44,000 homes is too many because the region is already environmentally stressed and economically overheated..
The constraints on water supply and disposal and the infrastructure such as electricity and transport are serious and must be recognised. Higher rates of growth could be counter-productive if traffic congestion gets worse and further environmental degradation occurs through drying up of rivers and unacceptable sewage releases

For this reason we would only support the absolute minimum number of new homes, ie around 37400, of which most are already in the planning pipeline.

Development should be focussed on upgrading and retrofitting existing buildings, unless it could be shown that this would result in higher lifetime carbon emissions than demolition and new build.

We support proposals for change of use of existing buildings, where this can be done without compromising the standards of the result (eg for habitable space, light and energy efficiency of residential units) or for the community.

We support proposals for change of use of existing buildings, where this can be done without compromising the standards of the result (eg for habitable space, light and energy efficiency of residential units) or for the community.