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Should Kent say yes to new housing?

Call 08459 811111, email julia@bbc.co.uk or text 81333 (start your message with KENT).

Call 08459 811111 (local rate), email julia@bbc.co.uk or text 81333 (start your message with KENT).

Matt Cole sits in for Julia George asking...

The government wants to make it easier to build the new homes the country needs. The communities and local government committee say their reforms make it too easy to build new development on green belt land.

It's becoming increasingly difficult for first time buyers, who are being scuppered by high prices. However it would create room for our growing population and create jobs in the construction industry.

Should we say yes to new housing, even if it is on green belt land? Would you want a new housing estate in your own back yard? Do we need to protect our county's countryside?

We hear from John Stewart, the director of economics affairs at the ±«Óãtvbuilders Federation (11.39).

Also on the programme, thousands of children in the South East will be spending Christmas Day in temporary accomodation.

We speak to Nicola Hughes, a senior policy officer at housing and homeless charity Shelter (10.17).

Families in Kent are also going to extraordinary lengths in the festive period to care for the county's vulnerable children.

We hear from Cathy, who supports her sister's three children following a family tragedy (10.39) and Sarah Wellard, policy and research manager of Grandparents Plus 10.50).

And women who've had leaky and substandard breast implants in France could have surgery to remove them paid for by the government there. However the watchdog in the UK says there's no need to worry.

Around 40 thousand women in the UK could have the PIP implants which have also been potentially linked to 8 cases of cancer.

We hear the stories of Emma Shelley from Folkestone, who received the implants six weeks before they were recalled (11.08), and Amanda Harrison from Ramsgate, who became ill when her implants went wrong (11.19).

3 hours

Last on

Wed 21 Dec 2011 09:00

Broadcast

  • Wed 21 Dec 2011 09:00