Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Green Belt Protection: Farnham and Bordon

Monday 28 October 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government attaches great importance to the green belt, including over 20,000 hectares in the borough of Waverley
  • Government is proposing to double housing targets in Waverley and East Hampshire
  • Minister offers to meet Gregory Stafford to discuss the matter further

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Gregory Stafford Con Farnham and Bordon
Environment
Context

The government is under pressure to protect the green belt in Farnham and Bordon constituency due to concerns about urban sprawl.

Question

What steps she is taking to protect the green belt in Farnham and Bordon constituency?

Answer from Matthew Pennycook

The Government attach great importance to the green belt, including the more than 20,000 hectares in the borough of Waverley in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. In planning terms, the green belt serves a number of specific purposes, but the fundamental aim of green belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. The Government do not intend to change the general purposes of the green belt or its general extent, but we are committed to taking a more strategic approach to green-belt land designation and release so that we can build more homes in the right places.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific measures taken to protect the green belt were not detailed

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Q2 Gregory Stafford Con Farnham and Bordon
Housing
Context

The government is proposing to double the housing targets for Waverley and East Hampshire, leading to increased pressure on green belt areas like Whitehill and Bordon.

Question

I thank the Minister for that response, but the Government are proposing to double the housing targets in Waverley and East Hampshire. Over 57% of East Hampshire is in the South Downs national park, so it rightly cannot be built on, but if the target is still based on 100% of the East Hampshire district, that causes massive pressures on the rest of the district, including places such as Whitehill and Bordon, Liphook, Headley and Grayshott. Will the Government commit to looking into this inherent unfairness, which is totally unsustainable for my area, and will he meet me and local councillors to discuss it further?

Answer from Matthew Pennycook

I am more than happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the matter further. On the principled point he raises, when local authorities are developing local development plans they can put a case forward to the inspectorate to be tested in examination, where they specify hard constraints of the type the hon. Gentleman has identified. When we talk about housing targets, we are talking about an identified housing need for a particular area, but those local plans will be tested by the inspectorate at examination to take into account some of the concerns he has raised.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific commitment to investigate fairness was not made

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