Housing Developments: Access to Infrastructure

15. What steps he plans to take to ensure that new housing developments have adequate access to infrastructure.

As I have said, local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation not only to housing numbers but to infrastructure, and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. Through changes to national planning policy, and financial support for essential infrastructure through land and infrastructure funding programmes, the Government are supporting infrastructure provision, but we recognise that there is more to do to ensure that the right infrastructure is built at the right time.

I am keen to hear what work the Department has under way to ensure that necessary infrastructure is in place. The cumulative effect of lots of smaller developments on the sewerage system and GP provision is the same as the effect of one large development. That is a live issue in Buckinghamshire, where we do not yet have a local plan. Will the Minister meet me to hear about the struggles that communities face in getting the relevant agencies to engage?

This is not the whole answer, but having up-to-date local plans and infrastructure funding statements in place can make a huge difference in ensuring that the right infrastructure comes forward at the appropriate time. I am more than happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss what more we can do not only to get her local authority to put a plan in place as quickly as possible, but to bring development and infrastructure forward in the right way on individual developments in her constituency.

Until local roads are adopted, communities miss out on so much—from having their roads gritted to getting a post box, as I have found out. How can we speed up Central Bedfordshire council and others?

It is probably easier if my hon. Friend writes to me on those particular concerns in her area, and I will set out the Government’s full position. I am happy to discuss the matter that she raises in further detail.