Council threats court action against Government

8:50pm Wednesday 15th October 2008

A council chief executive has threatened to take the Government to court over ’ludicrous’ house-building targets.

In a letter to staff Mid Sussex District Council’s John Jory reacted angrily to a target outlining that the authority must build 18,000 homes in the South East Plan.

The issue was discussed at a meeting of the council's cabinet at which there were many objections to the plan.

The report proposes a 4% increase above the regional housing provision recommended by a panel of Government planning inspectors to address long-term housing shortages.

Overall a total of 117,000 new homes are planned to be built in Sussex by 2026 - up from the 104,100 recommended originally.

In Mid Sussex the original recommendation of 15,000 homes has been pushed up by 3,000 - a rise of 20%.

Anyone who is interested in the future of the area will have the opportunity to comment.

After considering views received during this consultation, a final revision of the regional strategy will then be published.

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