COUNCILLORS will be asked to back calls urging the government to reconsider its housing target calculations when they meet next week.

A motion requesting the use of more recent data will be put forward at Tuesday’s meeting of BCP Council in the wake of concerns higher housing goals could force further green belt development.

Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Burton will put forward the move which will request cabinet members write to housing secretary Robert Jenrick, at the same time urging more pressure be put on developers to build on sites where planning permission is already in place.

Government targets are based on 2014 Office for National Statistics data which forecast a population growth of 0.73 per cent a year in the area.

But more recent figures from 2018 revised this down to 0.17 per cent, which if used instead would lower the number of houses the council is required to build.

However, a spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it believed its approach was the best.

“The standard method is the starting point for calculating the number of homes required in an area, not a target,” they said. “Councils are best placed to determine their local housing need and set their own targets.

“We believe the 2014 based household projections continue to give councils stability and certainty in their plans while meeting our objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes.”

Earlier this month the Christchurch Independents wrote to the department requesting it reconsider the approach and said its justification was “inconceivable”.

Its letter warned that unless the calculations were revised, housing would have to be built on green belt land.

And the issue will also be raised at Tuesday’s full council meeting through the motion which has been supported by Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors.

“This formula seemingly dictates a house building target on BCP, which many people feel is unrealistic and puts undue pressure on our infrastructure, open spaces, green belt, and town centres,” Cllr Burton will say. “This figure uses out-of-date population growth data and takes no account of the unique circumstances that BCP has.”

Last month councillors agreed to include green belt sites in its Local Plan consultation because it could not meet its targets solely in urban areas.

The motion will request the council’s cabinet member for housing, councillor Bob Lawton, write to the government asking it to use more recent data in its calculations.

It will also call on Cllr Lawton to write to MPs, and Mr Jenrick, asking for both incentives and sanctions to be available to encourage sites with planning permission to be built out.