§ 4. Mr. Andrew Reed (Loughborough)What progress he has made towards meeting his target for housing construction on recycled land in the east midlands. [89478]
§ The Minister for the Regions, Regeneration and Planning (Mr. Richard Caborn)The latest available regional information from 1994 shows that 37 per cent. of new dwellings in the east midlands were constructed on previously developed land. The urban task force, under Lord Rogers, estimated that 65 per cent. of new dwellings could be accommodated on recycled land over the next 20 years.
§ Mr. ReedWhat reassurances can my right hon. Friend give the House, the local chamber of commerce and the 151 Loughborough town centre steering group that those targets can be met, in view of the fact that many brown-field sites for housing and employment are under-used and lack investment? Following the Rogers report, what measures is my right hon. Friend likely to take to ensure that public-private partnerships bring some of that land back into use as soon as possible?
§ Mr. CabornWe will be responding to Lord Rogers's report, which has 105 recommendations and will form the basis of the forthcoming urban White Paper. The developments in Loughborough town centre are in line with Government policy. It is good that the town centre management scheme is working; the firm partnerships that are developing will start to overcome some of the adversity that the town has suffered. The development of the single regeneration budget schemes there will be of assistance.
§ Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley)Does the Minister accept that his answer was very disappointing? Does he accept that the target of 60 per cent. of land is insufficiently high? From statements made over the past few days, we know that the Government understand very little about the countryside. They pretend to the country that they are green, but they must think that we are green if they believe that they can build an enormous number of new houses on green-field sites while pretending that they wish to preserve England's green and pleasant land.
§ Mr. CabornHere is a little bit of maths for the hon. Gentleman—65 per cent. is greater than 60 per cent. I just said that the urban task force has said that it can achieve 65 per cent, which is above the Government's target of 60 per cent. When the Government came to power, there was no land use databank. Despite all the allegations and the targets set by Conservative Members, they did not even know how much brown-field land there was to build on. It took this Administration to find out how much brown-field land there was. Based on that information, Lord Rogers has made some reasonable projections, which are much sounder than anything that came from the previous Administration.