Testun llawn:
Continuing urban development on green belt for the sake of economic growth, is not sustainable. The argument that to grow the local economy you must enlarge towns and build on greenbelt land is clearly at odds with itself because to grow would require building on greenbelt in to the future. As population increases, so more greenbelt is taken up by development. The cycle goes on and on until there is no greenbelt left.
Having managed a commercial town centre property for two and a half years, in town development must be the focus. The high street is going through huge changes as internet shopping and out of town retail parks make town centre shopping expensive, difficult and time consuming in comparison. Town centre development would help to regenerate urban areas and possibly kick start an otherwise failing high street as competition from e-commerce, supermarket development and out-of-town retail parks increases. The further out of town you build, the less likely it is that inhabitants are to travel to the town centre because it's easier to go on line, to a large supermarket or to an out of town retail park. The local authority loses out because town centre properties will remain void and void rates will continue to climb. Redeveloping old properties in to habitable dwellings makes a lot more sense despite being more problematic - and should be in addition to developing new property on derelict or brown field sites. More should be done to investigate these options.
In addition to all of this, oil prices mean that the cost of owning and driving a car will become even more expensive, despite the recent drop in oil prices. Therefore, any affordable housing should be centrally located for links to public transport. Better provision for cycle lanes and footpaths would lower the number of cross town trips as mentioned in the planning document, thereby reducing the volume of traffic.