Liberal Democrats Warn Government Planning Reforms Will Silence Local Communities

Councillor Mike Sole, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Canterbury City Council, has criticised the Labour Government’s planning reforms due to come into force on 31 October, describing them as “an unprecedented attack on local democracy.”

The Government’s new National Scheme of Delegation will remove many planning decisions from elected councillors and place them in the hands of planning officers. At the same time, the long-established ability of ward councillors to “call in” planning applications for public debate at Planning Committee will be severely restricted.

Councillor Mike Sole believes these changes will deny local residents a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their communities.

He also expressed concern over the Government’s increasing willingness to take major planning decisions away from local councils. Under new arrangements, councils wishing to refuse planning applications for developments of 150 homes or more must notify the Secretary of State before issuing a refusal, allowing Ministers to decide whether the application should instead be determined by central government.

Councillor Mike Sole said:

“These reforms fundamentally weaken local democracy. Residents elect councillors to represent them and to stand up for their communities when important planning decisions are being made. The Government is now stripping away that democratic safeguard.

Ward councillors know their communities better than anyone. They understand the pressures on local roads, schools, GP surgeries, drainage, water supply, public transport and the environment. If residents have genuine concerns about a planning application, their elected representatives should have the right to ensure those concerns are heard in public by the Planning Committee.

Instead, the Labour Government is making it far harder for councillors to bring applications before committee, while giving itself greater powers to intervene in major housing developments. That is the wrong direction of travel.

Planning is about far more than numbers. It is about creating sustainable communities with the infrastructure, services and environmental protections that residents expect. Those decisions should remain with locally elected councillors who are directly accountable to the people they serve, not be increasingly centralised in Whitehall.”

Councillor Sole said the Liberal Democrat Group supports a planning system that is efficient and delivers the homes the country needs but warned that speeding up decisions must not come at the cost of transparency and democratic accountability.

He added:

“Local people deserve to know that when planning applications come forward, their voices can still be heard through their elected representatives. These reforms risk turning planning into a bureaucratic exercise rather than a democratic process.

We urge the Government to rethink these proposals, restore councillors’ call-in powers and trust local communities to have a meaningful say in shaping the places where they live.”