Opinion: 'If Tories have scrapped ‘top down’ housing targets, Whyburn Farm is safe'

Ashfield Independent councillors in Hucknall have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for confirmation his Government has dropped housing targets.

In a last-minute scramble for votes in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the Conservatives claimed they had scrapped the very housing targets which led to Whyburn Farm in Hucknall being under threat.

The Conservatives narrowly saw off a Labour victory in former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s old constituency, with the by-election loss being blamed on the expansion of a tax on polluting vehicles and the threat on building on the green belt land.

Coun Dave Shaw, a prominent campaigner against enforced Government housing targets, said, "The Ashfield Independent-run Ashfield Council has formally stood up to Conservative Housing targets.

“That's how Whyburn Farm and a site in Sutton were removed from our draft housing plan. Now, the Conservatives have claimed top-down housing targets have been scrapped by Rishi Sunak. This is excellent news and the first time, they have admitted this in public.

“We have written to the Prime Minister asking for him to confirm this. This is excellent news for residents in Hucknall."

The news has also been welcomed by Coun Lee Waters, who also represents Hucknall.

Coun Waters said: “The threat of house building on Whyburn Farm has been hanging over the Hucknall like a sword of Damocles. Now, with the Conservatives who run the Government claiming housing targets have been scrapped, we are calling on them to accept our draft local housing plan without Whyburn Farm in it.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the government does not decide on Local Plans, which are a matter for local councils, as “they are best placed to make local decisions”.

A spokesman said: “We are aware there is a consultation for Ashfield’s Local Plan later this year, when local people and councillors will be able to have their say.”