Angry response from the local Cambridge MP to the idea of massive growth. His blunt choice of words, based on toy opposition to a water supply deficit, matter. They stop growth and promote spatial chaos.
In my last blog, two days ago I suggested Michael Gove’s thoughtful plans to build 250,000 new homes around Cambridge in the next 20 years will fail because local residents will not be supportive. Quicker than expected the first crash of thunder has come from local Conservative MP Anthony Browne. He says
“ I was not consulted before someone floated this ludicrous idea. If I had been, I could have told them it wasn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.
Clearly Mr Browne has not thought hard about the ‘ludicrous idea’’ . This knee-jerk response is useful. It shows his thought processes. They vividly reveal the dilemma our myopic, short term planning system faces since strategic planning was abolished by David Cameron in 2011. He first makes a valid point. The reason for, as he says binning, this idea, is that the Environment Agency has recently objected to two local housing projects due to concerns the additional water supply necessary will pose a significant risk to the environment. Clearly there is an issue and it must be solved. The EA say
“We are continuing to liaise with the Greater Cambridge Partnership planning authority and Cambridge Water to find a solution for people and the environment”.
It seems reasonable to proceed on the assumption the water issue will be resolved, and the cost will be funded from the land value capture. Mr Browne goes on to say, and this message is important as it demonstrates three points. One that water is not really the issue that bothers the local MP. Second that shock is fatal to rational assessment of new housing projects. And third that whatever the merits of local and regional planning, if their projects are not promoted in the context of well understood and accepted strategic plans across the regions built on the foundations of housing affordability and national growth, supported by full cross-party endorsement, spatial chaos will continue; economic growth will falter and homes will become more unaffordable. This prospect is policy failure on a grand scale. His words need to be read with attention, and become the catalyst of radical change. He added
Making Cambridge five times bigger than it is now is clearly an absurd suggestion-as were the proposals I got killed off in 2020 and the development corporations I successfully campaigned against in 2022. Rest assured – I’ll be pushing these proposals into the same bin”.
(PS Source Housing Today, article Matilda Battersby, 11 July 2023)
Ian Campbell
11 July 2023
