Ringmer could be site for new town, Brighton MP suggests

Following Labour leader Keir Starmer’s announcement to create “the next generation of Labour new towns”, the MP for Brighton Kemptown told BBC Politics South East that he would welcome the creation of such towns in Sussex.

Among possible locations for a new town, he said there were “great opportunities” around Plumpton Green and Ringmer.

Mr Russell-Moyle also hit out at possible local opposition to such plans and said: “I think you have to say to local people there are certain parameters you can influence, but there are some things that have to be done. 

“If we look at the disaster of HS2, that was because Britain has allowed a Nimby’s charter to rule.

“Sometimes we need to say I’m sorry, there is a greater good here.”

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, MP for Brighton Kemptown (Image: BBC Parliament)

Lewes residents expressed anger at the suggestion, calling on the MP to “mind his own business”.

One said more development would bring “nothing but construction traffic and temporary traffic lights”.

“As the north of England and Scotland are paradise, according to them, why not build more towns up there?,” another resident said.

Maria Caulfield, MP for Lewes, has said that such a plan would be "devastating" to the area.

She said: "Ringmer has taken its fair share of housing and  to hear again that if there is a change of government more green spaces will be lost to housing that is neither affordable for local families nor comes with any infrastructure is quite frankly devastating."

Maria Caulfield, MP for Lewes

Mims Davies, Conservative MP for Mid Sussex, said that while young people should aspire to owning their own home, new towns are not the right approach to tackling the housing crisis.

Ms Davies, who will stand as a Conservative candidate in the new constituency of East Grinstead and Uckfield at the next election, said on BBC Politics South East: “Locking out local voices and plucking out parts of the countryside to drop a new town from outer space into is all very well - if that was simple, we would have done it.

“The reality is in Mid Sussex District you’ve got around 60 per cent constraints - that’s why there’s been investment in a local plan so that local people can have a voice.

“For areas like mine, East Grinstead, Uckfield and Mid Sussex, we are doing our bit. There are plenty of places up and down the land who need to step up.”

Sussex was picked as one of the locations for a new town after the Second World War, with Crawley now home to more than 100,000 people.