Devolved planning will help residents shape future of Reading

Alok Sharma, Reading West Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, joined with Reading East MP, Rob Wilson, this week to welcome major new policies from Conservatives to reform England ’s ‘broken’ planning system. A new system of devolved democracy and neighbourhood involvement will help deliver sustainable development across Reading. Government targets and unelected quangos will be scrapped, to be replaced with collaborative working and new incentives to promote and reward the building of local homes and new jobs.

Rather than having one planning structure determined centrally and then applied unvaryingly across the country, Conservatives have pledged to create a planning system where there is a basic national framework of planning priorities and policies, within which local people and their accountable local governments can produce their own distinctive local policies to create communities which are sustainable, attractive and good to live in.

The plans would mean that local people in each neighbourhood would be able to specify what kind of development and use of land they want to see in their area. This will lead to a fundamental and long overdue rebalancing of power, away from the centre and back into the hands of local people. Whole layers of bureaucracy, delay and centralised micro-management will disappear as planning shifts away from being an issue principally for “insiders” to one where communities take the lead in shaping their own surroundings.

As with other Conservative policies designed to bring competition to public service, the proposal is aimed at engaging local communities and fostering a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Under this new policy initiative, entitled Open Source Planning, Conservatives will:

Abolish the undemocratic and ineffective tier of regional planning overseen by unelected quangos. This would include scrapping the South East Regional Plan.
Use collaborative democracy to allow local communities to create ‘bottom-up’ local plans, helping Reading ’s residents shape and protect the character of their neighbourhoods.
Tackle the scourge of ‘garden grabbing’ and over-development in residential roads, giving (Reading Borough Council, Wokingham Borough Council and West Berks Council) new powers to protect the character of neighbourhoods.
Reward Councils and communities through incentives to encourage building new homes and businesses, in contrast to the current regime where central Government effectively grabs back the money raised from new homes and businesses.
Maintain national Green Belt protection and other special protections for wildlife and the countryside, whilst allowing sustainable development elsewhere in accordance with the local plan.
Use new local infrastructure blueprints to coordinate strategic matters crossing boundaries, with a new duty on public authorities – including the Highways Agency and Network Rail – to cooperate with Reading Borough Council, Wokingham Borough Council and West Berks Council.
Abolish Labour’s 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 Members of Parliament a new role to vote on and ratify national planning policy.
Increase council and police powers to tackle unauthorised traveller sites and illegal trespass.
Change restrictive parking rules to ensure more parking spaces are provided in family homes and near local shops, taking the pressure off crowded residential streets.

Alok Sharma said, “I have been campaigning with local residents on planning issues across the Reading West constituency for several years and this bold new Conservative vision will put local people in the driving seat to help shape our community and decide where new homes should go, transferring power from Whitehall bureaucrats and Labour’s unelected regional quangos.”

Rob Wilson added, “This new planning system is exactly what my constituents have been asking for, as the current system is a source of immense frustration and concern. This week’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to allow the development at Sandford Farm to go ahead is just one example of this frustration. Under this Government, planning rules are too complex and too many decisions are taken by people in offices, ignoring the views of local residents. We will put local communities back in control."