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| 15,000-home garden city to be built at Ebbsfleet | 15,000-home garden city to be built at Ebbsfleet |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A garden city with an initial 15,000 homes will be built at Ebbsfleet in Kent, George Osborne has announced. | A garden city with an initial 15,000 homes will be built at Ebbsfleet in Kent, George Osborne has announced. |
| The chancellor told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show the site was chosen because there was "fantastic" infrastructure and it was in south-east England where pressure on housing has been high. | The chancellor told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show the site was chosen because there was "fantastic" infrastructure and it was in south-east England where pressure on housing has been high. |
| He said local MPs were enthusiastic about the idea and local people wanted to see regeneration of the area. | He said local MPs were enthusiastic about the idea and local people wanted to see regeneration of the area. |
| Ebbsfleet has a stop on the high-speed rail line to the Channel Tunnel. | Ebbsfleet has a stop on the high-speed rail line to the Channel Tunnel. |
| Speaking ahead of his Budget on Wednesday, Mr Osborne said the government's Help to Buy scheme would also be extended until the end of the decade. | |
| 'Cuts through obstacles' | |
| Explaining the decision to choose Ebbsfleet rather than richer parts of the country, Mr Osborne said: "In Ebbsfleet there is the land available, there is fantastic infrastructure with the high speed line. | |
| "It's on the river, it's in the south-east of England where a lot of the housing pressure has been. | "It's on the river, it's in the south-east of England where a lot of the housing pressure has been. |
| "And crucially you've got local communities and local MPs who support the idea. | |
| "We're going to create an urban development corporation so we're going to create the instrument that allows this kind of thing to go ahead and cuts through a lot of the obstacles that often happen when you want to build these homes. | |
| "There are already some homes being built on the site, so progress was under way, but it was on a much, much smaller scale and with much less ambition than what I'm setting out today." | |
| 'Proper infrastructure' | |
| Gareth Johnson, Conservative MP for Dartford, said he "very much welcomed" the chancellor's announcement. | Gareth Johnson, Conservative MP for Dartford, said he "very much welcomed" the chancellor's announcement. |
| "The Ebbsfleet Valley has been a source of great frustration for many years," he said. | "The Ebbsfleet Valley has been a source of great frustration for many years," he said. |
| "Despite the efforts of the council and central government, we've never got the development we want to see in the area." | "Despite the efforts of the council and central government, we've never got the development we want to see in the area." |
| He said attempts had been made to build new homes at Ebbsfleet since 1996. | He said attempts had been made to build new homes at Ebbsfleet since 1996. |
| Planning permission was granted for about 6,000 new homes at Eastern Quarry, near Ebbsleet station, in 2007, but nothing was done, he added. | |
| "For whatever reason a developer has not been forthcoming and the recession didn't help," Mr Johnson said. | "For whatever reason a developer has not been forthcoming and the recession didn't help," Mr Johnson said. |
| "What this announcement does is enable the proper infrastructure to be put in place." | "What this announcement does is enable the proper infrastructure to be put in place." |
| In 2012, government ministers, three Kent councils and developer Land Securities agreed plans for about 22,600 new homes to be built in Kent Thameside in Ebbsfleet over 20 years. | |
| Housing minister Grant Shapps said the development had been stuck on the drawing board for "a whole decade". | |
| Last month, think tank the Centre for London set out its vision for a new town at Ebbsfleet with 35,000 homes. | Last month, think tank the Centre for London set out its vision for a new town at Ebbsfleet with 35,000 homes. |
| It said the plans could act as a catalyst for further development in the south-east and help tackle London's housing crisis. |