Housing In Rural Areas

EDM number 622 in 1997-98, proposed by Howard Flight on 19/12/1997.

That this House notes that there is an increasing demand for accommodation as a result of the trend towards single-person households; believes that if this is managed sensitively it could lead to the renaissance of city dwelling and living; recognises that in the centres of many towns and cities across the United Kingdom there is underused or derelect land on which new homes could be built with amenities close by; accepts that the countryside provides a vital green 'lung' for both city dwellers and country dwelling people alike which needs protecting; condemns Labour Ministers for wanting to build homes in rural areas such as West Sussex, Hertfordshire and Hampshire; believes that the Labour Government's desire to build in existing villages will decimate village life and could well produce modern homes out of keeping with their older surroundings; recommends that Labour Ministers abandon this policy forthwith; and urges Her Majesty's Government to issue new planning policy guidance which would compel local authorities, many of which are controlled by the Labour Party, not to grant planning permission in green field sites until the brown land available has been exhausted.

This motion has been signed by a total of 40 MPs.