What do we really
want?
All the relevant experts agree that we can expect the
population of Kirklees to grow by about 10% by 2031. Most of this will be the
result of births. The number of people
of working age is also expected to grow by around 5% while the number above
retirement age will increase by nearly 40%.
We need more homes. We need more jobs. We’re not
particularly unusual in needing this - lots of places do. Where we are more
unusual is we have town centres crying out for development and investment, we
have the land we can build on and a peak district national park which has
inbuilt protection of land we don’t want to build on. So the opportunities are
all there. And yet something holds us back.
Do we really want families to have nowhere to live? Do we
want ever increasing unemployment (when a post-recession climate starts to
create jobs) because we’ve nowhere to build? Do we want the government to take
over local planning decisions? Clearly
not and so what stops us? It would be easy for me to call it Nimby-ism and to
some extent I’d be right. We’ve all felt it “please no - not here – not in my
back yard’’. But my observations in my years as leader of the Council say it’s
deeper than that.
We don’t have the luxury of a one party state in Kirklees and
we haven’t had for years. And yes in this context it can be a luxury. So we all
fear, me included, unpopular short term decisions.
And yet we know real politics is about the long term;
climate change, equalities and cohesion, early intervention and prevention for
families, economic development and housing are not about us and the here and
now – they’re about generations after us and generations after them. We must
make long term decisions that are about preparing Kirklees for long after we’ve
all gone. When
we asked several thousand local people, of all ages, what they felt was
important to them through our It’s Time To Talk campaign, two recurring themes
were jobs and homes. We have 70% open land in our district. I still believe
that the strategic release of just 1% of that land would allow us the space we
need to use high quality land to attract jobs and investors, and the kind of
homes we need for the changing make up of our familes.
In my roles on the LGA I’ve seen cities and towns all over
England and I see the difference that long term strategic vision versus short
term political fears can make to a place. Government investment, particularly
on economic development, will be around in a few years’ time – everyone knows
that’s on the cards . . . the national economy will need the buoyancy despite
London’s ever growing GVA . . . but that’s a different story. We also know that
the diversity of the housing offer will dictate whether ambitious young people
or the so-called ‘grey pounds’ stay here or move on.
We have to have the ambition and the
plans to attract employers and their employees to stay here or move here, and
not take their investment, innovation, vibrancy and wealth creation to other
places nearby.
It’s easier for me to say this when I’m moving but perhaps
it’s the only time I can say it so brutally but honestly if you sort nothing
else out when I’m no longer leader please sort the LDF . . . absolutely not for
me but for your great grandchildren and the future of our fantastic borough.
Mehboob Khan - Leader of the Council
