A cabinet minister has told parliament that Liberal Democrats running the borough council do not have to build on Fisherman’s Green and saying otherwise is a case of ‘Lib Dems spinning here’.
When asked about the issue by Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities secretary Michael Gove told the House of Commons yesterday: “I have been taking a close interest in the activities of Eastbourne Borough Council. The decision to develop Fisherman’s Green is the council’s alone, so the council could easily take it out.
“The changes that we have made in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill would allow it to do that. I am afraid that there has been a campaign of dissimulation on the part of her local council; it is a case of Lib Dems spinning here.”
Just before, Caroline had asked: “Fisherman’s Green has been identified by the local council as a potential housing development site in Eastbourne. Local people do not support that, and I support them. Can my right honourable friend confirm that the council, which owns the land and has put the site into the strategy, can take Fisherman’s Green out of the strategy without sanction?
Speaking afterwards Caroline said: “How our town develops is hugely important to local people as evidenced in this recent Fisherman’s Green experience.
“For all their talk of ‘threatening government targets’, the Liberal Democrat-led council is actually in the driving seat when it comes to identifying the number of new homes we need to build, and they are being very shy about it. I urge them to publish this number with some urgency so Eastbourne residents can be part of the decision.
“I pay tribute to local residents who highlighted the threat to Fisherman’s Green and urge the council, once again, to take it out of the strategy. The council owns the land and can decide not to develop it.”
