Following coverage of my letter to Watford Borough Councillors ahead of the vote on the local plan, I wanted to explain my reasoning for doing so and provide some context.

Many residents have raised concerns around tall towers with me, so I have been actively engaging with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to bring in legislation to ensure communities have more say in the height of buildings and I have consistently raised concerns about overdevelopment.

In a letter from the Housing Minister received late last week, I was made aware that ‘housing needs targets are a starting point for negotiation’ and that the local plan can be used to challenge these numbers. To verify this, I took the first available opportunity to confirm this with the Housing Secretary in the Commons. Through my question, I specifically asked, “what mechanisms exist to challenge the housing targets” and for confirmation that “the local authority housing needs target is not set in stone and is a starting point for negotiation.” His response noted that I had raised this multiple times and confirmed I was “right to say that housing targets are only a starting point”.

Given the local plan fails to include a rebuttal on the housing needs target I was unsure if this was a deliberate decision or because councillors were unaware of this information. If it was the latter and given this is the most important document in the planning process, I felt it would be remiss of me not to make councillors aware.

It is disappointing to see that my letter has been misrepresented. Claims I have attempted to ‘sabotage’ the local plan are simply not true. My aim was to ensure that the most up-to-date information was available prior to the councillors’ vote.

Ultimately, by voting through the local plan councillors were committing the town to the targets in the document. Therefore, I believe it would have been wrong of me to not make councillors aware of their opportunity to raise concerns or provide a credible alternative. This was particularly important given the local plan failed to mention the numbers being too high.

In response to claims that I was ‘being opportunistic’ or ‘playing politics’ I would ask readers to make their own judgement on whether this has been my approach since being elected. I urge readers to look at my website (deanrussell.co.uk) and social media to find examples of where I have engaged in personal attacks or overtly negative party politics. I am confident they will not find quotes from me that are disparaging or disrespectful to others.

I am confident that readers would see that my letter was a point of information which aimed to clarify my understanding of what this meant for the councillors vote. I suspect if I had not shared this information, I would have been criticised even further, as it would have been claimed I did not forewarn councillors ahead of their vote.

Dean Russell MP

Member of Parliament for Watford