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Tories defend suburban gardens
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| Suburban homes: Under threat? |
The Conservatives have launched a campaign aimed at protecting suburban gardens and neighbourhoods from government planning rules.
The Tories published a new five-point plan on the subject on Friday, saying that Labour wants to build "pokey flats" on top of gardens or tax them.
Shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman said planning rules pioneered by deputy prime minister John Prescott were giving the go-ahead to building on gardens classified as 'brownfield' sites.
And she said council tax revaluation, which the government has delayed but not scrapped, will mean higher bills for family homes.
The party called for more affordable larger homes to be built for families rather than small flats with no green spaces or parking facilities.
"Across the country, there is growing concern about how John Prescott's planning rules are leading to leafy gardens being dug up and replaced with soulless and ugly blocks of flats," Spelman said. "The price of family homes is artificially inflated due to developers being forced to build flats.
"Local people are increasingly powerless to protect the character of their neighbourhood, and communities are suffering from the extra burden being placed on local infrastructure.
"These planning rules prevent the development of new homes that the public actually want - family homes with sufficient parking spaces and gardens for children to play in.
"Worse could be to come, with even harsher planning regulations on the way and the prospect of compulsory purchase of gardens for 'social' purposes. And if they're not going to build over your garden, Gordon Brown will tax it instead under his plans for a delayed, but still forthcoming, council tax revaluation."
But communities minister Baroness Andrews claimed the policy conflicted with Conservative leader David Cameron's pledge to support the building of more homes.
Labour said draft government planning advice made clear that while residential gardens are defined as brownfield land, "this does not necessarily mean that they are suitable for development".
"This is another Cameron flip flop. Six months ago he told us he wanted to ditch the Tories 'nimby' image but now he's launching the ultimate 'nimby' campaign," Baroness Andrews argued.
"The Conservative policies just don't add up. Their proposals can only mean big cuts in new homes which would be devastating to first time buyers or massive building on the countryside. They are opposing new homes everywhere which will push up the price of new homes.
"Tory policy would make it harder for people to get planning permission to build extensions. The Labour government thinks we should cut red tape to make it easier to build extensions where it doesn't impact on the neighbours."
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