§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to the oral statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Ms Hughes), of 21 March 2000,Official Report, column 181WH, what his assessment is of the potential for Hampshire county council to (a) reconsider the designation of land in its current plan and (b) increase further the provision for housing on previously used land. [118549]
§ Ms Beverley HughesI have not made any such assessment.
Hampshire county council together with the unitary authorities will, in the light of advice in Planning Policy Guidance Note PPG3 and the emerging Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (RPG), need to review their structure plan and bring forward alterations they consider necessary.
Meanwhile, the district and unitary authorities are required to consider PPG3 and the emerging RPG in preparing their local plans in conformity with the newly-adopted structure plan. The structure plan only distributes housing to district level, and apart from the four Major Development Areas, is not prescriptive. The districts, therefore, need to consider how to meet their requirements taking account of the advice in PPG3 on such matters as maximising use of land, avoiding inefficient development, encouraging higher densities and a wider variety of dwellings, thus reducing land take. In bringing forward their local plan proposals they should also take account of our advice to recycle existing buildings and to review all non-housing allocations including industrial and commercial allocations.