Mark Reckless
Main Page: Mark Reckless (UK Independence Party - Rochester and Strood)National Planning Policy Framework
Mark Reckless Excerpts
Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood) (Con)
The Minister has conducted this process with great courtesy and consideration. Does he share my concern that councillors have too often felt intimidated into making decisions that they would prefer not to make by the threat of legal costs, and does this new framework offer them support in that area?
Greg Clark
Yes, it does, because the threat of legal costs arises at the moment from the very real prospect that a local decision can be overturned by, for example, the regional strategy imposing different policies. One of the reasons we want to rid ourselves of these unwanted strategies is so that decisions that are taken locally stay local, and people can have confidence in them.