Dear Editor,
The Tory Government’s Planning for the Future White Paper will virtually give housing developers the licence to do what they want, where they want and local people will not be allowed to protest.
Also, just at a time that towns like Crewe are crying out for more affordable housing to rent or buy, the requirement to make a third of big new housing developments affordable will be dropped.
This White Paper could have been written by the developers, it is so favourable to them. They will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Under the White Paper land will be categorised as being in one of three zones:-
1) Suitable for Growth (areas suitable for substantial development of new homes, schools, shops, offices and hospitals)
2) Renewal (brownfield sites and development in areas which are already built on)
3) Protected (Green belt, areas of outstanding natural beauty, areas at risk of flooding and so on)
New homes, schools, shops and offices would be automatically permitted in “growth” areas and objections from residents would NOT be listened to.
In urban and brownfield sites, known as “renewal” zones, plans would be given “permission in principle”.
Crewe has no Green Belt, so it seems that developers will be allowed to do what they want in the town.
Councils will have 30 months to develop local plans categorising land and setting out planning policy.
Crewe has already been hit badly by the planning policies of the Labour-run Cheshire East Council.
Under the long-awaited Cheshire East Local Plan, Crewe is destined to get the largest number of homes (6850) by 2030.– with nearly as many being built in the railway town as in Macclesfield & Congleton together.
This will now get much worse with the Tories stopping local objections to big new housing developments and developers being allowed to do virtually what they want.
Also the requirement to provide affordable housing in new developments is being dropped.
#PuttingCreweFirst has begun a campaign against the Tories planning free-for-all.
Over the years Crewe has suffered from a huge growth in housing developments and the infrastructure needed for the influx of thousands of new residents is never delivered as promised.
The result is that services for the indigenous Crewe residents go down and down.
Crewe needs more affordable housing in the town…… not more and more new private housing estates on the edge of the town with zero provision for affordable housing.
Yours faithfully,
Cllr Brian Silvester
Leader – Putting Crewe First
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