by Councillor Henry Vann – Portfolio Holder for Town Centres and Planning
This month the Local Plan 2040 was passed with support from Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Labour, Green and Independent Councillors at a Full Council meeting. It is therefore very strange for local Conservatives to pretend they opposed the Local Plan 2040 when their Councillors voted a mixture of for and against and some abstained.
Having a strong local plan like this is fundamental to being able to oppose unrestricted development. If we had followed some Conservative Councillors views and voted down the local plan we would have ended up with developers free to build absolutely everywhere.
We only need to look next door at the Conservative-controlled Central Bedfordshire who – because they did not have a valid local plan – suffered even more at the hands of unscrupulous developers who could build anywhere with severely limited infrastructure requirements.
Even as it is, our powers are limited and our housing target is set by the Conservative Government. Indeed one Conservative who spoke in support of the Local Plan 2040 noted the risk to local residents if fellow Conservative Councillors had their way by opposing the local plan.
It is deeply disappointing that the Conservatives are now choosing to criticise the plan. Their criticisms missed the mark and almost all of them – legal deadline and the number of houses required in the plan – are forced on the Council by the Conservative government. It would have been much more productive if the Conservatives had joined us in fighting for residents by calling out the government for stopping us from demanding infrastructure be built up-front.”
Our Local Plan, which the Conservatives are now saying they don’t support, will provide much needed homes including affordable homes, business opportunities and jobs, and green infrastructure. It prioritises urban and brownfield sites and supports our town centre by prioritising business growth there. Villages are protected because we have fought for the right for parishes to develop their own neighbourhood plans which have proven a huge success.
I urge the Conservatives to support our call for better government infrastructure policy, support our villages and rural areas – rather than putting them at risk – and support our calls for improved access to GPs and better transport links. Current policy is failing our residents and we need urgent government action.
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