RESIDENTS want rapid housebuilding in Basingstoke and Deane to be slowed down, the town’s MP has urged the borough council.

Dame Maria Miller presented a petition, signed by residents and groups, to the borough council calling for it to reconsider its housing targets to a “more sustainable level” in the upcoming local plan update.

Speaking at a meeting of the full council on Thursday, December 15, Dame Maria said: “Building homes is important to the residents of Basingstoke, that's why we have built over 150,000 people in the last 50 years - double the rate of the rest of the country, but the borough's current build rate of 1,200 new homes, a level which is far beyond the needs of our community, is stretching the capacity of our community services, particularly the NHS to breaking point and has the potential to jeopardise our natural environment as well.”

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The MP said that house-building growth needs to be slowed down to allow local services, such as the hospital and GP surgeries, “have the chance to catch up” and meet the demands of the current population.

As previously reported, government calculations suggest as many as 17,820 new homes need to be built in the borough by the end of 2039.

Council documents reveal that the authority needs to build 7,703 houses more than it currently has in the pipeline.

The council is being urged to reject the government figure and develop an ‘exceptional circumstances’ case which explains to the government that the almost 18,000 homes are not needed or sustainable in the borough.

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A recent debate in Parliament on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill revealed that the government has scrapped the need for a five-year land supply, removed mandatory house-building targets, as well requiring the Planning Inspectorate to take better account of local decision-making – which could help the borough council fight housing numbers.

Dame Maria continued: “If the council does not take this approach, we risk sacrificing the needs of our own residents for the sake of other authorities who have failed to be sufficient homes for their own community.”

The petition was handed into the council and will be considered by the head of sustainability and infrastructure.