To sign an electronic version of Nick’s development petition, please click here. You can read more about this below.
A message from Nick Timothy MP
The Government want 1.5 million homes built over the next five years, including 45,000 per year in the East of England.
And Labour-led West Suffolk Council plan to build 13,000 homes here by 2031.
Above you can see a speech that I made in Parliament’s Westminster Hall about the need for a new approach to development.
Too often, the infrastructure, services and amenities that are rightly promised as part of the development process fail to be delivered. If they are delivered — as in the case of the Haverhill relief road — they can be subject to inordinate delays. This is not good enough.
Many developers have run rings around our local communities for years. Meanwhile, the section 106 process is not fit for purpose, and allows those bodies which have received funding for services to wriggle out of delivering them for a particular area.
This has to stop. That’s why I launched a seven-point Charter for West Suffolk which I believe should apply to all future plans for building here.
If you agree with the principles below, you can sign an electronic version of my petition here. You can see a PDF of the petition sheet above. If you would like, please do print it out and ask local family, neighbours and friends to sign, and then send back the filled-in sheet to: The Conservative Office, Moulton Road, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8DY.
1. Developers who profit from building here MUST contribute. We need to do more to make sure construction companies fund and build the amenities we need — like dentist and GP surgeries — and other facilities that improve residents’ quality of life.
2. New infrastructure must always come BEFORE expansion. Relief roads and transport links are not just optional extras but must be built in advance of housing.
3. We do need new homes. But numbers should be sensible and in the right places.
4. We need to build communities. New homes should always come with open green spaces, amenities and services in mind.
5. We need high-quality housing. Of course new homes should be affordable, but they need to be attractive, in keeping with the area, and built to last.
6. No more building on flood plains. We need to stop building on land that
everyone knows is affected by flooding.
7. We need accountability. Developers who break their promises should be fined heavily and banned for fixed periods from future projects in Suffolk. We are simply calling on developers to be responsible — and for real accountability if they fail. Please sign our petition overleaf.
Very best wishes,
Nick Timothy
MP for West Suffolk
