We must build many more affordable houses in this country. I lived in Stevenage until I was nine years old. My parents moved there from London to have a family, after leaving Northern Ireland a few years earlier to enjoy the swinging sixties. The new town of Stevenage was a triumph of central planning, but it took many years to become a vibrant, settled place.
The genesis for Stevenage was in the post-war years of reconstruction. The story of the Labour minister breaking the news to the townspeople in a small, crowded hall remains recognisable today. As the then Minister of town and country planning, Lewis Silkin, stood before the anxious residents, he announced a bold vision for Stevenage – the first of the new towns designed to solve the post-Second World War housing crisis and urban congestion. The initiative was part of the broader New Towns Act of 1946, which aimed to create self-contained communities with adequate housing, jobs and amenities, reflecting the utopian ideals of the era.
Silkin was lucky to get away from the meeting without injury. The angry residents let down his car tyres, hurled abuse at him and changed the signs on the town to “Silkingrad”. I have no doubt that Angela Raynor is just as robust, but times change and people are even less inclined to defer to authority today.
There is renewed talk of new towns. Not here in North Dorset, but Stevenage illustrates that bold visions do not become reality without top-down direction and overcoming objections. Labour proposes to rekindle that spirit and suppress NIMBYism. They say they are prepared to be unpopular.
That’s all fine … but I am confident that without the consent of affected communities, the targets will not be met and the outcome will be at risk.
That is why Liberal Democrats prefer to agree to support good development and oppose bad development. We want great homes for people and we adopted higher targets than Labour, because that is what younger people demanded and so clearly need. The difference between good and bad development depends on swift engagement, genuine exploration and transparent decisions between local and national government and communities.
Our planning system is rightly cited as a major blocker to development: but the question of what is in it for the affected community must be answered, and the consequences understood. I know that Nick Ireland and the Liberal Democrat controlling group at Dorset Council have set out a vision for future housing in Dorset, and we look forward to the community engagement that will secure more houses while retaining support.
We need to give more people the chance to enjoy our Dorset life and build their future here. We need to do that by urgently building community consent and backing the vision for good development.
Gary Jackson
North Dorset LibDems
