Notice of Motion

GREEN GROUP and labour GROUP

PLANNING BY COMMUNITIES, NOT BY GOVERNMENT

That this council supports the call of the Local Government Association to ‘Keep Planning Local,’ and calls on the Chief Executive to write to Robert Jenrick, MP, urging the Government to address flaws in the Government’s Planning White Paper and provide support for Local Planning Authorities, as follows:

1) to consider reform to the Land Compensation Act, (as referenced in the 2018 Letwin Review of Build Outs) in order to prevent ‘land banking’ and ensure affordable housing provision [1]

2) to provide additional funding to local planning authorities, to address the impact of long-term austerity cuts on local planning teams [2] and equip them with the resources needed to support local communities

3) to increase, not restrict the ability of Local Planning Authorities and residents to influence local plans and planning applications, by abandoning current proposals to shorten the consultation process in favour of proposals that would enhance consultation and local control; [3] and

4)  to remove the imposition of further ‘housing targets,’ and ‘zonal’ plans that risk the status of green spaces in the city.

Proposed by: Cllr Ebel                                       Seconded by: Cllr Childs

The government is currently consulting on the largest overhaul of the planning system in over 70 years. Central to this will be changes to the formula that determines local housing need, or housing algorithm, which was introduced in 2014. Our council has prepared a response. Under the new housing algorithm, areas with the sharpest house price rises since the 2009 recession would get the highest number of new homes, likely to deliver bigger profits for developers at the expense of building homes in areas where people can afford to live. https://www.cpre.org.uk/news/major-planning-reforms-criticism/

[1] The LGA has found that ‘councils are not the block to the Government’s Housing target,’ – 9/10 planning applications are approved by councils, and more than a million homes in England have been granted planning permission, yet not been built by developers. There are concerns this is related to ‘Land banking,’ where speculation over land values can delay development [https://blog.shelter.org.uk/2016/12/land-banking-whats-the-story-part-1/]

[2] A joint research report between the Federation of Master Builders and Local Government Information Unit has found that almost 90% of local authorities are unable to meet government housing targets due to a lack of planning resources and continued cuts

[3] In addition to the Housing Targets already set by Government Planning rules, and the ‘presumption in favour of development,’ that hinders local democratic control of planning, new proposals suggest an ‘algorithm’ to calculate housing need. LGA analysis suggests this could increase Brighton and Hove’s target for new homes by 287% and threaten green space.