Minister set to announce homes target (From Bournemouth Echo)

Minister set to announce homes target

7:00pm Friday 18th July 2008 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

THERE are just days to go until Dorset finds out how many homes it will have to build between now and 2026.

Minister Hazel Blears infuriated campaigners in the South East of England on Thursday by upping their house building targets by four per cent - well above what local councillors argued was realistic.

She is now due to announce figures for Dorset and the rest of the South West of England this Tuesday and it is feared the news will not be positive.

Originally, councils across South East Dorset had suggested they could accommodate 40,150 homes over the next 18 years but, following an examination in public, this was increased to 48,100.

Councillors and MPs have formed a united front to campaign for a reduction in these numbers but the government has publicly insisted that higher house building rates are urgently needed to increase the number of affordable homes.

Annette Brooke, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, said: "It would just be an absolutely mad decision to up our numbers in Dorset.

"This is the wrong way to tackle the housing crisis that we have. Local people cannot afford the high house prices but the solution is not to build, build, build."

And Cllr Alan Griffiths, Conservative leader of Christchurch council, said: "We argued that the South East's proposed numbers were lower than they should have been and it may be that the government has recognised this or it may be a pattern of simply imposing larger numbers everywhere.

"The biggest worry we have got is that throughout Dorset, the numbers are much higher than they should be and there is no money for the infrastructure to go with it.

"If the government sticks to the same numbers it will be bad, if they put them even higher it's simply not possible to do."

And Bournemouth councillor Nick King said: "The government seems to be consistently increasing the numbers but given the housing market and the state of the economy, I can't possibly see how they can be justifying it.

"It makes it even more important that when the figures are announced, we do all we can to fight it and make sure everyone is on side, regardless of political affiliation or geography."