Concerns over building projects in Yorkshire

Permalink: Concerns over building projects in Yorkshire
by Kay Murchie

The government recently announced it was to build 240,000 new homes each year for the next 10 years but there are fears over the location of the new properties in the Yorkshire region.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has expressed concerns over the number of proposed housing projects in the Yorkshire region. Under the new proposals, Yorkshire and Humber must accommodate 22,140 new homes each year, which is nearly half 500,000 new homes in the next 20 years.

It is feared by the CPRE that developers will choose prime greenbelt locations in order to meet market demand. According to the CPRE, this is a huge increase on the developments proposed by the Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Assembly.

The CPRE is concerned that brownfield sites could be neglected under the proposals, along with the need for social housing.

As well as the concerns for housing, the proposals included shops, community facilities, new schools and hospitals and these all create a threat to the natural landscape.

Gill Stride, CPRE’s policy officer for Yorkshire and the Humber, said that the government have said they want to develop brownfield sites and pledged support for the greenbelt but if the increase in housing numbers goes ahead, it will result in a wave of urban sprawl, long-distance commuting and congestion.

Ms Stride concluded that if the scale of development is genuinely required, it must be built in the most suitable locations and that the environment has the capacity to accommodate it.