Caroline Nokes
Main Page: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)
I welcome the opportunity to contribute to a debate on the future of planning policy, which is a topic of great interest in my constituency. I am sure that I am not alone in having received many representations on the draft NPPF, but, coinciding as it did with the publication of the borough council's core strategy, it has been of particular interest in Romsey and Southampton North, and especially to residents of the market town of Romsey and the surrounding villages.
In many respects, Romsey and Southampton North could be described as a microcosm of the whole country, exhibiting both the benefits and the problems associated with rural, urban and suburban dwelling. Nothing demonstrates those competing dynamics better than planning policy. I assure the Minister that the revised NPPF has allayed many of the concerns of Romsey residents, and it is a vast improvement on the consultation draft. However, it leaves some questions unanswered. I hope—in the spirit of constructive debate—-to present the perspective of a diverse and mixed constituency.
The shift in the Government’s approach to planning since 2010 is welcome. It is now a case of Government doing something for local communities rather than to them. The revision clearly shows that the Government have listened. Of course, the balancing act between the competing desires to protect the countryside and, at the same time, to make possible appropriate and sustainable development is the devil's own job, and I have considerable sympathy for the Minister and his team. Twelve years as a borough councillor taught me that a simplistic position on planning is always ill advised, and that polarised debates do little to help. On one hand, we must protect our natural environment; on the other, we must make possible development that will provide housing and jobs.
In the context of the March revision, I welcome the retention of the clauses that seek to protect the green belt and other designated landscapes. However, we have a small problem in what is arguably one of the most beautiful counties in the land, Hampshire. There is very little green belt there, and the green belt that does exist is designed to protect the New Forest from the spread of the conurbation of Bournemouth, which is of course in an entirely different county. Many of my constituents believe that Hampshire has a great deal of green belt, but it simply does not; in fact, it has almost none. We would like an increase in our green belt.
I therefore have some major concerns about land designation. How can we make it easier to establish green belt, to prevent the coalescence of settlements and to make sure our cities, towns and villages retain their individual characters? I am an unashamed fan of the green belt, so I am disappointed that paragraph 82 of the framework states that the “general extent” of the green belt is already established. The conditions under which new green belt can be designated are exceptionally restrictive, and therefore the ability of local communities to protect their boundaries and identity in that way is undermined. I am keen to hear why the Government’s default position seems to be against the creation of more green belt. I can assure the Minister that on the edges of Southampton, and in particular from the village of Nursling, there is a clear call for additional green belt.
I want to say a few words about “ordinary countryside”. I assure the Minister that, especially in Test valley, there is no such thing as “ordinary countryside”; it is all quite extraordinary. I am pleased that the intrinsic value of the countryside is being recognised in the revision, but I urge the Minister to make sure that there is a clear description of how it is to be valued so that those residents who live in beautiful parts of the Test valley can be sure that the area will be protected for its diversity and landscape.
Finally, I assure the Opposition that in Southampton there has been massive enthusiasm for the production of neighbourhood plans, and the people there think that it is not only the chocolate-box villages of the Test valley that will benefit.