Rayner: Labour’s planning overhaul won’t see removal of local democratic power

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Labour is not removing local democratic power from councils with its proposals to overhaul the planning system, deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has suggested.

The Housing Secretary wants to speed up planning applications, with some potentially avoiding scrutiny by local councillors if they meet certain rules.

As part of the reforms, applications which meet local development plan requirements would bypass council committees, with the aim of ending delays to new homes, cutting the time and resources spent on individual schemes, and providing more certainty to housebuilders, the Press Association reports. READ MORE: She kissed her boyfriend goodnight and began to walk home - she never made it back alive Conservative shadow Treasury minister Richard Fuller argued that local people will be ignored under Labour’s plans.

Asked if the plans will take powers away from local councils, Ms Rayner told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I don’t accept that, because we’re saying they have to have a local plan, local democracy, and we’re saying the national planning policy framework, national democracy, were elected to build the 1.5 million homes, so therefore we’ve bolted in the consultation. “What we’ve seen is, because we haven’t had these compulsory plans locally, is speculative development where green belt land has been developed on because we haven’t had the local plan that delivers for local people. “We’ve told councils, they’ve got to have those plans.