Indeed, if we stopped immigration our population would fall, due to low birth rate and some emigration. Though some who emigrate now probably do so partly because of immigration.
In my view lower population - taking density down towards the average rather than as it is, amongst the very highest in the world, would be a big improvement from which all sorts of benefits would flowXXXXXXXXX I
http://www.yourcanterbury.co.uk/blogs/if_we_controlled_immigration_we_would_not_have_a_housing_crisis_1_1029046
If we controlled immigration we would not have a housing crisis
Friday, September 23, 2011
8:00 AM
Ukip leader Nigel Farage attacks Coalition planning reforms
It is a truth universally acknowledged that we are suffering from a shortage of housing in this country. The challenge comes when we scratch
beneath the surface of this statement and look at how the problem has come about and, more importantly, what solutions exist to solve it.
According to the Local Government Association a record five million people are waiting for a council house, up 70 per cent on the late
1990s. At the same time house building has fallen to the lowest level since the 1920s with just 105,000 homes built last year.
The simple solution would seem to be to build more houses. The Government has proposed to slash existing planning laws from thousands of
pages to just 52. These reforms, we are told, are driven by the social and economic need, not lobbying.
There are two points which should be raised in response to such a claim. The first is that it has been discovered that the Conservative
Party has accepted millions of pounds from wealthy developers who donate money and in return get to meet up with senior party figures.
Tunbridge Wells MP and Planning Minister Greg Clark has, it has been controversially revealed, been mentioned in emails from the British
Federation of Planners saying how grateful the MP is for its lobbying which is making it very difficult for Prime Minister Cameron to
perform a U-Turn on the policy.
Mr Clark has been championing these changes and it has even been revealed that senior members of the house building industry helped draft
wording of the Government’s consultation.
Greg Clark MP has also not been so keen for mass building projects in previous years although the view from his charming town house is
protected by an Act of Parliament. In 2006 he campaigned fericiously against plans by the then Labour government for an additional 6000
homes in and around Tunbridge Wells, ‘garden grabbing’ as it became known, and insisted it was “a nationally imposed hike in housing numbers
that will place yet more prssure on our precious green spacesâ€.
Whilst I agree that building projects imposed from on high are wrong, it does strike me as rather hypocritical of Mr Clark to campaign
against it when in opposition but to champion it when in government.
The fact is there would not be such a need for housing had it not been for uncontrolled immigration, supported by Conservative, Labour, Lib
Dem and Green MEPs. But until we gain back control of our borders what we need to be doing is letting local people make decisions on housing
and planning in their areas. Parents want their children to be able to purchase homes; what they don’t want is to be landed with an ugly
housing estate. It’s time we trusted the people again.
Ukip believes there is a lack of democratic decision making in current planning. Local concerns are too easily overridden by remote,
unaccountable and undemocratic planning bodies and by major developers with large legal chequebooks, such as supermarkets. Major planning
schemes should not be overseen by a remote inspector, government minister or quango. Nor should major decisions on new housing and
development be made by EU bureaucrats and their regional agents.
Nigel Farage is leader of Ukip, a Kent MEP, and lives in Westerham
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Friday, 23 September 2011
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