The issue of housing was one of several hot topics on which some of the candidates standing to be South Ribble's next MP were quizzed during a hustings event.
The Lancashire Post, Lancashire Lead, Blog Preston and the Local Democracy Reporting Service invited all five candidates standing for the South Ribble constituency at next week's general election to a debate in which they fielded questions from voters.
Four of those on the ballot took part in the event. In order of appearance from left to right on the stage, they are:
KATHERINE FLETCHER - Conservative
PAUL FOSTER - Labour
ANDY HUNTER - Reform UK
ANGE TURNER - Liberal Democrats
The one other candidate for the South Ribble constituency, who was unable to attend, is:
STEPHANI MOK - Green Party
The Lancashire Post, Lancashire Lead, Blog Preston and the Local Democracy Reporting Service invited all five candidates standing for the South Ribble constituency at next week's general election to a debate in which they fielded questions from voters.
Four of those on the ballot took part in the event. In order of appearance from left to right on the stage, they are:
KATHERINE FLETCHER - Conservative
PAUL FOSTER - Labour
ANDY HUNTER - Reform UK
ANGE TURNER - Liberal Democrats
The one other candidate for the South Ribble constituency, who was unable to attend, is:
STEPHANI MOK - Green Party
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NewsTranscript
00:00So the first theme of the evening is housing and a question that somebody here in this audience has
00:05asked what we would do to help the code housing situation here in South Ribble. This person says
00:10that for a young person buying a house in South Ribble feels like an unattainable dream. They've
00:15lived here their whole life but as a result of rising interest rates, ballooning house prices,
00:20sluggish wage growth and spiralling costs of living, it seems impossible for them to afford
00:25a house and stay in the local area. So how would you respond to that? We'll come to you first Andy.
00:36I think that interestingly people may be aware that I've been involved in quite a few planning
00:43issues in the borough over the past couple of years and actually I think that in South Ribble
00:52these guys, the South Ribble Borough Council do a pretty good job so credit to them. It's a difficult
00:59one. This is not an inexpensive area and therefore the cost of houses is going to be quite often
01:07above the range of many people, not just young people. We have probably got a lot of brownfield
01:14sites that could possibly be potential development areas and if we put the right
01:22thoughts into how we can do that and get the right people to invest we can probably start building
01:29sensible patterns of housing across the relevant areas of the Council. That would be my immediate
01:38response. Andy thank you, if you could pass the mic to Anj, Anj you go next. Hi, well housing is a
01:45critical issue in the whole of the country and it isn't right for our young people to not get a base
01:51where they live and build their family and their future here. To be honest with you I think our
01:59planning system needs actually massive reform. So for example in South Ribble itself we have
02:09building developers who get planning permission to build homes and then they land bank them
02:16and what that does it doesn't provide the requirement in the community that we need. So
02:22for instance in South Ribble we've got pembergan mills and vernons and there's probably
02:29approximately and I could be wrong on the quantity around a thousand houses that could be built there
02:34and hopefully again once again the planning legislation in this country is failing people
02:47by not being more specific about the sort of housing that should be built.
02:53So we've got developers taking advantage of getting planning permission and not building
02:57houses, that needs correction and we've got developers who have the opportunity to amend
03:02the planning application to turn what is essentially planning applications that would
03:07build affordable homes for both the old people in our communities and the young people in our
03:15communities and then they put an amendment in and they suddenly build 200 huge five-bedroom houses.
03:21This has got to change. If you can't provide the kids in your community a starting life to build a
03:29family with an affordable home then this affects the whole of our economy and jobs in our economy
03:38as well. So I think our building regulation is broken. I have to stop you there if that's okay.
03:44If you can pass the mic to Paul. Paul your thoughts on housing in South Ribble. Yeah thanks for the
03:49comments I'll take that. South Ribble does do a good job as best it can. There's two or three
03:57issues here at play. Firstly I agree with what Angela said that there has to be wholesale planning
04:04reform. The current planning system just is not fit for purpose and it needs speeding up
04:11and it needs local authorities to be given the assurance that if a local authority
04:15makes a decision it isn't overturned by government. That's one of the reasons that
04:20we have so many delays in the planning process is the interference from government and many people
04:25sat in here will be aware of the Secretary of State's decision to overturn the almost 1400
04:31properties and permit them that this authority refused twice on very very very valid grounds.
04:39The second thing we must do in direct answer to the question social housing we must allow
04:46local authorities like we have started doing here in South Ribble to build their own social homes
04:54at affordable rents. We can afford to provide those homes. We want to provide those homes.
05:00It's current government legislation that prevents us from doing so. That is the only way we're going
05:06to get enough homes in South Ribble for our children and our friends and our families to
05:12live in. The under supply is chronic. We have almost 4,000 people, families on waiting lists
05:19for social housing in South Ribble. They're living in temporary accommodation some of them
05:25other than they're in private rented which is neither fit for purpose and it's probably about
05:29twice the going rent pot. So what I want to see is a wholesale social homes being built as we are
05:36doing in South Ribble currently and the legislation changed and that will help alleviate the problem.
05:42Paul thank you and Catherine finally to you your thoughts on how a young person in South
05:47Ribble could afford to stay and live in South Ribble. Well as your MP you would have expected
05:52me to have monitored this very closely. I've got cousins in Leyland. I've got cousins across the
05:58way in the parts of the constituency that I've just gone into Southport. You can buy a three
06:03bedroom terraced home within 15 minutes walk of main Leyland train station which is on a direct
06:10line to Manchester for approximately £125,000 and two people earning below the average wage
06:18could and would with support from government like abolishing stamp duty for first-time buyers
06:25find that an accessible home with some saving. Now does that mean that that's true all over the
06:31constituency? No absolutely not but I think it's important to remember that we aren't London and
06:36the southeast. When I go down south and advocate for a northern powerhouse I say to them why are
06:41you not screaming for a northern powerhouse in your Surrey Shires because your housing market
06:46is overheating and they have a very genuine problem. However here there are two or three
06:51points that I want to make. First of all Paul we know we've got £25 million for the Leyland town
06:59deal. Within that is approximately £700,000 from Home England to build social housing to say the
07:05government isn't supporting that sector is not true and the other thing with planning is Labour
07:11Party nationally are saying there's this thing called the grey belt. Now we as Conservatives
07:18support brownfield development. I think the manifesto's got some really interesting ideas in
07:22it about taking away some of the lack of financial incentives to build brownfield first as well as
07:29continuing to support first-time buyers but the idea that we just rip it all up is for the birds
07:37and Paul mentioned that planning application. The reason that planning application was put through
07:44by officials within the department is because the local council has an out-of-date local plan.
07:50This is not some kind of nifty wifty thing. It is a really important document that is what the
07:56officials use to identify what the housing is required by local council. So if you have a
08:03planning authority that on one hand is saying here is a field please build on it and on another hand
08:09is saying no no no don't build on it then unfortunately you put government in an
08:13envisious position. For the record I don't think BAME is suitable so take it out of the local plan
08:19and update it. The transforming plan which you mentioned it was in your local plan it was a
08:24specified and allocated site wasn't it so it's difficult for the council to then justify refusing
08:29it. No it's not because the land is identified as a potential site Paul if the proposals brought
08:36forward by the developers are appropriate and they weren't appropriate. So Catherine a couple of points
08:42the local plan in South Ribble is in date. We have a current local plan that is valid until 2015.
08:51So ladies and gentlemen you've just been told that South Ribble doesn't have a valid local
08:58plan. South Ribble very much does have a valid local plan. It is valid until 2015. We are currently
09:05in the process sorry bear with me sorry the current local plan is valid until 2025. We're
09:17currently in the process of developing the new local plan with our partners in Chorley and
09:22Preston and that's going to be submitted to the Secretary of State next year. Within the
09:30justification that Mr Gove gave for overturning the democratic decision of the local authority
09:36here in South Ribble there was no mention of the I've actually written to you about this Catherine
09:42as well you didn't respond actually there was no mention at all about the local plan not being
09:48valid. He actually stated in his response as did the inspector that the local plan was sound.
09:55The reason the reason the reason it was refused was on highways issues and the 582 in particular
10:04amongst other issues that the planning authority had. Catherine you also mentioned the town deal
10:11having 700,000 pounds I think you said from Homes England that's incorrect the 25 million pounds
10:17that government awarded South Ribble following the application from the council we didn't have
10:24any money from Homes England for housing. South Ribble Borough Council with the town board
10:31then applied to Homes England afterwards and we gained it's actually just short of eight million
10:38pounds worth of contributions towards social housing as part of the town deal. Can I just
10:45bring in well ask whether Andrew and Andy on those particular issues the issue of the local plan
10:51and it's suitability and it's I think it's an interesting debate and if you'd let them carry
10:57on with this it's great. Nothing to say on that one then Andy and yourself? Nothing to add to it?
11:07Sorry sir we're opening up to the floor at the end for questions on a lot of things.
11:10Why not now when we're talking about social housing?
11:12Just because that's the format that we've already agreed to you'll be able to ask a
11:19question you'll be able to ask that so you'll be able to ask that question so you'll be able to
11:24ask the poll that you're saying very very briefly because we will have to. Our kids need somewhere
11:30to live and just specifically on what Paul's saying because otherwise I think I'll go backwards. No no
11:36our kids need somewhere to live and I think the reform answer really does put a local window
11:42on the national line which is vote reform get Labour.