Wiltshire housebuilding targets to rise 81%
The Council say Government reforms will 'adversely impact' the county
The councillor responsible for housing in Wiltshire says new Government targets for building will have an 'adverse impact' on the county.
Reforms announced last week would see more homes built, which could include greenfield sites here.
The Council's leader thinks it favours developers |newtab)and Councillor Nick Botterill agrees:
"Developers will simply get those through the planning process because they will say 'the Council can't demonstrate a five year housing supply. That five year supply is based on Government targets, which for Wiltshire have gone up by 81%."
That increase works out as an additional 3,476 homes being built here every year.
Wiltshire Council had already been over-delivering on their housing targets, before the charges have come in effect.
The Government say the extra housebuilding is necessary - Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said:
“This marks a significant step to getting Britain building again.
“Our decisive reforms to the planning system correct the errors of the past and set us on our way to tackling the housing crisis, delivering 1.5 million homes for those who really need them.
“And something I am personally proud of, our new flexibilities for councils will boost the number of social and affordable homes, and give working families a better route to a secure home.”
Wiltshire's housing cabinet member, Cllr Botterill says it could affect our countryside though:
"We're not a formerly industrial area, we don't have a lot of brownfield sites. What ones do exist can be quite expensive to deal with contamination and that kind of thing, which makes them not terribly attractive to developers, we just don't have the brownfield capacity here."