David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2015 to Question 222144, if he will take steps to prevent Gateshead Council from proceeding with proposals to build on green belt land in Blaydon constituency until after the publication of Household Projections 2012 to 2037; and when he expects those projections to be published.

Brandon Lewis

The statistical publication on new household projections will be published this Thursday (26 February).

As I said in my previous answer, there are no central government proposals to build on the Green Belt in Blaydon. The Coalition Government has ensured that strong protections for the Green Belt are in place. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that Green Belt boundaries can be altered only in exceptional circumstances following local consultation and independent scrutiny of the Local Plan at the instigation of the local council. In October we issued additional guidance that underlined the importance of Green Belt protection.

If the hon. Member disagrees with the planning proposals of the local council, he should take issue with the decisions of the Labour councillors who run and control it.