THE planning minister has responded to David Morris MP's petition against new homes on green belt land in Bolton-le-Sands and Hest Bank.

Last month the MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale presented a petition of 150 constituents who wrote to ask him to oppose hundreds of homes being built on the protected green space.

The petitioners asked the House of Commons to urge the Government to encourage Lancaster City Council to seek other places to build new houses.

Lancaster City Council is considering building up to 500 new properties on land west of the A6 at Hest Bank, opposite Slyne Hall Heights. The proposal is part of the council's public consultation on ways to create up to 14,000 homes and 9,500 jobs by 2031 across the district.

In his formal response, planning minister Brandon Lewis MP said: "We want local communities to be in charge of planning their areas. Only in very exceptional circumstances would the Secretary of State intervene in the plan-making process, and I see no reason to do so in this instance."

Mr Lewis said local authorities were required to protect green belts in line with national policy, and that "inappropriate development, including most forms of house-building, should not be approved there except in very special circumstances".

Mr Lewis added: "Local authorities, working with their communities, have to determine the best location for new homes. Guidance was issued last year to remind local authorities that they must have due regard to national policies, such as Green Belt policy, which indicate that development should be restricted and which may restrain an authority’s ability to meet its housing need."

Responding to the statement, Mr Morris said: "I am pleased that the minister has reminded Lancaster City Council of their responsibility to protect the green belt in all but exceptional circumstances and confirmed that local plan legislation is there to protect local areas which are important to residents.

"With this in mind I hope that Lancaster City Council take into account the views of all the local residents in Hest Bank and Bolton-le-Sands and scrap the plan to build on Greenbelt 4."