As I’ve said before, our greenbelt in Bromsgrove and the Villages is under attack like never before, and I’m doing everything I can to protect it.
Bromsgrove and the Villages is 89% greenbelt and 79% rural, but the Government has made the decision to increase the constituency’s housing target by 85%.
At the same time, the Government has reduced Birmingham’s target by 31% - despite the city having at least 140 hectares of brownfield land that could be built on.
Ever since I was elected I have been fighting to save the greenbelt. I previously launched a Parliamentary petition, signed by more than 5,000 people, that demanded the Government justifies the flawed formula used to calculate the 85% increase in Bromsgrove and the Villages’ housing target to rebalance the housing target so that Birmingham takes its fair share.
The Government refused to listen and continues to be unable to justify the flawed formula used to calculate the constituency’s housing target.
Following the petition, I also met with the Housing and Planning Minister to once again make the case for the 85% increase in the constituency’s housing target to be reversed. At the meeting the Housing and Planning Minister continued to attempt to justify the Government’s decision to increase Bromsgrove and the Villages' housing target by 85%.
In Parliament, I voted to prioritise development on brownfield sites first in order to protect the greenbelt. However, the vote failed to pass after the Government used its majority to vote it down.
Although the vote failed, I'm not stopping there. I'm continuing the fight to protect the greenbelt by launching another Parliamentary petition that demands the Government builds houses on brownfield land first.
According to the latest "State of Brownfield 2025" report from the CPRE, there is enough brownfield land capacity in England to support a minimum of 1.41 million new homes, of which 55% already have full or in-principle planning permission. That should be the Government’s priority. Instead, they’re pursuing a policy to help their friends in the cities whilst punishing rural Britain.
There are also more than 1 million empty homes in England. My petition calls on the Government to set out a strategy to bring these properties back into long-term use.
The petition also demands that, when houses are built in the right locations, they should only be built when the accompanying infrastructure is provided.
I believe that, if the Government builds houses on brownfield land first and brings empty properties back into use, the 85% increase in Bromsgrove and the Villages’ housing target could be reversed, saving the greenbelt and protecting the constituency from excessive development.
There’s just so much more the Government could be doing rather than building on our greenbelt. They could bring the more than 1 million empty homes in England back into use or scrap Stamp Duty to free up the housing market.
It just doesn’t have to be this way, and I won’t stop until this Government wakes up, sees sense and reverses their 85% increase in our housebuilding target which will destroy our precious greenbelt as we know it.
If you agree, please sign my petition and make your voices heard!
