Political opinion from A LibDem Perspective: No homes to go to?

Rother’s Draft Local Plan 2025-2042 is now available on their website for consultation until midnight on 24 November. Don’t get too excited though. The only issues for consideration are around whether the plan meets various statutory legal requirements. While the plan won’t now be changed, any relevant comments will be forwarded to the Secretary of State for examination.

The plan process highlights the complete mismatch between the government’s stated desire to devolve more decision-making to local communities, and its obsessive belief that local authorities are getting in the way of housebuilding. A 2020 study of 865 areas with completed Neighbourhood Plans revealed that on average they approved 39 new homes more than their local plan had allocated, but with much less hassle because local communities owned the decisions. The much bigger problem is the estimated 1.1 million building plots with plans approved but not built. There are also an estimated 300,000 houses that have been empty for more than 6 months, and another 500,000 dwellings, often small potential starter homes, that have been taken out of the housing market for holiday lets, AirBnB, and second homes. With appropriate legislation any of these could help to fill the shortfall, especially for starter homes.

The housebuilding allocations handed down from government are not suggestions, they are mandatory numbers that councils must accommodate, supposedly regardless of local infrastructure pressures, environmental constraints, or community priorities. The government used a standard calculation based largely on the existing number of homes. This resulted in a potential allocation of 15,215 homes for Rother to absorb by 2042. But it ignores the fact that no less that 90% of Rother is in designated protected landscapes. Following the consultations over the first draft plan, there have been some modest reductions, including removal of the 80 homes at Almonry Farm in Battle. In the hope that our special circumstances will be recognised, the latest draft plan currently allows for 8671 new builds by 2042, a 43% reduction in the government’s figure, but we will not be alone in claiming special status and cannot assume the lower figure will be accepted.

In other curbs on local decision making, local authorities have very limited power to impose environmental conditions that exceed the government’s standards, and from the end of this month applications for up to 9 houses will be dealt with by planning officers alone, with no ability for local councillors or residents to be involved.  My colleague Cllr Teresa Killeen MBE who holds the Planning portfolio at Rother, said “Planning decisions shape the future of our towns, villages and countryside, and people rightly expect their elected representatives to have a meaningful say in those decisions. Improvements in the planning system must not come at the expense of transparency, accountability and local decision-making”.

If the government truly believes in devolving power, give us the authority to make better use of existing buildings, give us the power to ensure planning approvals are built out or removed, and enable us to raise environmental standards that will reduce household running costs. Trust us to know what our residents want.

Cllr Kathryn Field