The government's Green Paper on housing, published in July 2007, points the way towards a radical shake-up in the provision of affordable housing. It brings new incentives and opportunities for local authorities to boost their housing programmes. I am urging Warwick District Council to take full advantage of the opportunities now presented to them as a result of the measures announced in the green paper.

I feel that the council can now be much more ambitious, and I'm calling upon it commit to build 2,500 new low-cost homes, available either for rent or part-purchase, over the next nine years. Furthermore, the design of these new homes should also represent a radical break from the past. The technology is already available for us to build carbon neutral homes. The government is requiring this by 2016 but I'd like to see us pioneer this type of building in Warwick District ahead of that date.

I am convinced that we could achieve this target without compromising the quality of our local environment. I believe over the nine year period there should be sufficient brownfield sites available to deliver most of this programme and we can certainly avoid any further building on vulnerable floodplains.

I think if we can do this we will provide real help for thousands of local people to get their first step on the housing ladder.