Today, Gosport MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage DBE, spoke in the Second Reading of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, highlighting a number of issues that affect her constituents in Gosport, Lee on the Solent, Stubbington and Hill Head.
Caroline called for a more localised approach to the Government’s levelling up agenda, raising a number of issues including how the already limited number of green spaces in the constituency are threatened by the Government’s housing development targets.
Further to this, Caroline highlighted the low job density in Gosport, how the focus must be on creating jobs and prosperity - not more houses. She called on the Minister to look at how housing targets can be made more collaboratively with local people and applied more sensitively across the UK, shifting the focus to boost local growth and productivity.
Caroline also called for a more secure and future proof solution to the issue of Nitrates – an issue which affects the whole of the South East.
Commenting Caroline said:
"One of this Government’s key priorities is Levelling Up. Boosting jobs, boosting our high streets, boosting our standard of living. This is the reason we are all standing here today.
"Yet, while I do welcome the measures outlined in this Bill, as Levelling Up is importantly, a national priority, I do believe we need a more localised approach. My Gosport constituency will certainly not benefit from a ‘one size fits all’ method.”
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was announced at the 2022 Queen’s Speech and intends to drive local growth, empower local leaders to regenerate their areas, and ensure everyone can share in the United Kingdom’s success. The Bill covers three main areas: levelling up the country, regenerating towns and cities, and reforming the planning system.