Action group buoyed by new homes figures
The number of new houses needed in a Staffordshire district is less than half the target figure being imposed by the Government, campaigners say.
The number of new houses needed in a Staffordshire district is less than half the target figure being imposed by the Government, campaigners say.
Government targets demand Lichfield district accommodates 8,000 extra homes by 2026.
But members of the Fradley-based Fact action group, which opposes large-scale developments, says the true housing need as assessed by Lichfield District Council is closer to 3,000. Chairman Richard Holloway said members were "buoyed" after hearing figures from the council .
They heard them at a public meeting about the local development framework last week, but Mr Holloway has now questioned why the authority is willing to accept the inflated target.
"While we will continue to robustly challenge the rationale for the Government's target of 8,000 houses in the district, we were heartened to hear from the council's own planning officials that their own assessment is for a much lower figure," Mr Holloway said.
"This does, however, raise a wider question about why the council is prepared to accept a target of 8,000 when their own assessment puts the figure closer to 3,000."
Lichfield District Council said the lower figure refers only to local housing need, and does not take into account people moving into the district over the next 15 years.
However, the authority added that it would be making a case for the Lichfield district's housing figures to be kept at a "sustainable" level when they are being reviewed later this year.
Richard King, the council's strategic director of democratic, development and legal services, said: "At the meeting we explained that the 3,000 figure only refers to local housing need, which does not include the projected number of houses needed for people moving into the district.
"The Regional Spatial Strategy takes both these figures into account.
"However, we will be making a case for our housing figures to be kept at a sustainable level, and that they should not be increased, when they are reviewed by the Government inspector as part of the phase two revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy."
