Minutes:
The Council received a notice of motion moved by Councillor Matthew Relf and seconded by Councillor David Shaw as follows:-
”Ashfield District Council notes the Government’s White Paper ‘Planning for the Future: planning policy changes in England in 2020 and future reforms’
This Council believes that proposals made in this Planning Bill would make the biggest changes to the planning in decades, to increase the speed with which developers can start building on land but at the expense of valuable local scrutiny and would substantially repeal safeguards in the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act.
The legislation was outlined at the Queen's Speech in May, with detailed plans expected to be published later this year.
Much of the rhetoric from the government surrounding these proposed changes has painted the current planning system as a blocker to progress. This council does not recognise this depiction of the planning system. This council believes that while improvements can always be found, the current
planning system does well at balancing the requirement for new developments with the need for those new developments to not detrimentally impact existing residents.
This Council believes the outlined proposals set out in the White Paper would:
• Curtail the ability of Ashfield residents to comment on individual applications.
• Lead to a planning ‘free for all’ with developers able to prioritise profit above all other concerns.
• Remove the power of local councillors to make planning decisions on behalf of the residents who elected them.
• Abandon section 106 and community infrastructure levy payments and replace them with a national levy that will favour affluent areas of the UK and leave places like Ashfield further behind.
• Remove the statutory requirement for local authorities to publish planning notices in local newspapers – thus eroding transparency.
• Offers nothing to deal with the affordable housing crisis.
• Would increase the housing targets for Nottinghamshire by 48%.
Our Council believes planning works best when developers and the local community work together to shape the District of Ashfield and deliver necessary new homes. We therefore call on the Government to protect the right of residents, communities and councillors to object to individual
planning applications.
That the Leader of Ashfield District Council writes to the MPs for Ashfield and Sherwood – Lee Anderson and Mark Spencer on behalf of all councillors asking for a commitment to voting against this bill when it comes before the House, to issue a public statement opposing the bill and for a guarantee that they will use any influence they have to persuade their colleagues in the House of Commons to do the same.”
Having been fully considered, the motion was put to the vote and it was
RESOLVED
that the Leader of Ashfield District Council writes to the MPs for Ashfield and Sherwood, Lee Anderson and Mark Spencer, on behalf of all councillors asking for a commitment to voting against this bill when it comes before the House, to issue a public statement opposing the bill and for a guarantee that they will use any influence they have to persuade their colleagues in the House of Commons to do the same.