The Liberal Party notes the recent comments from Housing Secretary Sajid Javid MP that some councils could see their planning power’s revoked if they fail to ensure a faster approval rate for housing developments.
Local decision making is a cornerstone of liberalism and allows local communities to have a say in shaping the character of their locality.
The perceived shortcomings of the local planning process should not be an excuse for central government to impose arbitrary housing targets, which are then approved by an un-elected government inspector as is being muted.
Without local intervention communities risk being blighted with excessive developments which see the loss of gaps between communities creating conurbations or the squeezing in of crowded developments of undersized homes.
The Liberal Party recognises that there is a degree of self-preservation in some planning objections, but centrally imposed housing targets simply fail to address the nation’s regional housing crisis, nor support’s local democracy.