Council accused of 'U-turn' on housing

Councillor Andrew Eade, the leader of the borough Conservative group, says the local authority has altered its data to say there is only enough land available in the borough to build homes for two-and-a-half years.

Until recently the council had said there was enough available land for 14 years of building, Councillor Eade claimed. Government policy says local authorities should have at least five years' worth of land available for development.

Councillor Eade says that this change will mean that the council's planning committee will be forced to approve any application for new houses.

He said: "What it means is that the planning committee can no longer turn down housing applications anywhere in the borough because of housing needs, which is ridiculous.

"This clearly heralds a change to local planning policy and potentially opens up the floodgates to any prospective housing developer that can satisfy the somewhat ill-defined requirements embedded in the National Planning Policy Framework's concept of sustainable development. The implications are quite serious. We asked why the land supply data had been changed and they said it's due to new evidence based on legal advice.

"We asked to see the evidence and they said it's not written down because it was a telephone conversation."

Councillor Eade said the move would lead to more houses being built on greenfield land. He said: "They are selling the soul of Telford & Wrekin."

Council spokesman Russell Griffin said: "There has been no change in local policy. This is a national matter rather than a local one. It is affecting planning authorities up and down the country and the evidence of recent cases clearly demonstrates this. The council has had to interpret the position in relation to its housing land supply, as required by the Government and confirmed by planning inspectors at recent appeal inquiries."