Planning ahead...

Jenrick can’t have it both ways

BY TAKING an oversimplistic approach to planning, the Government’s well-intended reforms risk making a mockery of local decision-making.

Contrary to the impression given by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, most small-scale applications are dealt with promptly by local councillors.

And where delays take place, it is, invariably, because there are issues of contention about a proposed scheme’s impact on the community in question.

As such, it is ironic that Mr Jenrick appears to be questioning the role of councils when he is also the Cabinet minister in charge of local devolution. He cannot have it both ways.

His approach also appears to leave the major developers in the driving seat – a state of affairs that the Minister should have been avoiding following past errors of judgement that would have cost him his Cabinet job in previous eras.

After all, details do matter and it is in the public interest for significant applications to meet certain criteria before they’re improved.

This includes energy efficiency, flood-proofing, provision of high-speed broadband and ensuring that existing services, like schools and GP surgeries, have sufficient scope to accommodate additional families.

Expenses – even inconveniences – that will not find favour with the major developers who are not renowned for their altruism, they are, nevertheless, safeguards that need to be put in place to ensure new homes are fit for the future. On this, it is already plain to see that Mr Jenrick’s policy foundations need to be much stronger.