Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey claimed the Conservatives have been the “developers’ friend” which has seen the “wrong houses being built in the wrong places”, during a visit to the Mid Bedfordshire village of Aspley Guise,
He was responding to the Conservative candidate’s own claim that the Lib Dems want to impose new house-building targets on local authorities and make it easier to build on the Green Belt.
Read: Conservative Mid Bedfordshire candidate says he’s “not a NIMBY”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked Davey why his party plans to concrete over Mid Bedfordshire. “Well, we don’t,” Davey replied, “The Conservatives are trying to tell this story because they’re embarrassed about their record.
“[The Conservatives] have allowed a developer-led planning and housing policy which has seen the wrong houses in the wrong places and it hasn’t dealt with the housing crisis,” he claimed.
“And today, we’re seeing the Conservatives get rid of a regulation about water quality, which is exactly what the developers, their financial backers, have asked for.
“So I’m afraid the Conservatives have got such a bad record on this.
“We do need new homes, but we need a community-led approach to planning and housing where the community is consulted, and you build communities with the infrastructure that the new homes need,” he said.
Davey claimed the Conservatives had a history of favouring their “developer friends” over ordinary people.
“The Conservative Party gets a quarter of its income from developer donations and you don’t have to work out why the Conservatives always bend over backwards for developers,” he claimed.
“There was a regulation brought in by the Liberal Democrats for zero carbon homes, so that all new homes would be far more energy efficient and ready for climate change.
“The Conservatives got rid of that because a few of their developer friends didn’t like it.
“That means that those people are having higher energy bills and it’s going to be more difficult to tackle climate change.
“So I’m afraid the Conservatives have a history over many years of favouring developers over ordinary people,” he said.
Referring to the Conservative’s current campaigning around planning, Davey said: “I think the Conservatives are worried. The Conservative candidate, who is a big friend of Nadine Dorries, is right to be worried.
“He has a poor record on crime and policing and he’s out of touch with the people of Mid Bedfordshire, and he’s not putting forward a positive programme,” he claimed.
“If you look at the Liberal Democrat candidate, Emma Holland-Lindsay, who was born here, raised here, lives here. She understands this area and as the local champion I think she has the best chance to beat the Conservatives here.”
Ms Holland-Lindsay lives in the county, but she doesn’t actually live in Mid Bedfordshire, is there a difference?
“I think people in Mid Bedfordshire don’t quite see those differences. This is a county that she knows incredibly well, and she’s lived here all her life,” Davey said.
by John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
