Claire Ward, the Mayor of the East Midlands, has welcomed Government plans announced on Tuesday (30 July) to overhaul planning rules in a bid to accelerate housebuilding across the country.
Mayor Claire, who included a pledge to build more affordable homes in her mayoral campaign, said: “These are bold plans to revolutionise housebuilding – and my priority is to make sure they will make a real difference to the many people in the region who want and need a good, affordable home.
“These plans are still at a very early stage and we need to wait to see more detail before we can work through the implications of what it means for us, but a radical overhaul of a system that just wasn’t working is important for all of us who want to make this region a great place to live, work and learn.
“This is a region unlike any other in terms of the challenges around developments in the right places and I will be having early conversations with government so they get a clear idea about what will work here.
“We know we have some big opportunities if we are prepared to be ambitious and that’s what we want to do.
“I’ve always been clear that building the homes we need is an absolute priority, supporting our drive to deliver inclusive growth across the region and make a difference in our communities, but we want to do it in the right way, working with district and borough councils across the region.”
Mayor Claire said she was looking forward to working with the Government to get the best outcome for the East Midlands: “Our region needs new homes and, crucially, the infrastructure to go with it so that housing developments have good connections to jobs, schools and colleges.
“So I will continue to make the case for the funding we need to deliver the infrastructure of road, rail and public transport so we can unlock the private sector investment in new homes and jobs.
“I’m impatient to get on with delivering for the people in our region and this is a very welcome first step.”
