The leader of Lichfield District Council has denied claims the authority is capitulating to demands from other areas for help to meet their housing needs.
Cllr Doug Pullen’s comments come after a former cabinet member said too many houses were being proposed over the next 20 years as part of the Local Plan.
Cllr Liz Little, who resigned from the cabinet over concerns about the plans, said the council was damaging the heritage of the area by pushing ahead with an agreement for more than 9,000 new homes.
“I do not think we have pushed back enough on the numbers we have allocated from our neighbouring authorities – it is a duty to cooperate not to capitulate.”
Cllr Liz Little, Lichfield District Council
But Cllr Pullen said the numbers did not support Cllr Little’s claims, with the Local Plan 2040 outlining how around 2,600 homes will be built to help meet the needs of other areas rather than 4,500 originally deemed appropriate.
“If you look at the numbers alone there’s evidence that we’ve pushed back.
“Our own evidence base gives a number around 4,600 homes that we could take under the duty to cooperate, but we’ve reduced that right down to the 2,600.
“We’re absolutely pushing back while also acknowledging the fact that if we don’t cooperate then the plan will be found unsound which potentially creates open season for developers and we lose all control about how we shape the future of the district.
“The reduction in numbers from what our evidence base shows we can take to the number we have arrived at demonstrates that we are not capitulating yet we are cooperating.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
As new housing developments go up across Lichfield and Burntwood, Cllr Pullen said that given many of the targets are set using national guidance, the focus should not just be on the numbers of homes being built.
“While the Local Plan looks at housing numbers, what it doesn’t look at is how we build communities.
“How do we translate the numbers determined nationally and that are, by and large, imposed upon us? How do we taken them and translate that into communities in our district that people want to live, work and play in?
“That really needs to be our focus as an organisation.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
The Local Plan 2040 will be discussed at a meeting of Lichfield District Council’s cabinet on 7th December.
