Future of the Planning System in England

David Johnston Excerpts

Thursday 17th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Betts]

I thank my hon. Friend, a past member of the Committee, for those comments. There are omissions in the Government’s proposals so far. House building is connected to other issues, and how the planning system deals not just with house building but with a variety of environmental concerns needs fleshing out. One thing we commented on in relation to the environment was that the Canal and River Trust and Natural England are currently statutory consultees on individual planning applications, but they are not statutory consultees on local plans. If in future all the details on particular sites are going to be in the local plan, how will the statutory consultees relate to that? Most of them say that they could not possibly to do all that in 30 months, so there are some real challenges that need bringing together in the eventual proposals when they come forward.

[David Johnston (Wantage) (Con)]

I add my thanks to the hon. Gentleman and his Committee for the report. Does he agree that most of our constituents are not necessarily opposed to planning reform or to more housing, but that they want to feel that their area is not getting a disproportionate share of that housing and that what goes up needs to be good quality, good for the environment, genuinely affordable and supported by the right infrastructure?

[Mr Betts]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. It is those sorts of issues that are often resolved at the planning application stage. Whether they can all be dealt with in a local plan, however well intentioned, is the real challenge. Often, it is the particular designs of a scheme—how they relate to the environment and how traffic issues are dealt with—that really cause most concern and problems for people. We must ensure that the public voice on those issues is not lost in any reforms.