Conservatives today unveiled a major new policy paper to reform England\u2019s \u2018broken\u2019 planning system.<\/p>\n
It outlines proposals to use \u2018open source\u2019 democracy and neighbourhood involvement to encourage sustainable development. Whitehall targets and unelected quangos will be scrapped, to be replaced with a democratic system for national infrastructure and incentives to promote local homes and jobs.<\/p>\n
Under the initiatives in the planning green paper, entitled Open Source Planning, Conservatives will:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Use collaborative democracy to allow local communities to create \u2018bottom-up\u2019 local plans, helping local residents shape and protect the character of their neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
\u2022Scrap the powers of the Bristol-based Planning Inspectorate to rewrite communities\u2019 local plans.<\/p>\n
\u2022Abolish the undemocratic and ineffective tier of regional planning overseen by unelected regional quangos. These regional plans are ripping up the Green Belt across the country despite Gordon Brown\u2019s pledge to protect it \u2018robustly\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2022Reward councils and communities through incentives to encourage building new homes and businesses, in contrast to the current regime which effectively penalises development.<\/p>\n
\u2022Maintain national Green Belt protection and other special protections for wildlife and the countryside, whilst allowing sustainable development elsewhere in accordance with the local plan.<\/p>\n
\u2022Use new local infrastructure blueprints to coordinate strategic matters crossing boundaries, with a new duty on public authorities \u2013 including the Highways Agency \u2013 to cooperate with local councils.<\/p>\n
\u2022Abolish Labour\u2019s new unelected and unaccountable central planning quango – the Infrastructure Planning Commission, whilst retaining a fast-track process to avoid planning inquiries taking years; and give Parliament a new role to vote on and ratify national planning policy.<\/p>\n
\u2022Change Whitehall\u2019s restrictive parking rules to ensure more parking spaces in family homes and near local shops.<\/p>\n
\u2022Increase councils and police powers to tackle unauthorised sites and illegal trespass.<\/p>\n
\u2022Tackle the scourge of \u2018garden grabbing\u2019 and over-development in residential neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
Launching the paper at a speech in London, David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party, remarked:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur local plans represent one of the biggest shifts in power for decades. It\u2019s genuinely one of the most radical and transformative policies that a Conservative government \u2013 or any government \u2013 can introduce. Suddenly, you can see how a system that was controlled by a few can be run by the many. You can see how it\u2019s possible to get neighbourhoods to come together to solve problems together. So this won\u2019t just help to improve our broken planning system \u2013 it\u2019ll help to build stronger communities and help to mend our broken society too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caroline Spelman, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cLabour\u2019s planning system is bad for democracy, bad for the environment and bad for business. Too many decisions taken by unelected quangos, there is too much unnecessary red tape and there are no incentives for local residents to back sustainable development. We will put local communities in the driving seat, creating an \u2018open source\u2019 planning system that promotes new homes and jobs to the benefit of the economy, local democracy and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Download Green Paper HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Conservatives today unveiled a major new policy paper to reform England\u2019s \u2018broken\u2019 planning system. It outlines proposals to use \u2018open source\u2019 democracy and neighbourhood involvement to encourage sustainable development. Whitehall targets and unelected quangos will be scrapped, to be replaced … Continue reading