I attended my first Planning and Environment Committee meeting last night.
If any proof were needed that this Labour Government is committed to the centralization of power and decision making at the expense of local democracy then I saw it clearly demonstrated last night. Government 'guidance' notes are leading to remote planning inspectors, based in Bristol, overturning decisions made by elected Councillors based on local plans that have been adopted following public consultation and previously approved by Ministers.
The most concerning aspect is not that the planning inspectorate is ensuring that local authorities take decisions in accordance with the rules - which in my view is the role for an inspector should take - but over issues of housing design and character. Surely local councillors, who live and understand their localities are better able to decide what is in keeping with their communities and what isn't, than the individual prejudices of an unelected individual.
