Changes to planning law could see councils and neighbourhoods powerless to prevent factories, industrial complexes and warehouses being built in their communities, according to the Local Government Association.
The Government has proposed that developers of facilities larger than 4,000 square feet could decide to have their planning applications assessed by quangoes and ministers, rather than local planning authorities, in an effort to ‘fast-track’ large-scale commercial projects.
Councillor Mike Jones,Chairman of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board, said that ‘taking the final decision on the building of new [facilities] away from the local people who will be most affected by it will increase opposition to new development and cut across council’s plans for growth.’
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