HC Deb 19 January 2004 vol 416 c1092W
Mrs. Spelman

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government will press local authorities reviewing the potential for re-allocating excess employment land to consider the option of withdrawing sites from their development plans, with particular reference to those which are identified as low priority for development according to the sequential approach set out in PPG3. [149190]

Yvette Cooper

Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: "Housing" (PPG3), requires local planning authorities to review all their non-housing allocations, including those for employment, and consider whether some of this land might better be used for housing or mixed use developments.

In July 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a consultation document, "Supporting the Delivery of New Housing". This proposes to add new policy to PPG3 requiring local planning authorities to consider applications for housing development favourably on allocated industrial and employment sites. It highlighted the need to review employment sites and to identify those which no longer need to be retained for employment uses. Such sites would then be de-allocated at the next review of the plan, and consideration given to whether the sites should be allocated for other uses. Whether such sites are suitable for housing will depend on how they perform against PPG3 policies, including the sequential approach.

The consultation closed on 31 October 2003 and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is considering the responses received. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will publish the final policy, alongside practice guidance to help local planning authorities in reviewing employment land allocations, in due course.

Mrs. Spelman

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the quantity of previously developed land that is(a) available for redevelopment and (b) likely to become available for redevelopment up to 2016. [149194]

Yvette Cooper

From the 2002 National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land, an estimated 66,000 hectares of previously developed land are available for development in England. This includes both vacant and derelict land and land currently in use with known potential for redevelopment. New sites amounted to 14 per cent. of the 2001 stock of previously developed land. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not made any forecasts of future flows of land likely to become available for redevelopment.