Michael Gove sparks Tory civil war on plans to solve chronic shortage of properties as backbencher blasts proposals as being ‘dead on arrival’ – but the senior minister insists it will serve ‘the national interest’
- Michael Gove announced plans for a new ‘urban quarter’ in heart of Cambridge
- But Tory MP Anthony Browne slammed plans as ‘dead on arrival’ and ‘nonsense’
Plans to solve Britain’s housing shortage erupted in a row yesterday when a Tory scheme to build 50,000 homes in Cambridge was shot down by one of the party’s own MPs.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled the project, which will help to fulfil a promise to build a million new homes by the end of this Parliament.
A new urban quarter in Cambridge will be Mr Gove’s top priority on a list of 20 centres earmarked as part of an ‘inner-city renaissance’.
But plans to turn the city into the next Silicon Valley via radical regeneration were immediately branded ‘nonsense’ and ‘dead on arrival’.
Anthony Browne, Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire, said the area did not have enough water to supply thousands of new homes.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove (pictured) and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled the project
A new urban quarter in Cambridge will be Mr Gove’s top priority on a list of 20 centres earmarked as part of an ‘inner-city renaissance’. Pictured: Aerial view of Cambridge University
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He said: ‘I will do everything I can to stop the Government’s nonsense plans to impose mass housebuilding on Cambridge, where all major developments are now blocked by the Environment Agency because we have run out of water.
‘Our streams, rivers and ponds already run dry. Until the Government can explain how Cambridge is going to get more water, its plans to impose even more housebuilding are dead on arrival.’
Mr Browne added: ‘Cambridge already has about the highest housebuilding in the country and, under the local plans, that is set to double with 50,000 new homes by 2050, effectively doubling the size of Cambridge.
‘But there is one major problem – we have run out of water.
‘There is not enough water for existing housing, there is not enough for the major expansion of housing already planned, and there is not enough for government plans for a new quarter.’
Last month the Environmental Agency objected to a major housing development in Cambridgeshire over water fears.
Mr Sunak (right), on a visit to Cofton in Birmingham yesterday, added: ‘No one is doing mass housebuilding in Cambridge, this is about adding a new urban quarter, which is something local communities have spoken about.
The watchdog railed against five planning applications, which would see at least 4,425 properties built in the south of the county, ‘on the basis that the water supply for these developments will pose a significant risk to our water environment’.
But Mr Gove said: ‘I’m sure Conservative backbenchers and others, once they have a chance to look at our plans, will realise that this is in the national interest and that’s why we’re acting.
‘I’m sure we’ll find a compelling way forward. We can’t have Cambridge – an exceptional city – being held back.’
Mr Sunak, on a visit to Cofton in Birmingham yesterday, added: ‘No one is doing mass housebuilding in Cambridge, this is about adding a new urban quarter, which is something local communities have spoken about.
‘And that will be done in dialogue with local communities.’
The plans – which also involved relaxing planning rules to make it easier to turn shops and takeaways into homes – focused on avoiding developing on the green belt, much to the delight of many Tory MPs.
Mr Gove said the Government will be ‘using all of the levers that we have to promote urban regeneration rather than swallowing up virgin land’.
And his predecessor Simon Clarke insisted: ‘This is a good day – Michael Gove has announced serious agenda items that can help to unlock new homes at scale.
‘The Conservative Party either defeats NIMBYism or NIMBYism will assuredly defeat us.’
Mr Gove also received the backing of MP Bob Seely, who last year led a Tory rebellion against mandatory housing targets.
He said: ‘This is absolutely what we need to be doing – ending our lazy reliance on greenfield development. Most MPs will back the plans.’
Ex-Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers said: ‘This is a good way to deliver a high volume of new housing without resorting to building on the green belt or forcing tower blocks on low rise suburban areas.’
Yet ex-minister David Davis claimed: ‘Building on brownfield sites is of course very welcome, as is the Government’s drive to deliver new homes, but we cannot rely on brownfield sites alone to cover our country’s significant and growing housing needs.’
The move comes after revelations that the majority of local authorities have failed to build a single council home in the past five years.
The Government is also to fast track major infrastructure projects – such as off-shore wind farms, transport links and nuclear power stations – under other new plans.
Reforms to streamline the process for any developments that provide community and environmental benefits will seek to slash ‘needless bureaucracy’.
A special fast-track route will be established so planning approval can be obtained more efficiently for these projects.
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