Housing decisions must be local

WEALDEN MP Charles Hendry has renewed his pledge to push for decisions on the number of new homes to be built in the area to be made locally, rather than by Ministers and civil servants in London.

Mr Hendry was speaking on Friday evening to Conservative supporters at the Hailsham Old Pavilion, including all of the town s Conservative County, District and Town councillors.

He said: We must all unite to fight the threat of thousands of more houses in the area. The infrastructure they would need, in terms of doctors, schools and transport, simply does not exist and I believe it is completely wrong that such important decisions are made by people who may never even have visited the area.

Mr Hendry said it was clear that only the Conservative Party could speak up for people on this issue: It is Labour, with Liberal Democrat support, which has pushed for even more houses than were originally recommended by the South East Regional Planning authority (SERPLAN). We must show the local community that we understand their fears and concerns and will support them all the way.

I have been very encouraged by the number of parish councils which have asked the Minister to think again and we must never stop in our campaign to show that we simply cannot cope with the number of homes the government is proposing.

Mr Hendry also spoke of the need to tackle the red tape which takes up so much time of those in the police, the health service and education. I marvel at the dedication of those working in our local public services. It must be a priority to enable them to get on with the jobs they were trained to do, rather than being government pen-pushers.