Below is a letter issued this week by the Save Newport Campaign:-
Dear Cllr. Sahota ,
The Marches Growth Deal 2014 – Homes and Communities Agency assets in Telford plus Labour Party position on NPPF
We are writing to you on behalf of the Save Newport Campaign (SNC).
The Growth Deal announced by the Government on 7th July 2014, on page 3 of The Marches Growth Deal, states that ‘ The Government is also offering the Marches LEP and Telford and Wrekin Council the opportunity to continue working with Government to review the case for sharing land sale receipts to agreed Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) assets in Telford over an agreed profile, the local share of which, together with other local investments, would support a Marches Investment Fund and local public and private commitment to economic growth’.
SNC has previously raised with T&W on a number of occasions both the use of the HCA assets in T&W for housing in achieving the original population target figure of circa 225,000 in Telford plus the benefit from the increased funding to alleviate the need to dispose of green spaces/greenfields in T&W and to retain these for the use, enjoyment and beneficial health & wellbeing effects for the residents of T&W.
Separate from the above, the Labour Party recently announced that, should it gain office following the elections in just under ten months on 7th May 2015, it no longer intended to rip up the NPPF but would retain the NPPF and, most importantly, reiterated the primary importance of developing brownfield sites in advance of greenfield sites.
Finally, the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer last month at the annual Mansion House speech regarding the use of Local Development Orders for brownfield sites to assist local authorities to bring forward brownfield sites for housing, has identified that the onus will be with local authorities to bring forward the sites and Orders
In the light of the above, we would ask for your response both to the issues raised and the timescales within which T&W Council will act to implement these measures.
We would also put in a plea that you review with your officers the timescales for publication of the draft Local Plan in order to considerably accelerate the present timescales given that the issues raised above now bring clarity to a range of matters. .
Yours sincerely,
Adrian Meredith –Telford and Wrekin Borough Councillor and Newport Town Councillor.
Patrick Beech- Chairman Newport Chamber of Commerce
David Parker – Save Newport Campaign.
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