Government overhaul of the planning process could 'dilute democracy and silence residents', it has been claimed

The Government’s white paper ‘planning for the future’ proposes major changes to the way planning applications are decided and how development land is allocated.

Councils would be required to develop local plans within 30 months setting out areas for development and/or protection and automatic rights would be granted for developers to build on land identified ‘for growth.’

Ministers say the changes would improve the current system and help to accelerate development.

At a recent meeting of Sunderland City Council (September 23), the city’s Liberal Democrats launched a debate on the reforms.

The motion, entitled ‘protecting the public’s say in the planning process’, called for the council to take part in the current government consultation, to lobby Sunderland’s MPs to oppose the reforms and to highlight concerns to the public.

Cllr Heather Fagan, launching the discussion, said the planning changes would “dilute democracy and silence residents.”

She added commercial and retail buildings could be converted into housing without making a full planning application, which “could lead to low quality housing in unsuitable locations.”

Liberal Democrat group leader, Cllr Niall Hodson, also raised concerns about plans to replace section 106 agreements – which are typically used to channel developer cash towards community improvements – with a national levy.

He added the proposals would “put all the power in the hands of developers and take that power and that money directly from local communities.”

Labour’s Cllr Rebecca Atkinson, cabinet member for Dynamic City, said the white paper “must be resisted.”

“It aims for beauty, quality and affordability but it will likely unleash a race to the bottom with smaller, meaner, less affordable homes and nothing left in the way to stop them,” she said.

“The Prime Minister in his foreword to the planning white paper claimed that thanks to our planning system, we have nowhere near enough homes in the right places and he said that the time had come to tear it down and start again.

“Yet there is precious little evidence that any of the new measures could lead to higher quality, more attractive or more affordable homes.

“Instead the proposals look set to deliver the exact opposite.”

Cllr Atkinson also noted the proposals had sparked criticism from planning officers, architects and housing charities.

She added: “What is more chilling is that these plans wouldn’t just dilute democratic oversight but would choke off affordable housing and lead to the creation of slum dwellings.

“The very thought of social housing facing extinction should be a line in the sand we cannot cross, these proposals don’t take us forward but potentially take us back to times that Dickens wrote of.

“This isn’t levelling up, it isn’t even levelling off, it’s letting our residents down.”

Deputy leader of the council’s opposition Conservative group, Cllr James Doyle, said the Liberal Democrat motion “brazenly misrepresented” the Government’s proposals.

In a speech to full council, which was held via videolink and broadcast on YouTube, the councillor said the current system is “ineffective and outdated” and favours large scale developers, rather than small to medium sized firms.

Under the development control-led system, he explained, there is also “significant scepticism and hostility towards the application” by the time members of the public are consulted.

“This is only natural since local people are forced to object or endorse with no compromise in the middle, to put it simply at present we’re forcing local communities to confront developments into which they have had no meaningful input,” he said.

Cllr Doyle said the Government’s proposals would “empower local communities and local authorities” by giving members of the public a say on new local plans and design codes, which will shape how areas will look.

This includes local authorities categorising land under the three headings – ‘for growth, for renewal and for protection’ – with new local plans providing greater flexibility for councils.

Other benefits included the redesign of digital planning platforms and a new national levy aiming to increase revenue levels when compared to the previous system.

Cllr Doyle went on to say: “Legitimate criticism can be levelled at these proposals and there is much debate to be had, that is why the paper makes a series of alternative proposals and suggestions.

“But to deny that the current system requires no reform is to fail to understand the system at all.”

The Liberal Democrat motion was approved with 49 votes in support, 12 against and two abstentions.

For more information on the Government’s planning white paper, visit: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future

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