Land banking by major developers remains an obstacle to planning - Yorkshire Post Letters

Who was it who said ‘a week is a long time in politics’? That wily old fox Harold Wilson was right then and now. A week into the new government and we’ve had a flurry of announcements from every corner of Whitehall and none more important than Chancellor Reeves’ announcement regarding revising the Planning system.

I was the Executive Member for Planning on Leeds City Council between 2010-2015 and think I can comment, both with experience and perspective. There are two elements to this; first the strategic framework, which sets the direction and context for up to a ten year period ahead and secondly the planning applications, which lead to the delivery of housing, as well as many other components such as employment.

Rachel is absolutely right that the strategic planning system is cumbersome, repetitive, almost unintelligible and hugely costly and onerous for all concerned.

In my five years I spent nearly all this time on getting our local plan through these different stages to final adoption and producing the site allocation plan, which determines where future development can take place. A thorough overhaul is long overdue. Infrastructure needs to be built and particularly social housing needs to become a massive priority.

However the second part of the planning application process is much more nuanced than has hitherto been suggested. Local Planning Authorities such as Leeds seek to approve applications as quickly as possible within the framework of receiving all the necessary information, legal requirements, proper consultation, statutory process and resources.

And here I caution Rachel and Angela Rayner to consider the part played by the major developers such as volume housebuilders.

For it is they who first land bank huge areas of potential development land and pay top premiums to greedy landowners and agents for such options and then again it is they who determine when to start on site and the pace of build out rates. Put bluntly, developers will only build what they think they can sell at the top of the market.

And one final, but for many of us all important, aspects of these changes. I have not yet heard any exhortation of the overriding importance of quality of design and building in the recent statements from various sources.

I am sure no one wants to make this a race to the bottom: we cannot settle for mediocre design, lack of imaginative and quality layouts and the use of substandard materials or not recognising their duty of incorporating environmental climate requirements.

Some volume house builders have demonstrated that all too often they will look to provide minimum standards, the least contribution to local infrastructure and maximum profits. It has been Planning Committees and local communities which have sought to hold their feet to the fire.