Monday, August 24, 2020
Grassroot Tories unhappy with English planning changes
One of the many tensions within the coalition of interests that form the UK Conservative Party is over planning.
A number of developers and builders donate large sums towards Tory election campaigns and no doubt expect a sympathetic ear to their troubles and problems when the party they are bankrolling is in government.
On the other hand, many Tory activists have built their careers on nimbyism within their own communities, especially in the more prosperous and rural parts of England, and do not look kindly on any government diktat that is going to threaten the quality of life of their constituents.
It was inevitable therefore that Boris Johnson’s reform proposals for the English planning system – widely seen as tipping the balance of power in favour of developers and away from local objectors – were going to go down badly in the Conservative heartlands.
As the Guardian reports, voters fear not just a loss of local power, which is already angering some local Conservative politicians, but the threat of “rural sprawl” creating new landscapes of unbroken low-density development across the shires. One local objector is quoted as saying that the changes mean the “suburbanisation” of the countryside:
It took less than 24 hours for the threat to become real after the planning white paper was unveiled. An application landed the next day with the parish council from an emboldened developer to build 100 homes on a stubbly wheat field on the edge of Earnley. It is exactly the sort of site that could be zoned for growth under the government’s new planning system, meaning that builders automatically get outline planning permission as long as the designs broadly meet a pre-agreed local plan.
Steve Culpitt, the managing director of the site’s developer, Seaward Properties, was understandably happy with the new policy, which he said “pulls the rug from beneath” opposition. “The major problem with all these sites is the objectors,” he said. “You always hear from them but never the supporters.”
If the scheme goes ahead, the flint cottages of Earnley will merge with the modern housing estates of the neighbouring beach settlement of East Wittering. It is not a unique scenario. East Wittering is ringed with fields where housebuilders including Barratt Homes have plans for 1,450 homes which could all be built under the new zoning system. It would increase the settlement’s size by 60%. Opponents like Carey fear they could be almost powerless to prevent it if the white paper becomes law.
Another rebellion is brewing 20 minutes east along the already busy A27. Four days after the planning reforms were launched, the UK’s largest housebuilder, Persimmon, lodged an application to erect 475 homes on wheat fields that would blend the settlements of Ferring and Goring-by-Sea.
“If and when this new planning regime comes into force this will be vulnerable,” said Ed Miller, the secretary of Ferring Conservation Group, who described the reforms as “an absolute attack on local government and local democracy”. Miller filled out his consultation response last week, describing the plans as “a betrayal of localism” and authoritarian.
The paper points out that the need to build out of the Covid recession and the demand for new homes are both driving forces behind this new policy, but the centralisation of planning, overriding local democracy, is not going down well with those who have to live with these decisions.
Equally as important is the fact that none of this new housebuilding is likely to help the less fortunate in our society. UK Government investment in genuinely affordable homes in England is much less that it should be, homelessness is growing, and it is unlikely that many of the new homes on green fields will be designated as affordable.
Boris Johnson's brave new housing policy for England is as much a mess as the old one.
A number of developers and builders donate large sums towards Tory election campaigns and no doubt expect a sympathetic ear to their troubles and problems when the party they are bankrolling is in government.
On the other hand, many Tory activists have built their careers on nimbyism within their own communities, especially in the more prosperous and rural parts of England, and do not look kindly on any government diktat that is going to threaten the quality of life of their constituents.
It was inevitable therefore that Boris Johnson’s reform proposals for the English planning system – widely seen as tipping the balance of power in favour of developers and away from local objectors – were going to go down badly in the Conservative heartlands.
As the Guardian reports, voters fear not just a loss of local power, which is already angering some local Conservative politicians, but the threat of “rural sprawl” creating new landscapes of unbroken low-density development across the shires. One local objector is quoted as saying that the changes mean the “suburbanisation” of the countryside:
It took less than 24 hours for the threat to become real after the planning white paper was unveiled. An application landed the next day with the parish council from an emboldened developer to build 100 homes on a stubbly wheat field on the edge of Earnley. It is exactly the sort of site that could be zoned for growth under the government’s new planning system, meaning that builders automatically get outline planning permission as long as the designs broadly meet a pre-agreed local plan.
Steve Culpitt, the managing director of the site’s developer, Seaward Properties, was understandably happy with the new policy, which he said “pulls the rug from beneath” opposition. “The major problem with all these sites is the objectors,” he said. “You always hear from them but never the supporters.”
If the scheme goes ahead, the flint cottages of Earnley will merge with the modern housing estates of the neighbouring beach settlement of East Wittering. It is not a unique scenario. East Wittering is ringed with fields where housebuilders including Barratt Homes have plans for 1,450 homes which could all be built under the new zoning system. It would increase the settlement’s size by 60%. Opponents like Carey fear they could be almost powerless to prevent it if the white paper becomes law.
Another rebellion is brewing 20 minutes east along the already busy A27. Four days after the planning reforms were launched, the UK’s largest housebuilder, Persimmon, lodged an application to erect 475 homes on wheat fields that would blend the settlements of Ferring and Goring-by-Sea.
“If and when this new planning regime comes into force this will be vulnerable,” said Ed Miller, the secretary of Ferring Conservation Group, who described the reforms as “an absolute attack on local government and local democracy”. Miller filled out his consultation response last week, describing the plans as “a betrayal of localism” and authoritarian.
The paper points out that the need to build out of the Covid recession and the demand for new homes are both driving forces behind this new policy, but the centralisation of planning, overriding local democracy, is not going down well with those who have to live with these decisions.
Equally as important is the fact that none of this new housebuilding is likely to help the less fortunate in our society. UK Government investment in genuinely affordable homes in England is much less that it should be, homelessness is growing, and it is unlikely that many of the new homes on green fields will be designated as affordable.
Boris Johnson's brave new housing policy for England is as much a mess as the old one.
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Wheat fields should not be built on.After Brexit we could need those food producing fields.
So they like local govnt and democracy! ?Pity they vote for a Party that wants to control WEVERYTHING from the centretaking power AWAY from them..
No social housing and homeless growing .Only building up problems for the future.
HOMESSNESS IS GROWING FOR IN MY LOCAL PATCH IN THE LAST MONTH 4 HAVE BEEN SEEN HOPING TO BE PICKED UP BY LOCAL SUPPORT TEAM. NEW TO THIS MIDDLE CLASS AREA CLOSE TO A UNI.
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So they like local govnt and democracy! ?Pity they vote for a Party that wants to control WEVERYTHING from the centretaking power AWAY from them..
No social housing and homeless growing .Only building up problems for the future.
HOMESSNESS IS GROWING FOR IN MY LOCAL PATCH IN THE LAST MONTH 4 HAVE BEEN SEEN HOPING TO BE PICKED UP BY LOCAL SUPPORT TEAM. NEW TO THIS MIDDLE CLASS AREA CLOSE TO A UNI.
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