Government’s planning reform threatened by rebel alliance

The flagship levelling-up agenda faces legislative delays as Tory rebels attempt to unpick what they see as a “dangerous and undemocratic” power grab. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was due to be voted on in the House of Commons on Monday, but that has now been pulled as ministers attempt to soothe rebellious backbenchers. More than 50 Conservative MPs have signed amendments tabled by former environment secretary Theresa Villiers which attempt to unpick vast swathes of the government’s planning reforms. Villiers has tabled 21 amendments, each backed by 30 to 50 MPs. They attempt to reverse policy ranging from the plans for new CPO powers and the housing targets to what has been seen as an attempt by the secretary of state to centralise planning by overruling local plans. Other amendments include a clause to allow planning authorities to vary their planning fees as they see fit and a requirement for the secretary of state to launch a review of financial incentives for brownfield developments. One Westminster watcher pointed out: “Labour isn’t backing this rebellion, so the government has the numbers to vote down the amendments. But that would expose some serious rifts within the party.” Most of the MPs backing Villiers’ amendments are from the Blue Wall, where many MPs feel under threat from the Liberal Democrats. Two supposedly safe Blue Wall seats have been lost in the South West to the Lib Dems over planning and housing issues. But there are genuine concerns that the planning reforms contained within the Bill will hand the secretary of state too much power. “It would essentially enable the secretary of state to bypass local planning authorities in providing consent to controversial developments,” notes John Wallace, managing director of construction law firm Ridgemont. “Local development plan policies would only be relevant in so far as they do not conflict with centralised policies.” He added that the move threatened to spark “a deluge of appeals” from local communities, “by whatever means possible,” seeking to overturn the secretary of state’s inevitably controversial decisions to allow development. Levelling up secretary Michael Gove (pictured) is now in talks with the rebels, in an attempt to find some form of compromise. One said that while there had been many “fine words”, there had so far been no material changes to the policy. A scrapping of the five-year land supply rule, one of the central planks of Villiers’ attack, could be disastrous, said Nicole Cameron, senior associate in the planning team at Cripps. “If the target becomes merely advisory, arguably so does the requirement to have enough supplies to meet it – meaning that we’ll likely see councils and inspectors refusing to give planning permissions that would previously have been granted because the target is no longer compulsory,” she said. “This could stunt UK housebuilding at a time when the economy needs it most.” To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Photo © Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock