Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Jim Cunningham Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman have a view about building on floodplains, which has been a big issue over the past few weeks given all the flooding?

[Nick Herbert]

The hon. Gentleman certainly raises a related issue. It is essentially part of the same principle, which is whether the development that takes place is or is not sustainable. There is obviously a great deal of concern about building on floodplains as well. Even where building takes place and it is not on a floodplain, it is essential to ensure that there is sufficient local infrastructure to support that development. It is not just a question of adequate local drainage, as it is also a question of ensuring that there are sufficient local school places and that the road network is sufficient to support the additional population. In villages throughout my constituency, we have found that that infrastructure has not been provided despite the additional development, and it is feared that further development would exacerbate the problems.