Possible boost for brownfield development in Babergh

It is probably welcome news that Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils have made the Government’s short list of potential 'Housing Zones'.   The final ten, from a  list of  29 local authority areas, will be announced in the next few weeks.

Given that Babergh and Mid Suffolk are the only East Anglian councils on the list, I would have thought that there is a good chance that they will make the final cut.

For those of us who are concerned about excessive development, the news is less alarming than it sounds since the housing in question is destined for brownfield sites only.  The designation would mean that the councils would have access to funding for purposes such as decontamination (often a problem on brown field land), infrastructure development and community facilities.  

There is not a huge amount of information available at present, and the councils are being coy about which particular sites they have in mind (although they will have nominated some in their application) . There is no doubt however that becoming a housing zone should accelerate development on appropriate sites which might otherwise prove difficult to bring forward.

It is generally preferable for development to take place on brown field land  because it probably means that there might be some chance of fending off excessive  building activity in nearby countryside for a while longer. 

For those who can access Times on line more information about the Housing Zone scheme can be found here.