When it comes to housing, local communities know best.

We in Staffordshire should not be forced to accept housing targets from above.

It’s been almost one year since the Government made house-building targets advisory. Having campaigned fiercely on this issue, I was thrilled by this news. I have always believed that local communities should be given a say when it comes to developments in their area rather than being forced to accept targets from above.

Perhaps I celebrated too soon, for as the nights have begun to draw in and the temperatures have dropped, the Autumn has brought with it the chilly spectre of centrally imposed housing targets. In fact, only a few weeks ago, when asked if he would ignore local opponents of development in order to meet national targets, Sir Keir Starmer responded with a resounding “yes, we are going to have to do that”.

Let’s make no bones about it: top-down planning is not the answer to our housing problems. Centrally imposed housing targets are arbitrary figures dreamed up miles away in London without the smallest regard for an area’s needs, or its character, or even its ability to meet those very targets. After all, what do officials in Westminster know about what makes communities tick in Penkridge or in Cheslyn Hay?

Well, if previous targets and proposals are anything to go by, I would have to say that they know regretfully little. Time and time again, we in Staffordshire have had to stand up to schemes that seek to turn our historic villages into holding pens for overspill from the West Midlands. We have had to push back against plans that carelessly eat into our green belt. From Perton to Bilbrook to Essington, we have found ourselves battling non-stop to preserve the soul and beauty of our region. This is not right.

Just for the sake of argument, let’s say we build all these houses and achieve our targets. That’s fantastic, the central planners announce, as they gleefully tick boxes on their clipboards. However, they seem to have forgotten that when we build new houses, we must also build new schools, new GP surgeries and new roads. But by then, the planners have already moved on to their next grand target, leaving behind local communities bursting at the seams.

The bottom line is clear: housing targets forced on Staffordshire from above will not work. They will not work for our local communities, but they also will not work for the country at large. And perhaps we must also ask ourselves what kind of country is willing to ride roughshod over local democracy for the sake of meeting centralised targets. That form of government has no place in the United Kingdom.

We exclude local communities from the planning process at our peril. The only system that will work is one that actively involves and supports local communities, responding to their needs and addressing their concerns. And that’s the sort of system I will continue to fight for.