The Government’s anti-democratic planning National Scheme of Delegation will come into effect on Halloween!
In a last-minute attempt, I am urging the Government to think again and scrap the scheme in its entirety.
We’re already starting to see the consequences of it, with our residents rightfully confused on why the democratically elected councillors that they vote for will be unable to make decisions on contentious planning applications within their local area.
Let us not forget, local government is not the blocker of housing. Nine in ten planning applications are approved by councils in the first instance, with many that are rejected being approved after variations and conditions.
“Local leaders are best placed to make decisions about their local areas”
This scheme represents nothing more than an erosion of local democracy and plays into the argument made by many that the Labour Government simply doesn’t understand areas outside of London and Manchester.
At a time when the sector is struggling to recruit and retain good, qualified planning officers, I do worry that planning officers – who will be delegated to make decisions in the public domain – will face increased levels of attention and potentially harassment, something the Royal Town Planning Institute has covered recently.
If Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s devolution agenda is a truly serious one, he will understand that local leaders are best placed to make decisions about their local areas.