The government’s flagship new towns programme risks faltering without a significant injection of central funding, the House of Lords Built Environment Committee has warned, following publication of the New Towns Taskforce report.
The Committee welcomed the “rigorous” report, released at the weekend and noted that many of its recommendations mirror its own inquiry findings, due to be published in mid-October under the title New Towns: Laying the Foundations.
Both reports emphasise the importance of community involvement, long-term stewardship and innovative funding models for infrastructure.
However, the Committee cautioned that enthusiasm alone will not deliver new communities. “Without the commitment to significant additional central government funding, the programme will struggle to deliver any viable new towns or expanded settlements,” it said.
CLEAR ROADMAP
The government has committed to undertaking a Strategic Environmental Assessment of potential sites but has yet to set out a clear roadmap for delivery.
Lord Gascoigne (main picture, inset), Chair of the Built Environment Committee, said: “I am very pleased to see how carefully and deeply the Taskforce has fulfilled its remit to produce a detailed and rigorous report. I am even more pleased to see how closely the Taskforce recommendations echo those of the Built Environment Committee.
“In particular, the alignment between the Committee and the Task Force on issues such as community involvement, stewardship, and the opportunity to test new ways of funding infrastructure shows that the Government should be bold in taking forward thinking on these issues.”
BUILD, BABY, BUILD
And he added: “The Secretary of State has committed to “build, baby, build!”. My challenge to him is to follow through on this promise and do so to the highest standards.
“The country urgently needs a visionary housebuilding programme that captures the public’s imagination and delivers the ambition and quality of the post-war New Towns Programme. Now is the time to act.”
