THE row over a massive growth in rural house building rumbled on again yesterday when the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) accused the Government of being at risk of overlooking the “core” reason for building affordable homes in the countryside.

The Government has been accused of brushing aside rural planning rules to make way for more houses after a report from the West Country Liberal MP Matthew Taylor said the countryside was becoming an enclave solely for the rich because of a lack of jobs and affordable homes.

He recommended that more housed building should go hand-in-hand with the creation of more jobs in rural areas. Now, the Government has been accused in planning a massive increase in rural house building in Yorkshire and Humberside – an estimated 30,000 a year – many of them on greenfield sites or even in the green belt.

But no mention has been made of Mr Taylor’s recommendation that new houses should be built in line with the creation of new jobs. Now, Yorkshire CLA director Dorothy Fairburn says that the Government is in danger of forgetting the “core proposals” of Mr Taylor’s report.

• The complex and controversial subject of rural housing will be discussed in our Week in the Country column tomorrow.