Government regional plans should be scrapped now

Anne Main comments ahead of the public consultation on the East of England Plan to 2031.

Commenting ahead of the public consultation on the East of England Plan to 2031, which begins tomorrow, Anne Main, MP for St Albans, said:

"I think it is appalling that this Government, in its death throes, is trying to push ahead with regional planning strategies for the next twenty-two years, with these sham 'consultations' to pretend that they are giving local people a say.

I'm pleased that my colleague Caroline Spelman, the Shadow Communities Secretary, has given me assurances over the summer that a future Conservative Government will abolish both Regional Spatial Strategies and Regional Planning Bodies, as this tier of regional planning is bureaucratic and undemocratic, and has always been deeply flawed.

She has promised the abolition of national and regional building targets, and given me an undertaking that, under a Conservative Government, local authorities will be able to review their Local Development Frameworks to undo unwanted planning policies which the Regional Spatial Strategies have imposed upon them. In St Albans, this would mean a review of not only the controversial housing targets but also the imposed targets for Gypsy and Traveller sites, and I feel this is a necessary step if we are to give local people a real say. I am told that transport policies, such as the one which commits us to 'three or four' rail freight interchanges around London, would also be up for review.

The choice between local people being allowed to make decisions which affect their community and the system of top-down imposed planning targets which we currently have will be a key issue at a forthcoming general election. If the Government really wants to consult local people they should mothball these policies until we can all have a say at the ballot box.""