§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
My right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister is today publishing the revised consultation draft Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-regional strategy. The Milton Keynes and South Midlands growth area is one of the four growth areas set out in the Government's Sustainable Communities Plan published in February 2003. The plan was not simply about housing; it was about creating sustainable communities in all parts of the country. One of the key objectives of the plan is to tackle the longterm shortage of housing and particularly affordable housing. The revised consultation draft sub-regional strategy, being published today, is the next stage in the testing and examination through the regional spatial strategy (RSS) process.
The Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-region includes the area from Corby in the north to Aylesbury in the south and from Daventry in the west to Bedford in the east. Its largest urban centres are Milton Keynes, Northampton, Luton-Dunstable-Houghton Regis and Bedford-Kempston. The sub-regional strategy sets out the scale and form of development in Milton Keynes and South Midlands to 2031.
This document incorporates the proposed changes to the consultation draft published by the regional assemblies for the east of England, the east Midlands and the south-east in July 2003. The proposed changes published today build on the July 2003 strategy and take full account of the recommendations contained in the report of the independent panel, published in 40WS August 2004, which proposed approximately 170,000 new homes by 2021. The panel published its report following the five-week public examination held in March and April 2004.
Copies of the revised consultation draft sub-regional strategy, together with the explanatory table of proposed changes, have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Under national guidance, the proposed changes will be subject to public consultation over an eight-week period, commencing today. Details of the consultation process are provided in the foreword to the revised consultation draft sub-regional strategy published today.
Once the final version of the sub-regional strategy is published, as a revision to the regional spatial strategies for the south-east, east of England, and east Midlands, it will form part of the regional policy basis for the preparation of statutory local development documents by the local planning authorities within the sub-region. It is at this stage that detailed site specific and locational proposals will be brought forward to implement the sub-regional strategy. This process provides further requirements for public consultation and stakeholder involvement.
Increasing the number of homes and affordable homes in the wider south-east is essential if we are to have sustainable communities, and we recognise that it is critical that this growth is itself sustainable. This means that we will ensure that new communities have the infrastructure that they need such as schools, transport and health facilities. We will also continue to ensure that brownfield land is used first, improve the environmental efficiency of homes, and create new green spaces and places that will stand the test of time.