13 December
"Conservatives in local government are pro-development when it is in the right place and with the appropriate infrastructure secured. To sell capitalism, people need to own a stake in our society, and this is clearly safeguarded through home ownership. Councils are not the blockers to development. The number of planning permissions granted for new homes has more than doubled since 2010, with 9 in 10 planning applications being approved.
That said, the Governments revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework today will do little to get spades into the ground. Imposing mandatory housing on councils drives a coach and horses through the planning system, it does little to give councils the powers they need to deliver. Indeed, several Labour Council Leaders have already highlighted their own councils will fail to meet the mandatory housing targets imposed upon them.
We need to address the elephant in the room. To start, the Government must commit to abolishing European nutrient neutrality regulations that are holding back the construction of more than 100,000 new homes. Government also needs to equip local Planning Departments with the resources they need to turbocharge the planning process. The one-off investment to support Planning Department capacity today just doesn’t cut it."