This Week, an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to protect Green Belt land separating villages and towns from development was debated and voted on in Parliament.
Rebecca was a key player in ensuring this Bill was drafted and put forward. Had it passed, it would have had significant impact on development plans in Castle Point that seek to merge our community's villages and towns - like we have seen at Brook Farm on the edge of Daws Heath - explicitly prohibiting large-scale development projects on Green Belt land from taking place.
Unfortunately the Government decided not to back the amendment and have revealed their intent to assist developers in an effort to meet their ludicrous and unrealistic housing targets, even if it means destroying the character of towns and villages. They are pushing development on our Green Belt while doing nothing meaningful to get a land bank of over a million homes with planning permission actually built.
Rebecca is passionate about saving the Green belt in Castle Point and preserving the special character of the area. She has spoken out in the House of Commons chamber on a number of occasions in the past about promoting smaller brownfield sites for development to remove the threat of housing development or land banking from the virgin Green belt sites around Castle Point.
Currently Rebecca is calling for developers to reduce the number of homes they plan to build on the Green Belt at North Benfleet Hall. More information from the latest update on that particular case can be found here: www.rebeccaharris.org/news/north-benfleet-hall-planning-application-upd….
It is now more crucial than ever that Castle Point Borough Council adopt a Local Plan and to get it into place to protect our Green Belt from speculative applications.
Commenting after the vote, Rebecca said: "I am bitterly disappointed that the Labour Government decided not to back the amendment to protect our Green Belt land from development. Not only have they failed to protect the beautiful green spaces which we all cherish, but they have endangered areas which cannot cope with a dramatic increase in housing. Castle Point has suffered terrible flooding in recent years and inappropriate housing developments will only put the constituency at greater risk.
"I am grateful to my parliamentary colleague, Paul Holmes MP, for mentioning my work on this amendment at the dispatch box, and I pledge to my constituents that I will keep on standing with them against inappropriate development on the Green Belt that local residents treasure."
