Martin Webb, "Our beautiful Sussex countryside is under threat."

The government has set a target of 1.5 million new homes during this parliament, which has led to a surge in applications to build on rural greenfield sites across Sussex. Our villages and towns are in real danger of being engulfed by an urban sprawl of identikit homes, with the character of our county and its biodiversity changing forever.
Let’s be clear - we need more homes, but once farmers’ fields disappear to make way for houses, roads, or solar farms, they’re gone forever, with a huge impact on the environment, nature, and our ability to grow our own food.
The CPRE (Campaign for Rural England) recently reported that there are enough brownfield sites across the UK to meet our demand for new homes – this means land that has previously been built on, often in urban areas – and over 50% of these locations already have planning permission. The problem is that developers prefer to build on green fields. It’s cheaper, easier and more profitable for them.
As Mayor, I would establish a Rapid Review and Assessment Team to investigate all greenfield applications involving more than 20 houses - and pause applications in the meantime. I’d encourage brownfield first developments and ensure that local people have a proper say in planning decisions.
Fields should be reserved for farming, not for building on or converting into solar farms (there are many rooftops that can be used for this). Let’s think about better ways to utilise our brownfield sites and incorporate infrastructure such as doctors’ surgeries, schools, and shops.
If we think it through, we can get the homes we need without ruining Sussex in the process. Let’s not be the generation that concretes over the countryside.

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