West Berkshire Conservatives at odds with Cameron regarding using brownfield land for housing

David Cameron has just announced a policy to provide discounted housing to first time buyers. Part of the policy is that these homes should be be built on "brownfield" land. However, at last week's West Berkshire Council meeting the Conservatives voted in favour of a report that recommended that a review of protected employment land should not be done until after housing sites are allocated on "greenfield" land. This means that more greenfield land is being allocated than is necessary - please see what I said about it.

The new policy says that the price of the homes would be reduced by 20%. This would be paid for by removing "planning obligations" such as the requirements to:

• Provide affordable homes
• Contribute to expansion of schools
• Contribute to road improvements
• Pay the Community Infrastructure Levy

However, although superficially attractive, there are major flaws in the Conservative policy:

• Brownfield land is more expensive to develop, The land may need to be de-contaminated and there may be hidden problems under the ground.
• The cost of planning obligations is reflected in the price of land, not in the price of new homes. Developers pay less for the land because they know that they are going to have to pay for the planning obligations. The Conservative policy means that developers may not have to pay for the planning obligations for developing land that they bought at that reduced cost.
• It would reduce the number of affordable homes built for rent or shared ownership.

Alan Macro
Councillor for Theale
West Berkshire Council
www.theale.org.uk

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