Oral Answers to Questions

Huw Merriman Excerpts

Monday 28th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to ensure that new homes can be built in rural areas.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell)]

We want to see all areas with an up-to-date plan in place that meets housing need. We are doubling annual capital spending on housing over the course of this Parliament, and we will be announcing further measures, some specific to rural areas, in the forthcoming White Paper.

[Huw Merriman]

I thank the Minister for his response, and I am keen to see more local housing. With 75% of my constituency designated as areas of outstanding natural beauty, my district councils are in the midst of delivering a much-needed five-year land supply. Will he assure me that the Government will implement robust measures to prevent opportunist developers from applying to build anywhere in our AONB in the meantime?

[Gavin Barwell]

I am delighted to hear that my hon. Friend’s local councils are getting their five-year land supply in place, as that is crucial. In the meantime, I can reassure him that the national planning policy framework says that great weight should be given to conserving landscape and scenic beauty in AONBs, so the protection is there in national policy.