Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire is urging local residents to have their say on a public consultation about the development of the greenbelt in South Staffordshire.
Gavin has, himself, raised concerns about the Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), which is one of the items being updated to reflect a new Local Plan (Core Strategy) with new policies - adopted in December 2012 - and to take account of changes in the legislation and the approach to planning.
His chief concern is related to p.28 of the document, detailing provisions to build 100% affordable housing on Rural Exception Sites, and the definition of ‘proven need,’ which he fears is too permissive and does not contain sufficient safeguards to protect the countryside from encroachment.
On the consultation, Gavin said: “I strongly urge residents to read these documents and participate in this consultation. Once our land is developed on, we can never get it back and so it is extremely important that the policies that we have in place are adequate to not only meet local housing requirements, but also safeguard our greenbelt land.”
The deadline for the consultation is on Friday 20th December 2013. To view the full documents and/or comment, click on the following link: http://www2.sstaffs.gov.uk/consultation/Default.aspx
South Staffordshire Council will collate all of the comments received during the consultation period and take them into account as it finalises the SPD for formal adoption in Spring 2014.