23/10/2011 The Politics Show East Midlands

Here, at the battle for the green belt - the Labour council leader

who says we need to build on it verses the Tory MP who says it must

be protected. And the local authority seeking new ways to save

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1797 seconds

Hello, I'm Marie Ashby, with the stories especially for everyone

here in the East Midlands. Coming up: England's green and pleasant

land. But are we doing enough to protect it? First, the controversy

over the Green Belt. Should it be sacrosanct? Or should houses

sometimes come first? Our political editor, John Hess, has been at the

heart of the action this week. Under the Autumn berries, there's

pressure to find development land Residents on the war path. They're

angry at plans to build new homes on green belt land. If we put all

these houses on here, it is going to be terrible. They are worried

their area will become urban sprawl. This land was designated green belt

50 years ago, as a buffer zone between the cities of Nottingham

and Derby. There and p this week took their case to Parliament.

Borough Council, having accepted a target of almost 6000 homes, means

that the only place they can be built is on Green Belt. I am

opposed to it. Would you be happy to approve a housing development on

green belt? I would. This country needs to build houses. It is the

construction industry that will lead this country out of recession.

The massive MacMillan housing boom of the 1950s followed the

introduction of green belt to the big conurbations of the Midlands.

Leicestershire has its green wedges and Derbyshire its national park.

This farmland at Toton is part of the green belt around Nottingham,

but it's being chipped away. According to an Ursu Britain with

this new development on the outskirts of Nottingham, built on

former Green Belt land, is simply unacceptable. The whole development

is constructed with appalling building regulations, which often

led to learn over dense regulation. This estate looks smart enough, by

ask the residents here if they think their homes are rather

crammed in. Yes. They are not taking account of the size of the

driveway, families have two cars, the roads are not white enough.

Planners have been amazed, that it was given permission. In the East

Midlands, 22,000 new homes a year was the aim of. It is now barely

half that. In future, local councils will decide how many homes

they need. But will that address the much bigger picture? In the

East Midlands particularly, we have the most rapidly increasing grip of

over 65, and housing needs to meet that. It is over 3000 people

currently working for social homes. Affordability is an issue. You need

plenty of cash to buy into the exclusive Saxon Dale estate in rush

cliff. Many of the homes have been built on green parkland, and

approved by a Conservative council. -- Green Belt land. The

government's localism Bill becomes law next April, promising to give

local communities and councils a much bigger say on future housing.

So when it to protect and enhance our green belt? Not necessarily.

The green belt comes around in an arc. The leader of Rushcliffe

Council, Neil Clarke, points out the green belt in his borough.

There will be immense pressure on the green belt, and we will be

going to those communities to ask what sort of level of development

they believe they can cope with, and it may well be that some of

that does encroach in an old field in the green belt. Better committee

consultation is what the localism Bill Office, and an opportunity for

some it to celebrate and protect the green belt. It has, by and

large, worked. Not perfectly, but it has had strong protection,

building on the green belt has always needed special justification.

So by and large it has worked. outcome of this debate will shape

the future of our green and pleasant land. So protect the Green

Belt at all costs, or lose some of it if the trade off is much needed

new homes? With me now, the two protagonists we heard from in

John's film, the Conservative MP for Broxtowe, Anna Soubry and the

Labour leader of Broxtowe District Council, Milan Radulovic. Milan

says there is no where else to build these homes. The problem is

that brought Stoke, along with a number of other councils, are

together on a board, looking at how and where to build homes for

Greater Nottingham. The difficulty, and by a dispute with Milan is that

we have accepted a target of 6000. We have got enough brownfield sites

for 2000. So that means the remaining 4000 can only be built on

green belt. And we are the most densely populated Borough in the

whole of Nottinghamshire. The so you need more houses? Note, we

don't have the land. Anybody who knows our patch of Nottingham knows

that there is very little green belt, because we are so densely

populated. So our green belt is absolutely essential. Or you will

have us brawl, like you have got from the city centre out to Long

Eaton. -- have sprawl. This is a real concern, this idea of the

urban sprawl, and no agreement between. I think both an and I see

the problem the same. They risk a potential for urban sprawl, right

the way through to South Derby. What we are proposing is something

slightly different to what is being portrayed here. By working together,

which we are required to do as a government, we are trying to put

forward an evidence-based case for protection of the maximum amount of

green belt between Bridestowe and Nottingham, Nottingham and Derby,

by allocating those sites that we see are essential for regeneration

and growth, particularly in the north, which has been hit hardest

by cuts and job losses. So we both share the same objective, I think

the process is different. But she doesn't agree you're trying to

protect the green belt. I don't. Being a fair to Milan, he makes the

point that half the Borough Council, which includes part of the area not

in my constituency, so when you talk about Eastwood, that is not my

argument, and there is probably a very good argument that he would

advance about growth in Eastwood. Because let's face it, it has been

neglected. But if they are not enough brownfield sites, where all

these how it is going to go? That is the question. There are places

around, but it is not my job to say where they are going to go, where I

represent a constituency where we have had enough housing built out

at a cost. There is a difference between green belt and green field.

She saying you don't have to build on the green belt. It is what the

minister has told me. Let still with the numbers. The numbers we

are looking at at the moment is an evident based, statistical response

to the communities and local government figure. They say in

South Nottinghamshire, wooded 7000 properties. We are going into

public inquiry to defend the figure that the MoD -- a figure should be

much lower, because it would mean the loss of essential green belt.

We would continue to examine, through the inquiry, and indeed

challenge, where necessary, those figures. Those projection figures

at this stage. We are consulted on projected figures. We will continue

to examine that in the light of our ability to bring forwards sides

with the construction industry. you still have to build houses. The

Tory leader in rush Cliffe says to meet the demand for new homes, they

have had to build on green belt land at Saxon Dale. Well, that was

a brownfield site originally, the heart of it. Some of it is. The

really important thing is this, that local communities, and that is

what the local Bill empowers them is that they make the decision. If

that is what they want in a rush Cliffe, that is fine. My argument

is that they are imposing it on people, and all the public meetings

I have been to, people have come away saying it is a done deal, and

they are angry because they feel they are not having a real voice.

The localism Bint -- Bill means councils will no longer have to

abide by this target. That target was 22,000 homes. That is across

the East Midlands. There was a meeting with the inspector last

Friday, and the decision was that the strategy is the most robust way

of approaching an evidence-based projection of the need for

Nottingham City. Nothing is a done deal, and to say that places like

totem is a done deal is a complete fabrication. What residents should

do is look out for announcement in the next few weeks as a result of

the consultations. A consultation is exactly that. We are consulted

on the strategy across South Nottinghamshire, and the likely

locations of where those properties should be. It is a statistical and

evidence-based lead, based upon need, and there is a perceived need

to provide homes for young people, but homes that I energy efficient

and affordable. It is, as I said in your film, the construction

industry that is crying out for land and the opportunity to build.

There are something like 400,000 people employed directly and

indirectly in the construction industry. This is a chance, then?

Yes, that is why... My complaint is that not withstanding what Milan

says, I have been to the public meetings, I have heard what the

officers have said, and they have told the people that effectively it

is a done deal. I am delighted if it Milan says that as a result of

the consultation, that they are going to row back from that. We

have got enough brownfield land for 2000 homes, which can provide

social, affordable homes. All I'm complaining about is the acceptance

of the target before you have consulted with people, and this

lack of consultation. There are huge swathes that have not had any

consultation. You don't agree? is simply not true. It is. In 2009,

every householder was written to it. This is the third round of

consultation that we have carried out. Trying to interest people in

evidence-based projections is not the most exciting of subject was

that we accept that. We do accept there has a huge need for housing?

Every single resident in 2009 was written to. They have been two a

further bout of consultation. change in government. Through

community... We obviously need to watch this space. In the next few

weeks, they could be development. I want to bring up this concern, they

could be growing tension on Monday's vote. Eight Conservative

MPs in our region have already signed it, Heron Patrick Meyer Sir,

Nigel Mills, Mark Spencer, even Labour's Keith Vaz. I wouldn't be

signing it, and I won't be voting for it. Absolutely not. I was

elected on a manifesto that promised no more transfer of powers

from Westminster to Brussels without a referendum. We have

delivered on that. But the Conservative Party manifesto made

it clear we believed we should be in Europe but not run by Europe.

Your decision is not going to go down well with some of your Tory

supporters, is it? All I know, and there is a complete a brick of

agreements with the Milan, is what real people are concerned about now

is the jobs, NHS, education and crime. Europe, I'm afraid, is very

low down people's priorities. This is the wrong time to have a

referendum to stop thank you are joining me.

Now our local heritage is not just about the Green Belt. It's about

our historic buildings too. And this week English Heritage warned

that a growing number of them are at risk in the East Midlands. More

than 100, in fact. Robin Powell reports on how local authorities

and architects are actively seeking new ideas to save them.

It's a Gothic Revival masterpiece set in 200 acres of gardens, woods

and parkland. But Elvaston Castle near Derby has fallen heavily into

disrepair. The County Council says it can't afford the �700 000

required every year to run it. Now a report has warned that the castle

and grounds need more than �6 million of essential repairs, and

its future lies in the balance. The Friends of Elvaston Castle argue

that, with 650,000 visitors a year, the necessary funds can be found,

and says volunteers and community groups should be given the chance

to prove it. It does happen in other areas of the country, where

different councils, over the years, had used the same story, that the

properties deteriorated to such an extent that they just can't find

the funds to restore it. So the communities have restored the

properties, brought them back into public use, and now, they are

raising money for the local communities. Architect Richard

Blunt specialises in restoring historic buildings. Although he

says a "big society"-style solution might keep the castle grounds open,

he believes that only the private sector can provide the money

required to restore the castle itself to its former glory.

Derbyshire County Council did appoint a preferred development

partner several years ago. But restoration work has not yet begun.

Richard Blunt says the public ought to be told why not. We all should,

and in this country, we believe in open government. People should know

what our politicians are dealing with buildings they laugh. Elvaston

Castle is regionally important, they cannot ignore the concerns of

the residents, who feel something should be done. The County Council

says it's waiting on a report outlining different options for

securing Elvaston's future. Richard Blunt would relish the challenge of

restoring the castle himself. For now, he's focusing on renovating St

Helen's House in Derby. The City Council says the private sector has

a crucial role to play in protecting the city's historic

buildings. We are a historic city, we need to celebrate that. We need

to build these buildings into our regeneration plans, but were

quickly correct partners to do that. Richard Blunt knows the financial

pressures local authorities are under. He's the leader of North

West Leicestershire District and a Cabinet Member on Leicestershire

County Council. But he says it's vital that authorities don't

neglect their historic buildings. Anybody who watched down to an

Abbey will see these buildings as fantastic, but 100 years ago, they

passed into public ownership, they found 100 different uses. But as

the world goes on, these uses art suddenly no longer compliant with

health and safety, or wheelchair access, and buildings come back out

of public ownership and that is when they are most vulnerable.

Roberts is a council leader too, in Newark and Sherwood. The council

spends so much money maintaining and heating its headquarters -

Kelham Hall, designed by the celebrated Victorian architect

George Gilbert Scott - that councillor Roberts recently

proposed moving out. You're constantly being appalled, what we

need to spend to maintain these buildings, and so many other

initiatives. Child poverty, social housing, infrastructure, and so on.

One of the big problems with being a councillor nowadays is to decide

on priorities. He accepts there's no chance of additional funding for

some time, but Tony Roberts believes that in the long term the

authority will need more help from central government to maintain

buildings like Kelham Hall and Newark Castle. For now, his

colleague Nora Armstrong, Cabinet Member for Parks, is having to

think creatively. We have concerts here, we have Shakespearean plays,

we have just passed the Cabinet for weddings to take place here. We

need to generate income. Meanwhile, World Monuments Watch has warned

that Newstead Abbey - ancestral home of Lord Byron - is also under

threat. It's urging Nottingham City Council to come up with a plan for

its future. With budgets increasingly squeezed, we're likely

to hear plenty of similar warnings in the years ahead.

Time for a quick update on our story last week about a new EU

directive which will mean diabetic drivers, who have more than one

serious hyperglycaemic attack in a year, will lose their licences.

Roger Fell, whose wife was killed by a motorist who lost

consciousness at the wheel, attacked the Prime Minister for

criticising the directive. This week, David Cameron addressed the

issue again at PMQs. I can reassure my honourable friend that a

relatively few diabetics will lose their licence as a result of this

directive, and the DVLA is actually going back to the European

Commission to check its understanding of the interpretation

of the minimum standards of this directed, as we all know, of all

sides of the house, on to many occasions, departments gold plate

directives. Just time for a reminder that tomorrow's Inside Out

has a university special. We've the results of our survey asking sixth