During the second reading debate on the Government's Housing and Regeneration Bill, Harborough MP Edward Garnier brought to the housing minister's attention the case of the Co-op proposal to build a new town on the farmland it owns near Great Glen.

Following a presentation in Harborough on Friday (Nov 23)given by the Co-op's development team the MP has become increasingly concerned that this plan, if allowed to go through by the Government, will cause far more problems than it will solve.

Mr Garnier said: "Of course I want my constituency to thrive economically but, unlike the areas in the North and North East which Housing Minister Yvette Cooper and her junior minister Ian Wright represent, we have very low unemployment at about 1 per cent. We do not need the type of forced or artificial economic regeneration that this proposal would mean. If you want to create 10,000 more jobs in an area with virtually full employment you have to import the jobs and import the housing to accommodate the employees and their families. We are beginning to see what 'only' 800 new houses have done to Kibworth in terms of disturbance and placing strains on our local services and infrastructure with the development by the A6 – just imagine what 15,000 new houses will do not just to Great Glen and its neighbouring villages but to outer Leicester, and to Oadby and rural Harborough as well.

"We need to be careful that we distinguish between the financial interests of the Co-op, the political interests of the Labour Government and the environmental, economic, social and other long term interests of the people of Harborough District. I urge people not to let this proposal gather speed or momentum and to be eternally vigilant."

Below is the Hansard report from the debate on November 28.

Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley) (Lab): "I made the point in Question Time earlier that never before has Chorley had people in bed-and-breakfast accommodation, but it is happening now because of the lack of rented accommodation in what is a wealthy constituency. The problem continues to grow because the local authority is failing to make provision. What can the Minister do to ensure that it will not happen in the future?"

Yvette Cooper (housing minister): "My hon. friend is right. This is a serious and urgent issue for those families who do not have adequate homes and it affects every aspect of their lives—their children do not have enough space to do their homework, among other problems. That is why we have to build more homes, including more affordable homes. We must increase investment in social housing as part of that programme, and we want the Bill to make it possible to deliver those homes faster and more effectively…"

Mr Garnier (Harborough) (Con): "I am most grateful to the Minister for giving way. May I help her to help the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle)? He needs more houses in his area, and the Co-op owns—"

Dr. Phyllis Starkey (Milton Keynes, South-West) (Lab): "My right hon. Friend does not need the help!"

Mr. Garnier: "I am speaking to the Minister, not the hon. Lady. In my constituency, the Co-op owns about 5,000 acres of farmland on which it wishes to build up to 20,000 homes. The settlement is called an eco-town, but it will not be environmentally friendly. Unemployment in my constituency is 1 per cent., and although we welcome activity we do not need new jobs to be created in our area. The jobs to go with the eco-town will be imported, just like the houses. It seems to me that it would be better to place them near the Co-op headquarters, in Chorley."

Yvette Cooper: "The hon. and learned Gentleman is lucky not to need additional jobs in his area but, given the pressures on affordable housing right across the country, I would question whether people there do not need more homes. He will know that I cannot comment on individual proposals for eco-towns, but we welcome the fact that 50 proposals have been made for such new towns. Although some are not appropriate or acceptable, we will say more about the ones that are in the New Year."