David Cameron pledges to abolish Regional Spatial Strategy

Harriett Baldwin welcomed major new policies from Conservatives to reform England’s ‘broken’ planning system.

A new system of ‘Open Source’ democracy and neighbourhood involvement will help deliver sustainable development across Worcestershire. Whitehall targets and unelected quangos will be scrapped, to be replaced with collaborative working and new incentives to promote and reward local homes and jobs.

This comes as official Government surveys show only 1 in 3 people think they can influence decisions in their local area, and just 1 in 5 people think they can influence national decisions.

Under a 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 Regional Spatial Strategy, the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy with its imposition of 25,500 homes (two towns the size of Malvern) on South Worcestershire.
• Use collaborative democracy to allow local communities to create ‘bottom-up’ local plans, helping Worcestershire’s residents shape and protect the character of their neighbourhoods.
• Tackle the scourge of ‘garden grabbing’ and over-development in residential roads, giving Malvern Hills District Council and Wychavon new powers to protect the character of neighbourhoods.
• Reward Malvern Hills District Council and Wychavon and communities through incentives to encourage building new homes and businesses, in contrast to the current regime where Whitehall effectively grabs back the money raised from new homes and business.
• 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 Worcestershire councils.
• 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 Whitehall’s restrictive parking rules to ensure more parking spaces are provided in family homes and near local shops, taking the pressure off crowded residential streets.

Harriett Baldwin said:
“The Government’s planning system is a source of immense frustration and concern for many residents and councillors across South Worcestershire. Under Labour, planning rules are too complex and too many decisions are taken by unelected officials, ignoring the views of local residents. The imposition of 25,500 homes is far too large and nobody locally every voted to become a “New Growth Point”.

"I listened to David Cameron’s speech in Brighton yesterday, and this commitment to scrap regional planning got the biggest applause from the audience."

“This bold new Conservative vision will put Worcestershire’s residents in the driving seat to help shape our community, transferring power from Whitehall bureaucrats and Labour’s unelected regional quangos. This will help deliver new homes and jobs for local people whilst championing local democracy and protecting our local amenity and environment.”