THE new leader of the council has said the borough council has rejected government housing targets.

As previously reported, during a Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) meeting held on Thursday, May 18, the leader of the Basingstoke Independent Forum, Cllr Paul Harvey, was appointed as the council’s new leader.

Following this Basingstoke's MP Maria Miller has called on the new administration to come together to honour the will of residents when it comes to slowing down house building.

READ MORE: BDBC: Cllr Paul Harvey appointed to lead the council

Dame Maria said "I have written to the new council leader asking for an absolute assurance that the mistakes of previous borough council coalitions in Basingstoke will not be repeated. Basingstoke residents want to see house building slow down so that the NHS can catch up; house building must match the needs of our local community not make up for the lack of house building elsewhere.

"We are currently building double the number of new homes that are needed by our local population. The last coalition administration, including some of the same people involved, asked the Labour Government of the day for the highest possible levels of house building, creating many of the problems we are tackling today.

"The Conservatives are clear they will slow down house building so the NHS can catch up with expanded GP surgeries and a brand-new hospital. Coalitions in Basingstoke have a very different track record which must not be repeated.

SEE ALSO: Recap: Updates as new borough council leader appointed after administration change

"The Conservatives secured many more councillors than any other party demonstrating residents want to see house building slow down. This coalition administration must honour the wish of residents and continue to slow down house building so the NHS can catch up."

In response to Dame Maria's comments, Cllr Harvey said: "We have cross-party rejected the Government’s top-down imposed targets. We want Michael Gove to do away with the Government’s Standard Method for calculating housing numbers. Will your Government listen and act on this, will you, like we have, vote to end top-down housing targets and the Government imposed ‘Standard Method’.”