Croxley Green Resident Association chairman has said district councillors need to decide what is their priority, meeting housing quotas or protecting the Green Belt.
This comes after Three Rivers District Council (TRDC) announced a climate emergency and the London Green Belt Council stated that despite declaring the emergency, some councils are failing to prevent development of Green Belt land.
Barry Grant, CGRA chair, said: “I had no feedback from individual councillors but from the resident’s association perspective, it’s our role to keep asking questions and see what comes out, we hope to meet with the housing minister with TRDC, that would be great.
“The Neighbourhood Plan was accepted and is in place, which will have some effect – goes hand in hand with local plan – I think the reason resident associations have got together is that we recognise it effects whole of Three Rivers and if we don’t act now before draft plan comes out our voices will get lost.”
The London Green Belt Council believes councils are putting forward large swathes of Green Belt land for housebuilding despite their professed commitment to environmental protection.
Barry Grant added: “With the changed Cabinet at Westminster there is bound to be some pokery it’s likely we will be having another general election but with a majority of one or two they wouldn’t want to do the wrong thing to potential voters. It’s striking the right balance and that can be achieved.”
UK Planning has been usurped to follow a political agenda to pump-up the economy and line pockets. It is no longer serving the function of careful consideration and balance to protect and even enrich the environment we live in.
Current national planning policy runs rough-shod over local democracy and communities. Concreting over the countryside is a vote loser.