Planning shouldn't be the scapegoat for a failing economy

Brenda Pollack

02 October 2012

I was flabbergasted the other day to find out that Eric Pickles, The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, plans to drive through major changes to our planning system without consulting anyone. A new bill looks set to go through this autumn without any public discussion on it at all.

I heard the news, a couple of weeks back, about people being able to extend their houses without applying for permission. I thought that was deeply questionable - but my colleague tells me it is far worse than that. The Government wants to speed up planning decisions by removing local powers and enabling more decisions to be made centrally.

There is talk of changes to building standards which could seriously compromise the housing sector's ability to shift to very low carbon buildings. Other changes will mean that Section 106 agreements, used to ensure developers fund local public infrastructure, can be renegotiated and developers will not have to build a percentage of affordable homes if it means lowering their profit margins.

Undermining democracy, not listening to community voices and reversing action on climate change: is this what the Coalition Government want to be known for?

Well, the Liberal Democrats certainly don't. They passed a motion overwhelmingly opposing these changes at their Party Conference last week. The Local Government Minister, Don Foster was a very lonely voice trying to maintain support. Let's see what Conservative Party members say next week at their conference.

It seems that Localism is out of favour with the departure of Greg Clarke as Planning Minister. Indeed Pickles calls these changes "muscular localism". I'd call it centralising decisions and trying to ensure development happens at whatever cost. Yes, I know it's not quite as snappy.

It's ironic; although Mr Pickles is Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when you read between the lines it seems he doesn't give a "four x" about either.

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/planning_reform_question_a.pdf

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