IT’S not the first time that I have asked the question, but just what is localism all about?

I thought the idea of localism – much trumpeted by the Coalition Government, and particularly the Conservative Party – was supposed to be that local decisions on local issues are taken by local politicians and people.

However, if this is the case, when it comes to deciding how many homes should be built locally, the concept and reality seem to be a long way apart – well at least they are in Basingstoke and Deane.

After what seemed like years of drawn-out debate, the borough council finally agreed that building 748 new homes a year was an acceptable figure to put forward in the draft Local Plan – a blueprint which will ultimately guide how many new homes are built up to 2029.

A lot of us believe that growth is good for Basingstoke and Deane, and there clearly is a need for a lot of new homes over the next 15 years.

However, it is also the case that the borough has seen some of the highest levels of house-building in the South East in recent years. It is also a fact that new homes need the necessary infrastructure.

Borough councillors were hoping that the 748 new homes figure would be good enough – but now Government planning inspector Mike Fox is urging them to add an additional 100 homes to the blueprint to help ensure its approval.

Mr Fox is clearly trying to point the council in the right direction, as he sees it. However, if the council is effectively being told what to do, does that not render the concept of localism somewhat pointless?