THE Conservative campaign continued in Weymouth with a visit focused on business and environmental issues.

Caroline Spelman, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, joined the Conservative candidate for South Dorset Richard Drax at the Centenary Club in Weymouth yesterday.

The event was to allow businessmen and women, traders and farmers to discuss their concerns about green belt development, housing and garden grabbing.

Mrs Spelman, who is on a tour of Dorset and Somerset, said she had been hearing of people’s concerns about the proposed development of green belt sites and concerns about the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS).

The RSS is a long-term plan for each area of the UK that says how many homes need to be built in an area and how much space should be devoted to business development and industry.

She said: “The RSS would be torn up by a Conservative government. We are committed to scrapping the RSS and letting local people decide.”

She added: “The sorts of family homes should be decided locally. Density of homes should be decided locally. Local people are better placed to decide on density than bureaucrats in Whitehall.”

The Conservatives propose setting up Local Housing Trusts to allow local people to build homes for local people. They also want to prevent in-fill building in suburban areas.

Mrs Spelman highlighted the need for affordable homes in Weymouth and not just luxury flats and holiday homes.

Mr Drax said: “There is an acute shortage of affordable homes for local people.”

Mrs Spelman also said that a Conservative government would scrap the Labour government’s plans to raise National Insurance contributions.

She said: “Labour want to raise National Insurance and that’s a tax on jobs.

“We are absolutely committed to helping businesses because we need it to help us out of this economic mess.”

Mrs Spelman also said that the Conservatives were committed to increasing social housing, by providing bigger incentives to build.

She said that the Conservatives would be using a carrot to encourage building, rather than a stick.