Sevenoaks MP Michael Fallon asks who's in charge of planning?
Officially it’s Sevenoaks District Council. We elect our councillors
and they decide each planning application. If they turn it down, the
developer could appeal to the Secretary of State and his planning
inspectorate.
Now it’s quite different. First, the council has
to get its local development plan approved by Whitehall. Officials at
the Government Office for the South East, unelected by anybody, can
overwrite Sevenoaks’ plan: they can insert all kinds of considerations
on housing numbers and land use policy.
Second, the Department of Local Government in Whitehall now issues a
whole series of “planning policy statements” which their inspectors
must take into account when hearing appeals. These are long,
complicated documents which cut across local priorities, and make a
mockery of local decision-making.
Third, developers who win a major planning application on appeal are
entitled to costs against the council that turned it down.This means
that cash-strapped councils like Sevenoaks have to be extremely careful
about the grounds they rely on for refusing any new development.
Council taxpayers could be faced with bills of as much as a hundred
thousand pounds.
So planning isn’t really local any more. It’s become part of central government control-freak management.
This is bad news. Making every council deal with planning in the same
way doesn’t just undermine local democracy. It also stifles local
initiative. It prevents competition by emulation: intelligent councils
inspire others to follow them.
I’m trying to do something about this. For the first time I came first
in the ballot for Private Members’ Bills. This gives me the chance to
promote a new law of my own.
My bill is called the Planning and Energy Bill. It’s designed to reinforce local decision-making and help tackle climate change.
It puts into law the so-called “Merton” rule. Merton Council, in
London, has an innovative policy towards new housing development: it
requires at least 10 per cent of the energy needed to come from
renewable or low carbon energy on-site. This in turn means
house-builders have to make their homes energy-efficient. Over 100
other councils have followed Merton’s lead.
Now the government is re-writing its policy planning statement to rule
out requirements that don’t allow off-site renewable energy. In other
words, ministers want to prevent councils setting more than the minimum
targets.
My bill stops that. It supports local democracy. It’s supported by
former environment ministers and by all three parties. I’m going to
make my own small contribution to climate change by making every effort
to get it onto the statute book.
