Housing protest planned as council mulls consequences of planning system changes

A Freshney Valley housing protest in September 2022, outside Grimsby Town Hall
-Credit: (Image: Ivan Morris Poxton (LDR))


A renewed protest over housing in North East Lincolnshire is planned outside the next full council meeting this month.

It comes as the council decides this week its consultation response to proposed changes to the planning system. These could increase the number of houses required to be built in North East Lincolnshire every year from 190 to 706.

Friends of Freshney Valley have protested regularly in the last three years about the current allocation of land for 3,500 houses west of Grimsby. Plans to protest outside full council at Cleethorpes Town Hall on September 26, from 6pm, will be the first for a little while.

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Where land is allocated for housing in a council's local plan, it does not guarantee development will happen. But it is much harder for councils to justify refusal of permission when developers propose building homes there.

The latest protest is being made with the potential planning system changes in mind. Independent for North East Lincolnshire group councillors, allied to the Friends of Freshney Valley, have significant concerns about the implications for the local area.

They suggest the potential new 706 homes a year target for North East Lincolnshire "appears to have been plucked from thin air. It gives no thought to the infrastructure needed such as roads, or the pressure on already stretched resources such as health."

In their view, it "will seriously weaken the protection we can give our open countryside from over-development". The Independent group warns it will put additional pressure on villages, "some of which are already starting to feel like small towns". Independent group leader Cllr Steve Holland called for "an open and honest conversation about housing demand".

Cleethorpes Town Hall - where full council will meet and outside of which a housing protest is planned
Cleethorpes Town Hall - where full council will meet and outside of which a housing protest is planned -Credit:LDR (Local Democracy Reporter)

"The reality is that if the population continues to grow at the current rate, it will be physically impossible for housing supply to keep up with demand." The council's Cabinet is to meet on September 18 to decide on the local authority's consultation response to the proposed planning changes.

The government consultation has 106 questions to respond to. A North East Lincolnshire Council spokesperson said: "Along with all local authorities with housing and planning responsibilities, we are assessing the implications of the new government's policy announcements in respect of housing growth and delivery, including any specific impact on the current review of the council's Local Plan. The council will be responding fully to the government consultation, including formal public consideration by the cabinet, in due course."

A report that the council's cabinet will discuss sets out the implications of the changes. The new housing target would mean "significant additional housing sites will need to be allocated".

The timetable for its Local Plan review would also be affected, as the council would need to rework elements of it. Instead of working to June 2025 currently to submit updated housing plans for North East Lincolnshire, it would need to be submitted by December 2026.

Other aspects of potential changes are not expected to impact the council. A greater push for brownfield developments is something already covered. There is also no green belt designated land in the local authority, meaning the Labour government's 'grey belt' idea would not impact it either.

On the planned Friends of Freshney Valley protest, Independent group Cllr Lyndsey Downes said: "We will keep on peacefully protesting against the continued concreting over of the countryside in North East Lincolnshire and invite everyone with similar views to join us. We are not against building new houses but let’s build them in the right place at a price that local people can afford."