Planning Inspectors requirements as laid out in the Main Modifications and the explanation further in the Further Post- Hearing Note to the Council.
In particular, I am in full agreement with the suggestions made by the Planning Inspectors at Point 3 of the Main Modifications document, which states that the Council should only provide for housing needs up to 2023. As the previous projections show, the housing need in an area can change dramatically over a decade and it is simply not necessary to set out a plan for housing need a decade in advance. However, I do think there must be some safeguarding considerations made to prevent history repeating itself when a new housing target is organised by the Council in 2023.
I am also in full and wholehearted agreement with Point 7 of the Main Modifications document, which states that sites which are in the Green Belt should be deleted and I agree entirely with the justifications for doing so at points 12 – 15 in the Further Post-Hearing Note to the Council. Again, I would reiterate the need for some safeguards to be put in place to avoid the Green Belt being targeted by the Council in 2023.
Finally, while I share my constituent’s relief that the Site Allocations Plan based on outdated housing requirement projections totalling 66,000 homes has been reduced, I remain concerned that the revised figure proposed by the Planning Inspectors may not go far enough to adequately take into account the strain that this number of homes would cause on my constituents and also may not go far enough to protect the Green Belt, now or in the future.
I would just like to strongly emphasise the need to robustly and permanently protect our Green Belt and also the real need to listen to those whose lives will be affected by these proposals.
Yours sincerely,
Stuart Andrew MP
Member of Parliament for Pudsey Serving Calverley ∙ Farsley ∙ Guiseley ∙ Hawksworth ∙ Horsforth ∙ Pudsey ∙ Rawdon ∙ Rodley ∙ Stanningley Swinnow ∙ Tyersal ∙ Woodhall ∙ Yeadon Please reply to the constituency address: 94A Town Street, Horsforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS18 4AP Tel: 0113 258 5615 Contact by email via www.stuartandrew.com