Letter: “The balance of power between local authorities and builders has been skewed in favour of builders.”

Sir – It is time to pause and think again

Every week your newspaper seems to report on another proposed housing estate, the most recent being for one in Milford. Together these estates will totally change the character of this area.

In recent years the balance of power between local authorities and builders has been skewed in favour of builders by housing targets imposed by central government which have forced councils to approve planning applications. But housing targets were scrapped last year by Michael Gove... which means local authorities now have the power to make their own decisions about what houses are needed and where best to build them.

Increasingly local authorities are reviewing Local Plans and questioning whether it is still necessary to build on land previously designated for houses and if so what should be built. So why is NFDC continuing to give in to the demands of builders as if the rules haven’t changed?

It is time for NFDC to catch up with what has already happened in the rest of the country, including other parts of Hampshire, and look again at how sites, previously earmarked for housing but where planning consent has not yet been given, can best be used to meet genuine local need. It is time to pause and think again.

John Welsh

Milford