§ 5. Mr. Stephen Day (Cheadle)If he will make it his policy to adopt a target of building two thirds of new housing development in brown-field sites. [39508]
§ The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Mr. John Prescott)I consider our 60 per cent. target both challenging and achievable. To help achieve it, I have established a task force led by Lord Rogers to look at how best to use previously developed land. We shall launch shortly a national land use database to review how many recycled sites exist, or are likely to become available in the near future, and we will expect regional planning conferences, for the first time, to set their own regional targets.
§ Mr. DayCan the Secretary of State advise the House of one green-field site anywhere in Britain that has been saved since he announced his change of policy on green-field sites?
§ Mr. PrescottI am pleased to announce that, under the new system, the review carried out by the west midlands regional planning conference shows that, of the 330,000 houses proposed by 2011, 61 per cent. will be on green-field sites—
§ Sir Norman Fowler (Sutton Coldfield)Green-field sites?
§ Mr. PrescottI apologise; 61 per cent. will be on recycled land. That shows that the Government's proposal will save many green-field sites. There is considerably more green belt land now than when the Government took office last year.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennett (Denton and Reddish)Does my right hon. Friend accept that Britain still has the problem that far too many people want their houses to be on green-field sites but want others live on brown-field sites? Will he ensure that we regenerate our cities so that people feel that they are free of crime, have high-quality schools and are places in which they want to live? We shall then have gone a long way towards solving the problem.
§ Mr. PrescottI agree with my hon. Friend. That is precisely the Government's policy. We need to make our cities more attractive so that more and more people want to live in them. That is what our plans are about.
§ Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex)Will the right hon. Gentleman understand and accept that in West 550 Sussex—particularly in Mid-Sussex, where people have been outraged by his arbitrary decision to add 12,800 houses to the figure decided upon by his inspector—his policy is considered untenable? Where does he think West Sussex will find brown-field sites to accommodate more than 12,800 houses in addition to the 38,000 that he has already said we have to build there?
§ Mr. PrescottWe have made it clear that our new approach is to consider these matters in the regional context, and the West Sussex structure plan will be so considered. That will be helpful. We have yet to start discussions on that. The county council has been granted leave for judicial review of my direction to increase housing provision in line with the regional planning guidance, so I do not wish to comment on the matter at present.