Housing: Brownfield Land

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My noble friend again raises the issue of the green belt, which has remained a constant at 13% of land across England. I assure him that the Government are greatly committed to protecting our green and pleasant land.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister will no doubt be aware of the aggressive behaviour of some developers—I choose Gladman as an example—in pursuing their wish to develop on greenfield sites in desirable locations. Often, their applications are initially turned down by local authorities, but they then pursue local authorities to appeal, where the developers are able to spend a great deal of money and the local authorities are not. Therefore, the appeals are often successful. What are the Government doing to restrict the activities of developers who behave in this way?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I think no one welcomes developers acting on that basis. The only elements within the green belt that are looked at in planning for housing are those that are designated as brownfield sites. If there are instances such as those that the noble Baroness has raised, such applications can be called in by the Secretary of State. Where such malpractice is seen, I would encourage that to be done.