Controversial homes blueprint delayed again

By pwiltshire

Controversial plans to build almost 600,000 new homes in the south west - including 21,300 in the Bath area - were plunged into further chaos today because of legal action on the other side of England.

Campaigners welcomed the delay in approving the official planning blueprint for the region, claiming a victory for people power.

The Government document – the regional spatial strategy (RSS) – has triggered widespread protests and warnings of the eradication of the green belt.

The RSS originally said 569,450 new homes should be built in the region by 2026, a figure many campaigners felt was far too high in a recession, at a time when construction of existing developments had all but ground to a halt.

But ministers announced in July last year they would add an additional 23,000 houses, causing uproar across the South West.

The allocation for Bath and north east Somerset has leapt in recent times from an original 15,500 to 18,800 and then to 21,300.

B&NES Council accepted the original target but - backed by city MP Don Foster, who has called the higher figure "barking mad" - has set its face against the newer demands.

Now the Government has told council bosses it will not publish the final version of the RSS at the end of this month as planned, because of a legal case involving its East of England equivalent.

Its publication had already been delayed once, because of the sheer volume of objections to the contents of draft versions of the RSS, which sets general rules on future development.

Jon Bright, who heads the Government Office for the South West, has written to local authorities saying a High Court judgement had ruled that the East of England document had "failed to meet certain requirements of the EU strategic environmental assessment directive".

His letter said civil servants were considering what the judgement meant for the west, but could not "reach a clear view" until the court issued a written judgement.

"It is not possible to set a new timetable, until the implications of the judgement have been clarified, and what action is required, if any."