Crawley councillors call for government rethink on planning reforms

‘Nice try but please go away and have another think’ was Crawley Borough Council’s message to the government over proposed planning reforms.
Government planning reforms propose a massive increase in housebuilding across West Sussex (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images) SUS-201019-154311001Government planning reforms propose a massive increase in housebuilding across West Sussex (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images) SUS-201019-154311001
Government planning reforms propose a massive increase in housebuilding across West Sussex (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images) SUS-201019-154311001

Councillors spoke with one voice when discussing the Planning for the Future White Paper, which would give automatic approval to most new developments in an effort to speed up building.

At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (October 21), Conservative leader Duncan Crow tabled a notice of motion laying out the council’s concerns with the plans.

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Fears about a drop in the amount of affordable housing and the sheer number of homes the town would be expected to build have been the subject of much discussion since the White Paper was published in August.

But perhaps the biggest worry was the plan to abolish the Duty to Cooperate.

Crawley has very little land to play with so can’t meet its housing targets within its boundaries, meaning neighbouring authorities such as Horsham and Mid Sussex have to take on the burden of extra homes.

Abolishing the Duty to Cooperate would leave the borough with some serious problems.

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Calling on the government to strengthen those rules rather than abolish them, Mr Crow said: “We know we cannot meet our own housing needs – we have real constraints on our land. We just don’t have enough of it.”

The White Paper represents the biggest shake-up of the planning system since 1947.

While everyone recognised the need for more housing and the flaws in the current system, Mr Crow said: “I do have some concerns that quality, to some degree, is going out of the window in a very commendable rush for quantity.”

Under the proposed new rules, land would be split into three categories – for growth, for renewal and for protection – with applications for the first two being guaranteed ‘permission in principle’.

This did not sit well with councillors.

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Peter Smith, cabinet member for planning, said he didn’t think residents would want to see ‘unfettered development going on all around them’, especially when neither they not their elected representatives would have much say in what was happening.

Leader Peter Lamb seconded the notice of motion, and said: “We want to be able to continue to have a town that is thoroughly well planned.

“Planning goes to the heart of the concept of Crawley as a new town, with the neighbourhood principle at its centre.

“The weakening of these powers very much goes against the heart of the tradition of what is our community.”

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It’s not often that members of all political affiliations manage to agree so wholeheartedly.

But, as Mr Crow said: “This is about doing what’s right for Crawley – it’s not about politics.”

The council will submit its response to the White Paper consultation before next week’s deadline.

Karen Dunn , Local Democracy Reporting Service