Bill to protect gardens and urban green spaces has first reading

Labour backbencher Andrew Dismore MP’s Bill to protect gardens and urban green spaces has had its first reading in the Commons. The Land Use (Gardens Protection etc) Bill is due its second reading in February.

The Land Use (Gardens Protection etc) Bill would change the current position in which local planning authorities have to conform with Government requirements relating to housing density targets. In order to meet them, some people believe that local authorities feel pressured into allowing building on domestic gardens and other urban green space.

Under the Bill, those determining planning applications would have to pay special regard to the desirability of preserving gardens and urban green spaces. They would also have to pay special regard to the desirability of residential development being part of commercial development. Public bodies would have to report on the desirability and practicality of providing residential accommodation on their land.

Increases in the real price of housing demonstrate that there is a housing shortage. A major problem is that the demand is very uneven, with some areas of high demand – notably the South East – facing considerable problems in finding suitable land for the housing. It is generally considered undesirable to build on too many sites that have not
been previously developed – known as greenfield sites. Consequently the Government is keen to see as much as possible of the new housing located on previously developed sites, known as brownfield sites.

The main Government guidance on housing is Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3), published in November 2006. There are many references to previously-developed land, and the following paragraph shows clearly why the designation is so important: 'A key objective is that Local Planning Authorities should continue to make
effective use of land by re-using land that has been previously developed.'

Under the new Bill, The Secretary of State (in England) would no longer be able to intervene in local plan formation to require housing density targets to be included. A local planning authority could get its plan adopted with its own choice of housing density targets. The Welsh Assembly Government would lose the power to intervene in similar aspects of Welsh housing targets.