Professor John Sturzaker has spoken with a parliamentary committee to advise on hitting the 1.5m new homes target
Sturzaker is the Ebenezer Howard chair of planning at the University of Hertfordshire.
He advised the Built Environment Committee on infrastructure delivery in the government’s new towns programme.
Acceptance of new towns relies on infrastructure
During the inquiry, importance was placed on listening to communities and addressing their concerns and needs, rather than focusing on matters of principle or self-interest.
This means focusing on delivering roads, village halls, schools, shops, GP surgeries, and ensuring these things are available early one will establish communities earlier.
Professor Sturzaker also told the committee to be wary of an “adversarial planning process”, saying that more positive and effective communication and discourse is of utmost importance, maintaining a democratic approach to developments and bringing about a local-led design for new housing and communities.
Further importance was given to good quality, affordable, and social housing, which must be built to last and not be “watered down” during delivery.
Sturzaker also said that while giving powers to mayors would be beneficial, the real value would lie in a “coalition of support through strategic and local planning systems”.
The whole inquiry can be viewed in video format or listened to in audio format here.
The new homes programme and 1.5m new homes
The plans were revealed in February, announcing over 100 different sites to be considered and blockers to be tackled.
The New Towns Taskforce held its first meeting in September the previous year, and their initial investigations saw over 100 proposals for new towns, each with potential for 10,000 news homes, affordable housing, essential infrastructure, and accessible green and natural spaces.
At the time, prime minister, Keir Starmer, said: “For so many families, homeownership is a distant dream. After a decade of decline in housebuilding, the impact is a disconnect between working hard and getting on.
“This is about more than just bricks and mortar. It’s about the security and stability that owning your own home brings. I know what this means for working people – the roof above our head was everything for our family growing up.
“We’ve already made progress in just seven months, unblocking 20,000 stuck homes. But there’s more to do.
“We’re urgently using all levers available to build the homes we need so more families can get on the housing ladder. We’re sweeping aside the blockers to get houses built, no longer accepting no as the default answer, and paving the way for the next generation of new towns.
“As part of the largest housebuilding programme since the post-war era, our ambitious Plan for Change will transform the lives of working people, once again connecting the basic principle that if you work hard, you should get on.”
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