Fears locals won't get their say over green belt homes

CONCERN THAT PLANS WILL BE WAVED THROUGH BY OFFICIALS

- By LAUREN MONAGHAN

A LEADING councillor has called the Government's plans to boost housing a "disgrace", saying the proposals would restrict the public's rights.

Labour's Planning and Infrastructure Bill, introduced early this year, aims to speed up the council planning process. The Government has set a target of building 1.5 million homes in the next five years.

In May, a consultation of councils started, linked to the Government's bill, asking authorities for feedback on a new "national scheme of delegation" for planning applications, having a maximum of 11 planning committee members and implementing mandatory training for councillors on planning committees.

Currently, councils set their own rules on deciding on planning applications, but the Government's hints at a reformed "national delegation scheme" would see applications split into tier A or tier B.

Tier A applications - for more minor developments - would be automatically decided by council officers, while tier B - more complex applications - would be delegated to officers unless the chief planning officer and the planning committee's chair agreed to refer the application to the full committee.

However, the Government could also propose classifying medium-sized housing schemes, of between 10 and 49 homes, as tier A applications, meaning they could be approved without any councillor scrutiny or resident consultation.

This raises questions, particularly for rural areas and greenbelt land, where even less significantly-sized housing schemes can negatively affect an area.