Last week’s Full Council meeting at Crawley Borough Council was shambolic.  The Labour council leader had submitted a motion to the meeting, for the council to declare a housing emergency with an action telling himself to write to the government to seek assistance, which of course, he could do anyway.

My colleagues and I are wholly supportive of seeking additional government funding, to help pay for the increased costs affecting the council to provide temporary accommodation.  We voted to support the motion, but what was said and done by Labour councillors rings alarm bells.

This motion stated several reasons as to the causes of the pressures on housing, including a shrinking private rented sector and the unaffordability of housing for people.  I agree with these two statements and also accept that Crawley’s Labour group of councillors have some knowledge about those two points, given that several of them are private landlords in Crawley.

However, there was a massive glaring omission in this motion about housing being an emergency in Crawley.  Incredibly, nowhere in this motion was population growth mentioned, when everybody knows that this is a key driver for housing demand.  Housing supply has not kept up with housing demand and this is a regional and national issue, not just a Crawley issue, although it is very acute here.  

My amendment to this motion inserted Office of National Statistics data about projected future national population growth, and how Crawley’s population had grown by two-thirds since 1981, showing how it continues to grow by well over 1,000 people every year.  Every Labour councillor voted against mentioning this, with some saying in debate it was not a factor, and one claiming that our population was decreasing!  Clearly, all they want to do is carry on increasing the supply of housing while never considering the primary reasons for increased demand.

The very next day, Labour leader Keir Starmer visited Crawley and publicly stated that the next Labour Government would build housing on greenbelt land.  So now we know, Labour’s local claim to oppose the proposed west of Ifield development is a political smokescreen.  

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Conservative Group

28th February 2024