Further to the publication of Conservative green paper on planning (http://www.jamesgray.org/site/regional-spatial-strategy/open-source-planning-will-help-residents-shape-future-of-north-wiltshire.html), the following is a short note on my Party’s policies on travellers and unauthorised development. Conservatives believe in social responsibility. Different people, from different communities, should be free to lead their lives in different ways. But this freedom must come with a responsibility to the wider community. The vast majority of travellers accept this, but a very small minority do not.
Planning rules should ensure fairness, assessing the impact on the environment and amenity, irrespective of the applicant’s background. Councils have a role to ensure the provision of suitable authorised sites to tackle genuine local need for their area, in consultation with local communities. Yet Labour’s human rights laws, distorted equality rules and flawed planning guidance have created an unfair system which has worsened community relations. We reject Labour’s approach, and instead will:
- Scrap John Prescott’s unfair Whitehall planning rules, which are compelling councils to build traveller camps on the Green Belt and to compulsorarily purchase people’s land to find sites.
- Give tougher ‘stop notice’ enforcement powers to councils with authorised sites, and support the issuing of grants for councils to help build authorised sites.
- The Human Rights Act will be replaced with a British Bill of Rights to prevent it being used to sidestep the planning system. The Bill of Rights will give greater clarity to the police and councils when taking decisions on planning and eviction.
- Create a new criminal offence of intentional trespass, as already in place in the Republic Of Ireland. Trespassers who refuse to move after being asked to do so by a uniformed police officer will face arrest. At present, trespass (which does not involve criminal damage) is a civil offence - forcing the landowner to go to court. This will allow both squatters and travellers occupying property without permission of the landowner to be removed quickly.
- Curtail the ability to apply for retrospective planning permission. This will stop the practice of travellers laying down concrete on weekends or bank holidays and then putting in a planning application (currently, planning enforcement cannot commence whilst an application is pending). Such a regime would not seek to penalise those who make genuine mistakes – such as householders trying to navigate through the often complex rules for building an extension.
These issues frequently lead to strong emotions on both sides in a local community. It is thus an area where the careful use of language and the right tone is especially important.
In conclusion, Labour’s changes have undermined community cohesion by creating a legitimate sense of injustice in the planning system. The British public want to see fair play for all, rather than special treatment being given to some. We will deliver a planning regime which is fair for all and stops the exploitation of the system by a few.
