Conservatives accuse government of disregarding planning policies on Green Belt land.
Green Belt house building has caused a political row after figures were revealed on the number of new dwellings built on designated Green Belt land in England.
Yvette Cooper, a minister in the ODPM, told Parliament that 5,521 new homes had been built on designated Green Belt in 2003, compared to 4,804 in 2002 and 5,399 in 2001.
Equivalent available figures for previous years since Labour took office in 1997 were 5,691 in 2000, 4,910 in 1998 and 4,456 in 1997.
Cooper unveiled the figures in response to questioning from Conservative local government spokesman Caroline Spelman.
Spelman seized on the figures as evidence of Labour’s disregard for Green Belt planning policies, saying that the zone’s protection had become “worthless” under Labour.
She also later accused deputy prime minister John Prescott of overseeing a “sustained assault” on the Green Belt with an “army of bulldozers and concrete mixers.”
Cooper pointed out in her parliamentary statement that the figures for 1997-2000 “reflect planning policies and decisions made before this Government took office.”
The 5,521 homes built on the designated Green Belt land in 2003, the most recent year for which figures were available, represented 3% of all new dwellings built in the year.
