At Wednesday’s Full Council, the Wolverhampton Conservatives voted against our motion to protect the remaining precious Green Belt in Wolverhampton.
To be frank, I was not surprised that they refused to join forces with us, the Wolverhampton Labour Group, to make urgent representations to the Secretary of State Robert Jenrick and MHCLG to highlight that the number of houses they require us to provide under the Black Country Plan in Wolverhampton far outstrips our total brownfield capacity.
The Black Country Plan is a cross party plan put together by the Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Sandwell Council authorities. Make no mistake, we are in this together regardless of party allegiance – it’s important that we work together to protect our precious green belt in the Black Country.
The Conservative Leaders of Dudley and Walsall have both recently also expressed their grave concerns over the Government’s unrealistic housing targets which essentially leave us little option but to put forward, for public consultation, some 4% of Wolverhampton’s Green Belt for possible future housing / employment land development.
Sadly, Councillor Wendy Thompson, as Leader of the Wolverhampton Conservative Group did not join her counterparts in condemning such unrealistic and unachievable housing targets.
By refusing to back our motion of pursuing a ‘brownfield only policy’ to meet the housing needs of Wolverhampton over the coming years, she has exposed her group’s real position on the issue of protecting the Green Belt in Wolverhampton.
By voting against our motion, they have confirmed that they don’t REALLY care or have the same passion as us about protecting what’s left of our precious Green Belt.
They failed to acknowledge that the unrealistic housing targets set by their Government for Wolverhampton forces us to use our precious and limited Green Belt.
They failed to see that the Government alone are the only body able to change Wolverhampton’s housing/employment land target and they alone can help us to give our residents a green future fit for their children by allowing us to use brownfield only.
Councillor Ian Brookfield
Leader of Wolverhampton Labour Group
(Stock image used)