'It's an attack on local democracy' - senior Dudley councillor criticises Angela Rayner's reform of planning system
Government plans to speed up housing developments have been branded an attack on local accountability by a senior Black Country councillor.
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Councillor Simon Phipps, cabinet member for the economy and infrastructure at Dudley Council, said planning reforms announced by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner this week would weaken trust in local democracy.
The reforms, announced by Mrs Rayner on Wednesday, will see decisions about smaller housing developments made by planning officers, without the need for them to be referred to committees of elected councillors.
Mrs Rayner said it would speed up the planning process and help the Government meet its target of building 1.5 million new homes. She said the Government would be making an extra £10 million available to recruit more planning officers.
But Councillor Phipps said it was an attack on local government.
“The proposals laid out by the Government represent an attack on the principle of local accountability within the planning system," he said.
"It will take power away from elected members and put it with unelected officers, weakening trust in our local democracy."
Councillor Phipps said it would resist any attempts by the elected mayor for the West Midlands to take over planning powers at present held by Dudley Council.
"We are clear in our view that decisions about the future of our area should be made locally, rather than those powers being centralised in Birmingham or Westminster," he said.
“Dudley Council has already passed not one, but two motions condemning the Government’s changes to the planning system since they have come to power.”
Mrs Rayner said the measures would allow thousands of homes to be built faster on smaller sites across the country.
Complex planning rules would be streamlined, onerous regulatory burdens eased, and financial support provided to small and mid-sized building firms.
She said the present system made it far too difficult for smaller builders to 'get spades in the ground', with a small site of 10 homes facing similar planning hurdles to one with 100 or more.
