Sustainable Development

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 2:56 pm on 7 July 2005.

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Photo of David Chaytor David Chaytor Labour, Bury North 2:56, 7 July 2005

I shall try to attack the hon. Gentleman's prongs consecutively rather than simultaneously. First, I shall address the issue of older houses in the north of England. I am the only Member present from the north of England, and am probably the only Member present who was born in one of the older terraced houses to which he refers. Huge numbers of people are desperate for some of those houses to be demolished and replaced by modern, more energy-efficient, sustainable homes.

The hon. Gentleman made a second point about the green belt. Between 1979 and 1987, huge swathes of green belt in my constituency were built on to create enormous suburban housing estates with few, if any, social facilities, thereby contributing to the completely unsustainable lifestyles that many people are now forced to live. Does he think that the Conservative demolition of the green belt was somehow different from the Government's policy?