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style="display:inline-block;height:28px;width:110px;vertical-align:middle;margin-right:40px"><A title="Click to see Link/Page Citation info" href="javascript:toggleLayer('Citation');">Link/Page Citation</A></div> <script>LikeHP()</script> </div> <div id="Citation" style="display:none"> <P><b>Page/Link:</b></P> Page URL: <input type="Text" style="width:100%" title="This box contains the URL to this page" ReadOnly size="100" value="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773" /> <P></P> HTML link: <textarea style="width:100%" title="This box contains HTML specifying a link to this page" ReadOnly cols="100" rows="2"><a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773</a></textarea> <P></P> <b>Citations:</b> <ul> <li><span title="MLA style citation for this page"><b>MLA style:</b> "THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Garden grabbing is no way to meet housing needs.." <u>The Free Library</u>. 2007 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd 03 Dec. 2024 <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773">https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773</a></span></li> <li><span title="Chicago Manual of Style citation for this page"><b>Chicago style:</b> <em>The Free Library</em>. S.v. THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Garden grabbing is no way to meet housing needs.." Retrieved Dec 03 2024 from <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773">https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773</a></span></li> <li><span title="APA style citation for this page"><b>APA style:</b> THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Garden grabbing is no way to meet housing needs.. (n.d.) <em>>The Free Library.</em> (2014). Retrieved Dec 03 2024 from <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773">https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Garden+grabbing+is+no+way+to+meet+housing+needs.-a0165544773</a></span></li> </ul> </div> The rapid growth of in-fill development, where new houses and flats are built in suburban back gardens, is proving to be fertile ground for Conservative Party candidates. The Tories believe there is political capital to be made from what they term garden grabbing, so much so that suspiciously similar quotes are springing up decrying the trend from the party's election hopefuls across the country. <BR><BR> Leaving aside the cack-handedness of the Tory spin machine, there is a serious point to be made. <BR><BR> By changing planning regulations to classify back gardens as previously developed land, or brownfield sites, the Government has deliberately and sneakily laid the conditions for a huge increase in suburban new build. Your back garden, should you wish to squeeze a couple of new houses in between the rhodedenrums and the cabbage patch, is now on a par with derelict factories, gas works and railway sidings and in the Planning Inspectorate's view ripe for redevelopment. <BR><BR> The shape of towns with rows of large Victorian properties, with even larger gardens, is changing out of all recognition and there is little or nothing that council planning committees can do to prevent this. <BR><BR> In Solihull, for example, almost half of all new properties are being built on land that was previously a garden. This is significantly above the national average. In parts of Birmingham, Moseley and Sutton Coldfield in particular, it is said that developers have taken to flying over streets in helicopters in order to identify suitable houses where owners might be persuaded to cash in by selling their gardens for development. <BR><BR> The rush to develop back gardens is just one manifestation of Government insistence on building as many as 400,000 new dwellings in the West Midlands over the next 20 years. Finding sufficient land to deliver even half of this figure will be difficult, while meeting the target in full is certain to involve sacrificing green field and green belt land. <BR><BR> The impact that change on such a scale will have on infrastructure, placing new pressures on roads, schools and public services, threatens to provide local authorities with huge problems. The number of homes in Birmingham, for example, will increase by more than 20 per cent if housing targets are met, yet there is no indication of additional financial support to provide the facilities that the new Brummies will need. <BR><BR> It is time for the Government to re-think this lunacy. <div id="article_footer"> <div class="separator1"></div> <div id=copy_publisher>COPYRIGHT 2007 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd<br> No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder. </div> <div id=copy_gale>Copyright 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning. 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ISSN: 0963-7915 Newspaper General English">The Birmingham Post (England)</a></td></tr> <tr class="odd"><th>Date:</th><td><a href="/2007/June/25-d3">Jun 25, 2007</a></td></tr> <tr class="even"><th>Words:</th><td>401</td></tr><tr class="odd"><th>Previous Article:</th><td><a href="/Jumping+for+joy+at+new-look+school%3b+EDUCATION+MATTERS.-a0165544772">Jumping for joy at new-look school; EDUCATION MATTERS.</a></td></tr><tr class="even"><th>Next Article:</th><td><a href="/THE+BIRMINGHAM+POST%3a+Imaginative+step.-a0165544774">THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Imaginative step.</a></td></tr> <tr class="odd"><th>Topics:</th><td> <div><a href="/Dwellings-s1864">Dwellings</a></div> <div style="margin-left:8pt"></div> <div><a href="/Housing-s1527">Housing</a></div> <div style="margin-left:8pt"></div> <div><a href="/Housing+development-s110903">Housing development</a></div> <div style="margin-left:8pt"></div> </td></tr> </table> <br><div class="xs sticky" id="xs3"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="xs" id="xs5"></div> <script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script><script type="text/javascript"> var topnav=document.getElementById('top_nav') if (topnav.innerHTML) { document.write('<div class="bodyborder breadcrumbs">'+topnav.innerHTML+'</div>'); document.write('<div class="separator1"><div></div></div>'); } </script> <table class="bodyborder breadcrumbs" id=TopLevelNav> <tr><th>Publications by Name</th><th>Publications by Date</th><th>Authors</th><th>Literature</th></tr> <tr> <td> <a href=/Publications/A-i1>A-D</a> <a href=/Publications/E-i1>E-O</a> <a href=/Publications/P-i1>P-T</a> <a href=/Publications/U-i1>U-Z</a> </td> <td><a href="/1900-1994-d1">before 1995</a> <a href="/1995-1999-d1">1995-1999</a><br> <a href="/2000-2004-d1">2000-2004</a> <a href="/2005-2009-d1">2005-2009</a> <a href="/2010-2014-d1">2010-</a> </td> <td><a href=/Authors/A-i0>A</a> <a href=/Authors/B-i0>B</a> <a href=/Authors/C-i0>C</a> <a href=/Authors/D-i0>D</a> <a href=/Authors/E-i0>E</a> <a href=/Authors/F-i0>F</a> <a href=/Authors/G-i0>G</a> <a href=/Authors/H-i0>H</a> <a href=/Authors/I-i0>I</a> <a href=/Authors/J-i0>J</a> <a href=/Authors/K-i0>K</a> <a href=/Authors/L-i0>L</a> <a href=/Authors/M-i0>M</a> <br><a href=/Authors/N-i0>N</a> <a href=/Authors/O-i0>O</a> <a href=/Authors/P-i0>P</a> <a href=/Authors/Q-i0>Q</a> <a href=/Authors/R-i0>R</a> <a href=/Authors/S-i0>S</a> <a href=/Authors/T-i0>T</a> <a href=/Authors/U-i0>U</a> <a href=/Authors/V-i0>V</a> <a href=/Authors/W-i0>W</a> <a href=/Authors/X-i0>X</a> <a href=/Authors/Y-i0>Y</a> <a href=/Authors/Z-i0>Z</a> </td> <td><a href=/ti.aspx?A>A</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?B>B</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?C>C</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?D>D</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?E>E</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?F>F</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?G>G</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?H>H</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?I>I</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?J>J</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?K>K</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?L>L</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?M>M</a> <br><a href=/ti.aspx?N>N</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?O>O</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?P>P</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?Q>Q</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?R>R</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?S>S</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?T>T</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?U>U</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?V>V</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?W>W</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?X>X</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?Y>Y</a> <a href=/ti.aspx?Z>Z</a> </td> </tr></table> <p class="bodyborder copy"><a href="/terms.aspx" target=_blank>Terms of use</a> | <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/privacy-policy.htm">Privacy policy</a> | Copyright © 2024 <a href="http://www.farlex.com/">Farlex, Inc.</a> | <a target=feedback href="http://app.thefreedictionary.com/feedback.aspx" onclick="open('http://app.thefreedictionary.com/feedback.aspx?url='+escape(document.location)+'&ref='+escape(document.referrer), 'feedback','width=630,height=370,resizable=1');return false">Feedback</a> | <a href="/webmasters.aspx">For webmasters</a> | <span style="display:none" id="userConsentPlaceholder"></span> </p> <div class="afs_ads"> </div> <script async src="/_/static/async.js"></script> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-5484856-2"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-5484856-2'); if(window.lib&&window.lib.delayedFunctions)window.lib.delayedExec();window.completed=1; </script> </body> </Html>