A survey of over 1,200 ward councillors in England, carried out by the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) reveals that councillors think the planning system works in the interests of developers over councils and local communities.
The LGiU report called Councillors’ Attitudes to the Planning System, was commissioned by the National Trust and also found that
- over half of councillors say that sites that are not in line with the Council’s plan are being approved for housing in their area
- there are concerns about Green Belt release and the loosening of the planning system through the introduction of permitted development rights for home extensions, office to residential use conversion, barn conversions and other changes of use
- councillors have concerns about the under-resourcing of planning teams.
