Cornwall councillors lead planning objection
ACROSS-PARTY group of Cornwall councillors will call on all members of the council to support submitting “strong objections” to the Government’s proposals to change the planning system.
The Government has published a consultation with a list of ways that it would like to change the planning system which it says would make it easier to get housing built.
However the proposals have been described as a “disaster” for Cornwall with warnings that they could lead to developers having free rein and that they could reduce the number of affordable homes which could be built.
At next week’s meeting of Cornwall Council a motion will be put forward calling on the council to back calls to oppose the changes.
Liberal Democrat group leader Malcolm Brown has proposed the motion which has been seconded by Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole.
It has also received backing from a number of other councillors from the Lib Dems, MK, Labour and Independent groups.
One of the objections is against plans to change housing targets which could mean Cornwall would have to build 81,000 homes in 20 years, an increase from the current level of 52,500.
The full list of objections are: the further centralisation of the planning process, which would undermine the work of Cornwall Council and town and parish councils, and severely weaken the Cornwall Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plans. The changes would also reduce the ability of residents to make meaningful representations on proposals for new housing and other developments in their areas;
the “standard method for establishing housing requirement figures,” which has been described by some councils as a “mutant algorithm”. The changes would increase Cornwall’s 20-year housing target to an extremely unsustainable 81,000 properties - up from the present target of 52,500;
the zoning of land, which would allow certain developments to happen without the need for a formal planning application. The changes would risk unregulated sprawl and unsustainable developments - pressures to which many settlements in Cornwall are highly vulnerable;
the proposal that a new Local Plan must be completed to a central government template within a 30-month timetable. The changes would reduce the ability of the unitary authority to prepare planning policies best suited to Cornwall;
that affordable housing would no longer be sought on sites (not deemed designated rural areas) of up to 40 or 50 new properties. The changes would diminish seriously the amount of social rent and affordable housing built in Cornwall and do nothing to tackle the issues associated with second homes and empty properties;
the extension of “permission in principle” to larger housing developments, which would further undermine the openness of the planning system.
The motion also calls on the council to raise concerns about the end of Section 106 agreements. Cornwall Council will meet tomorrow to discuss the motion.