Council chiefs say they “do not roll over” when it comes to housebuilding across Lichfield and Burntwood.
The cabinet at Lichfield District Council backed the submission of the Local Plan which outlines how thousands of new homes could be built over the next 20 years.
The meeting was told that mandatory figures from the Government meant there was little the local authority could do to prevent new housing being built.
Of the total dwellings due to be built, more than 2,600 are earmarked to help councils in the Greater Birmingham and Black Country areas meet their own housing needs.
But deputy leader Cllr Iain Eadie said the local authority was placing restrictions on the number homes being built as part of the legal duty to cooperate with neighbouring authorities.
“We do not roll over – if we were, we’d be allowing 4,500 homes for neighbouring authorities.
“We are certainly not doing that.
“We do not let developers get away with building anything without consequences. We ensure that we seek Section 106 contributions or now Community Infrastructure Levy money which is effectively a tax on development.
“This money is used to deliver infrastructure. Recently, we took a decision to allocate money to help with the canal restoration and build a new community centre.
“There is more Community Infrastructure Levy money to be allocated in the future and that comes to us when the houses have been built. We’d all prefer to have it in advance, but we do receive it when it is built and it is therefore on us to ensure that money is passed on to communities to deliver infrastructure they rightly demand.”
Cllr Iain Eadie, Lichfield District Council
The Local Plan identifies were future housing will be built at strategic allocation sites in the period covering 2018 to 2040.
The council’s target for housing to meet the district’s own growth needs has been provided by the Government.
Cllr Eadie said this, combined with the actions of previous administrations, meant the local authority was limited as to where construction could and couldn’t take place.
“We are obligated by Government, so it doesn’t matter who is sitting here, it’s a requirement to provide homes – the number is mandated.
“The choices we have are the strategic sites as they were set before this council was formed when it was decided to achieve this through urban expansion.
“In an ideal world we’d all choose not to see further development because we all know the issues it creates in terms of demands on infrastructure and the impact on roads and the highway network, but we do find ourselves in a situation where Government says we must.”
Cllr Iain Eadie, Lichfield District Council
