Housing Minister Kris Hopkins today gives his support to the view that this newspaper has been expressing for years – don’t build new homes on our green spaces when there are so many brownfield sites available.
When the Telegraph & Argus launched its Save Our Green Spaces campaign in February 2011, our readers identified hundreds of sites suitable for thousands of homes, all in city or town settings rather than in the countryside.
Today Mr Hopkins calls on the Council to meet its housing target – a target this newspaper still remains dubious of, in any case – by allocating more housing in the city centre, by using available land and by bringing disused homes back into use.
Regardless of the actual level of demand, there is no doubt in our mind that what the district needs most is not high-priced homes built in rural locations, but affordable housing in the heart of Bradford.
These are the homes that will accommodate the large social housing need that undoubtedly exists, and these are also the homes that will meet the demand of the manufacturing workers who will be coming here if the Producer City initiative continues to move forward.
As Mr Hopkins says, the challenge is in the city centre. The housing population boom is not in Keighley and Ilkley and the rural areas around them – it’s in the centre of Bradford.
It is important that having made his views clear on the matter, the minister now works closely with Bradford Council to reduce the impetus to develop green field sites and help bring in builders who are prepared to take on the city centre demand.
And hopefully the voices of the thousands of local residents who backed our campaign will now be heard, and our precious green spaces protected from being ravaged by developers.
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