Shropshire Star

Telford greenfield homes row after Tory claim

A row broke in Shropshire today after a senior Tory candidate claimed a vote for Labour would lead to the "bulldozing of green fields" in Telford & Wrekin.

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Kuldip Sahota, leader of the Labour group for the borough council, hit back at the criticism and said it was simply not true.

The debate was sparked by comments made by Mark Pritchard, Conservative parliamentary candidate for the Wrekin, just days before the General Election.

Mr Pritchard said: "There is a clear choice at the borough and general elections. A stop to building on greenfield sites with the Conservatives or more bulldozing of green fields under Labour.

"There is no excuse for building new housing on greenfield land when there is so much brownfield land available in the borough. I oppose building on greenfield sites."

He backed claims made by Andrew Eade, leader of the council's Conservative group, who has continuously criticised the authority's Labour administration, saying it had allowed thousands of homes on green spaces.

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But Mr Sahota hit back by claiming it was the Conservative-led Government that had made it easier for developers to build on greenfield sites.

He said: "The Conservative party seems to have its main campaign focused on saying Labour are building on greenfield sites – this is far from it. In 2013, the Government made it easier for developers to get planning permission and we did our best to curb this. The Government made it a free-for-all.

"We now have a plan for the next five years, which would go before the cabinet in May, and that is for building houses on brownfield sites."

The last Government identified a need to find land for 4.4 million new housing units in England and Wales by 2016. In Telford alone, 20,000 homes must go up in the next 17 years.

Campaign groups have accused the council of letting developers build on greenfield rather than brownfield sites.

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