Housing minister Yvette Cooper has called for housebuilders to help the government “win the argument” with nimbys for an increase in housebuilding. “We need to find ways to speed up the planning process. But it isn’t just about this. We have to start winning the arguments in every area about the next generation," she said. “It is not simply about the planning system it is about us all, including developers, going out and winning the argument. It's no good housebuilders saying local communities don’t want developmemt so we will walk away or try and get the government to do something. We have to win the arguments." Speaking at the TCPA's More and Better Homes summit, Cooper said she wanted to explode the “myths and misconception” that a growth in housebuilding was a threat to the countryside. But the only way to do this was by winning the debate as opposed to overruling local authorities. “We have to recognise the important role of democracy in the planning system. People have different views on how to use land,” she said. She also called for the housebuilding industry to respond to the market, “in terms of quantity by getting out of the low …