Planning reforms must pass transparency tests – The Yorkshire Post says

THE Yorkshire Post continues to make its displeasure clear over proposed changes to the planning system – and which are totally contrary to the Government’s so called ‘localism’ agenda. Publication of applications in local newspapers, and in the affected areas, should always be regarded as a basic tenet of grassroots democracy and transparency in action.
By YP Comment
Published 10th Dec 2020, 11:35 BST
The Government's planning reforms continue to cause controversy.The Government's planning reforms continue to cause controversy.
The Government's planning reforms continue to cause controversy.

But it’s also important that any circumvention of the system, as part of a desire on the part of Ministers to boost the economy, does not hinder local planning policies from “delivering sustainable development, community cohesion and a healthy environment”.

This is the profound point being made today by the CPRE countryside campaign group and Friends of the Earth in a cross-party letter backed by more than 2,000 local councillors. All individuals who take their civic duties extremely seriously because they know how their decisions, as elected councillors, impact on communities, their experience needs to be respected – they probably have far more know-how than the very Whitehall civil servants and politicians devising these changes.

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But the shake-up should also be viewed as an opportunity, as this newspaper has previously argued, to introduce some much-needed foresight to planning policy so issues like flood prevention measures, energy efficiency and provision of cycle facilities are properly considered when applications come before local authorities in the first instance – and not as an after-thought once new homes and offices have been built. By then, it is invariably too late.

Boris Johnson is facing a mounting backlash over his planning reforms.Boris Johnson is facing a mounting backlash over his planning reforms.
Boris Johnson is facing a mounting backlash over his planning reforms.

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Related topics:Yorkshire PostGovernmentCPREYorkshire

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