The Conservative Party is to invite leading property companies and planning experts to help shape its election manifesto.
It has emerged that the Tories plan to create policy committees – made up of Tory MPs and councillors – to hear evidence from planning experts, property companies and some environmental groups.
Theresa May, shadow secretary for transport, local government and the regions, said: “The committees will decide what our policies on planning and other property matters will be in time for the next election, based on the evidence that it hears.”
The party is reassessing all its policies in a bid to “reconnect” with voters.
Preliminary discussions on planning policy have already begun with groups including the BPF, HBF, RICS and Friends of the Earth.
The discussions will form the basis of the Conservatives’ position on the government’s shake-up of the planning system, which is due to become legislation during the next parliamentary session.
May said that the party would oppose the Government’s plans for radical reform, which would scrap the planning powers of county councils, create a new form of local development framework in place of UDPs and transfer strategic planning to new regional assemblies.
She said that most of the groups she had spoken to favoured “improving the implementation of the existing system to creating an entirely new one”.
But May said the Tories were unlikely to adopt a policy to ring-fence money paid in fees by developers to fund the planning system.
“I know that a lot of property companies are calling for the money they put in to be ring-fenced, but it goes against our general approach to local government,” she said.
“We want to give local authorities more freedom to put money where they feel it is needed.”
May added that the party was still considering adopting a limited right of appeal for third parties against planning consents, especially when local authorities have a vested interest in the scheme.
EGi News 27/05/02
