News Release

11th August 2004

PLANNING IN LICHFIELD AND THE MIDLANDS

"Lichfield will lose its unique character if housing developments which cram brick into every green space is allowed to continue" says Michael Fabricant. "Government planning laws are the culprit which demand 30-50 homes per hectare. I shall be initiating a debate on this subject in the House of Commons. It affects not only Lichfield, but areas throughout the midlands".

Over the last few months, Michael has been discussing the nature of new-build in Lichfield with the City Council and Lichfield District Council. "Lichfield District Council is being forced to allow the construction of densely packed housing estates and to allow green spaces between existing houses - often in gardens - to be used as building land. This is changing the very nature of the leafy lanes of Lichfield" says Michael. "In the past, large projects such as Boley Park took into account the provision of large gardens and green spaces creating an attractive environment which added to the quality of the City; this is no longer always the case. The problem arises from the interpretation locally of Government planning laws and guidance regulations issued by John Prescott's department" says Michael. "If Lichfield District Council dare to turn down such planning applications, the Council could lose in a court battle and the council tax payer in Lichfield will have to foot the bill from consequent damages and costs. Meanwhile factories, filling stations, and other businesses are closed down and the land sold for housing as the financial 'return' is much greater - leading to a loss of local employment.

"I asked Peter Young, Town Clerk of Lichfield City Council, to write to me with his views on the issue. While it is not for me to state a view on some of the particular estates referred to in Peter Young's letter - planning decisions are in the hands of elected local councillors and not Members of Parliament - I do agree that there is a very real problem in Lichfield and elsewhere in the midlands arising from interpretation of regional and planning policy guidance issued by this Government" says Michael Fabricant.

Peter Young wrote in his letter: "The City Council shares your concerns, and since the early 1990's we have been seeking to restrict further large-scale residential growth in the City which would destroy its historic character and unique setting.

"Revised PPG3, issued in March 2000, advocated high-density development in existing settlements, with greater use of previously developed land. Prompted by this the District Council has adopted a 'Housing Strategy' which effectively abandons the Fradley new settlement in favour of increased density development in Lichfield City. Although the new Local Development Framework (which will replace the former Local Plan) has not yet been prepared, the District Council is now using the 'Housing Strategy' to allocate new residential development.

"My Council is concerned about the appropriateness of PPG3 design policies when applied to historic and relatively small market towns such as Lichfield. Walsall Road and Chesterfield Road were in the pipeline as residential sites long before PPG3, but the developers (and District) have used adherence to PPG3 to create high-density 'inner city' style residential development on what are actually semi-rural locations on greenfield sites on the city outskirts. The extent of this on Walsall Road is evidenced by the ability to fit 1,100 dwellings onto a site originally allocated for 650. The developers have certainly gained from this with many more units to sell, but the new residents find themselves in three-storey (and now some four-storey) dwellings which have very small gardens, very small rooms, and which are so close to each other and front so tightly onto the narrow roadways, that they are in almost permanent shade, even in summer.

"There are as yet no bus services to the Walsall Road estate, and the narrowness of the roads will make finding bus routes through the estate very difficult. Moreover, the estate does not link well to the city, with the main 'Cathedral Avenue' - the central formal landscape feature - ending in a view of the back of a 1930's bungalow, and an almost impassable muddy footpath link to the Bowling Green island.

"We have also been seeking to redress the serious imbalance between housing and employment provision in the City. As you will be aware, the morning traffic jams are heading out of Lichfield, because the number of jobs in the city is far less than the working population. In terms of sustainability this is far from ideal, and the city needs to achieve a much better balance between employment and housing provision. We have achieved some success to date with local planning policy, with the District Council bringing forward preparation of its Employment Strategy to link with the Housing Strategy, and potentially earmarking some additional employment land in the City.

"However, there is still some way to go to bring this to fruition, and again PPG3 is not proving helpful. The value of a high-density residential site is considerably greater than an employment site, and so existing employment sites such as Bisons, SCA Packaging, the Magistrates Courts, and even petrol filling stations, are being closed and the land sold for housing. This may help to meet the quota for development on previously developed land, but it only worsens the imbalance between housing and employment. Moreover, even where land is earmarked for employment, developers hold back on developing it as such, in the hope of eventually securing the much greater financial gains from future residential use.

"While PPG3 may have helped the regeneration of urban areas, it has not therefore been helpful to Lichfield. Redevelopment of brownfield sites requires high land values, which are effectively achieved by restricting the supply of development land elsewhere. This situation is unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future, because the spatial strategy of the new Regional Planning Guidance 11, published in June this year, involves moving from the recent position of two houses built outside the Major Urban Areas for each one within them, to less than one outside for each one within.

"Although on the face of it this is 'good news' for Lichfield in that it should help restrict future large-scale growth, RPG11 seems to ignore the fact that, although you can stop building houses in Lichfield, you can't stop people from all over the West Midlands wanting to move here. Without the 'safety valve' of freely available housing land in areas such as Fradley, then development land in 'desirable' places such as Lichfield City is at an absolute premium - for example, the fifteen apartments currently being created on the upper floors of the former Magistrates Court start at £180,000 for a one-bedroom flat. RPG11 will only increase this pressure, and much of the indigenous population of the area will soon be priced out."

Michael Fabricant then asked Keith Hill MP, Minister for Housing and Planning in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, whether he would clarify planning guidances 3 and 11 as they relate to Lichfield. In his response to Michael Fabricant, the Minister for Housing and Planning wrote: "The Government's overall objective for-housing as set out in PPG3 is to provide sufficient, well-designed housing and high-quality. living environments that are accessible to all. To promote more sustainable patterns of new development and to make better use of previously-developed land, the focus for additional housing is towards existing towns and cities. The policy advice contained within PPG3 is applicable to all areas, both urban and rural. Whilst I note Mr Young's concerns about the appropriateness of PPG3 density and design policies when applied to historic and small market towns such as Lichfield, the Government firmly believes that with good design and layout, the density requirements set out within PPG3 can be achieved without detriment to the local environment. I would point out that. in addition to ensuring an efficient use of land through increased densities, PPG3 also stresses the importance of good design and layout as an integral part in improving the quality and attractiveness of residential environments.

"As you are aware, Regional Planning Guidance for the West Midlands (RPG 11) was issued by the Secretary of State in June 2004. Urban renaissance, a key element of which is to be achieved through focussing future development within the Major Urban Areas (MUAs) of Birmingham/Solihull, the Black Country and the north Staffordshire conurbation forms a fundamental part of the strategy. The approach within RPG 11 seeks to reverse the trend of decentralisation from the MUAs and the consequential development and environmental pressures that this process has placed on other parts of the region. As recognised, this dispersal of population in the past led to unsustainable forms of development as smaller settlements have suffered from insufficient levels of economic activity to support a balanced population leading to people having to travel greater distances to access services--and job opportunities. A key aim behind the current RPG is that through creating attractive residential environments within the MUAs, out-migration can be stemmed. Outside the MUAs in settlements such as Lichfield, progressively lower levels of housing growth are proposed, so that future growth continues to accommodate local needs whilst not encouraging further decentralisation."

"It is clear" says Michael Fabricant "that the minister's reply is vague and does not reflect the reality on the ground. PPG 3 demands a density of housing in both urban and rural areas of between 30-50 dwellings per hectare with brownfield sites, such as petrol filling stations, being used first. It is all very well the minister saying 'the Government firmly believes that with good design and layout, the density requirements set out within PPG3 can be achieved without detriment to the local environment' but in practice, closely packed housing cannot offer the same environment as that found on Boley Park or north Lichfield. It is naïve to suggest that a modern housing estate can duplicate the historic heart of Lichfield. Instead, we are seeing the construction of high density 'inner city' style residential development on what are rural or semi-rural sites; 3 and 4 storey dwellings fronting directly onto narrow streets and with very small gardens which are always in the shade with little space for children to play.

"Lichfield District Council is being forced to accept housing plans which in the past it would have turned down. Meanwhile, the City Council has put forward a resolution to be debated at the Staffordshire Parish Councils' Association AGM in November."

The motion states:

"That all Planning Authorities be asked not to consider PPG3 policies in isolation but as only one of a large number of factors to be considered".