In the Spring on 2023, the Labour MP Rupa Huq was crowing about her role in preventing new builds in her West London constituency of Ealing. An opponent of the redevelopment of Perceval House, she was basically congratulating herself for exacerbating the housing shortage in the capital city. And for what, votes? No wonder so many young people were angry. (The Times, 15 May, 2023)
In Cambridge, during the early summer of 2023, the Conservative MP Anthony Browne ridiculed proposals by the Housing Secretary Michael Gove to create a housing quarter in this thriving university city and tech hub. The eastern end of the much discussed but barely delivered Oxford-Cambridge arc project would have benefitted both nationally and internationally from an extensive housing project that brought in fresh investment and people, and stimulated local construction. And of course it would have provided much-needed housing for young people and families in East Anglia. (Guardian, 24 July, 2023)
At the other end of the un-triumphant arc, the Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has opposed development along the North Oxford Corridor between Kidlington and Yarnton since 2017. Yet having driven along the A44 recently, it’s clear the countryside is increasingly penetrated by urban fringe. It’s scrappy greenbelt which could become a master-planned housing quarter for this university city. (Layla Moran: “I am against the proposed developments on the Green Belt (ourgreenbelt.uk))
But it’s very unlikely to happen. Three English cities at the heart of present and future prosperity, and with strong international reputations, simply don’t have the elected officials with the bravery and imagination to look for growth, and a time when the country is crying out for it. Until politicians get to grips with a sclerotic planning system and embrace visionary projects again, and are brave enough to face down the NIMBYs, the housing crisis in England will only get worse.
Leave a Reply