Local politicians might attempt to place the blame on each other for the increased, unrealistic and unattainable figures contained within the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) but the real villain lives within the House of Westminster.

The original housing figures within central government’s RSS were substantially lower in the original draft version but were doubled overnight by central government without any local consultation.

Their explanation for this bizarre increase ranges from a proposal from an economist working under Gordon Brown in the treasury in 2004 who suggested it as a way to bring down the cost of building new homes through to blaming the results of the last census, which implied that the housing demand – such as buy to let, would increase substantially.

It does not take much to understand that any 2006 figures based on never-ending economic growth, ever-increasing house prices and perpetual increases in incomes has little relevance in a post credit crunch era where such “certainties” have been exposed as bogus.

Councils need to wake up to this new reality and have the backbone to reject targets, which are based on the economics of the nursery. Rejecting the RSS figures puts local people first – instead of greedy developers – and keeps our green belt and green field sites green.

ROBERT FINNIGAN

Elm Tree Close

NORRISTHORPE