Another council has opted out of the local plan programme. Ashfield District Council wants ’clarification’ from PM Truss. The council had proposed 8226 homes between 2020 and 2038. Council leader Jason Zadrozny says they will not include 8000 houses wanted by the government. He has a point. After all Truss has recently said we should build up more in cities and avoid massive targets for local councils in the countryside.
Put differently, Ashfield can wait. And it will wait.
In the meantime, no need for the council to work with its neighbours, or act as leaders by setting up a New Town Development Corporation. Their spatial policy is hidden. So it is not obvious where the next generation of Ashfield residents will live: clearly that is not the responsibility of this generation of local leaders. Someone has missed a point. Can you have local control, without local responsibility too?
Communications with the government must change. Local leaders face difficult challenges. Hard choices lie ahead.
Ian Campbell
11 October 2022
