Green councillors in Vale of White Horse have written to local MPs and government ministers calling for part of the government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill to be scrapped. The letter argues that the plans will reduce the power of local councils and councillors to act on behalf of their communities and will “fail to deliver the affordable housing we need whilst also reversing progress on environmental protections”.
The Greens letter echoes environmental campaigners including BBOWT who have warned the government plans could “represent the biggest attack on our environmental protections for a generation” [1]
Cllr Sarah James, leader of the Vale Green group explained, “We recognise the need to deliver the right homes, at the right price, in the right places to address the housing affordability crisis that we see in the Vale of White Horse. We also need to meet the UK’s future energy needs and help our natural environment to recover. We believe these aims can all be delivered while protecting local decision making and the environment. We know how much our residents care about nature, and we cannot pander to developers by allowing them to buy their way out of protecting habitats.”
The letter calls on MPs Olly Glover, Charlie Maynard and Layla Moran to oppose the measures in part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and to vote against the Bill at the final reading if improvements are not made.
In a motion that won unanimous support at Vale’s Full Council meeting on 16th July, the Green group are also asking Vale of White Horse District Council to object to proposed changes to local decision-making for planning.
[1] https://www.bbowt.org.uk/campaign-for-wildlife/planning-and-infrastructure-bill
The letter in full follows:
Dear Ministers and MPs,
Regarding the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, Part 3
We are writing as the Green Group of Councillors on the Vale of White Horse District Council to express our deep concerns that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently passing through Parliament will reduce the power of councils and councillors to act on behalf of their communities, and that it will fail to deliver the affordable housing we need whilst also reversing progress on environmental protections. Despite pleas from across the environmental sector and cross-party support for amendments, the Bill continues to include damaging changes to planning rules, leading the environmental movement to come together to call on ministers to ‘scrap part 3’.
For example, our local wildlife trust BBOWT (Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust) says “In its current form the legislation will not guarantee adequate environmental recovery, and in fact it risks undermining much of the hard-won progress for environmental protection that has been gained over the last 70 years. It could represent the biggest attack on our environmental protections for a generation.” (https://www.bbowt.org.uk/campaign-for-wildlife/planning-and-infrastructure-bill)
We recognise the need to deliver the right homes, at the right price, in the right places to address the housing affordability crisis that is evident in the Vale of White Horse. Alongside this, the need to provide clean energy infrastructure to support the UK’s future energy needs. And we recognise the need to rapidly deliver projects that will help our natural environment to recover such that the UK is no longer one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.
We believe these aims can all be delivered alongside robust local decision making given the right mix of regulation and funding, but we believe this bill as it stands will fail to deliver the affordable housing we need whilst also reversing progress on environmental protections.
This Council has spent several years consulting on and drawing up a new Local Plan, joint with South Oxfordshire District Council. It is currently at inspection stage. We know that protecting the environment is a key priority for our residents.
Prime Minister and Secretaries of State: we are calling on you to scrap part 3, that is to withdraw part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Nature in the UK is in trouble; we cannot afford to make things even worse.
We are calling on MPs representing the Vale of White Horse, Olly Glover, Charlie Maynard and Layla Moran, to oppose the measures in part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and if they remain in the Bill, to vote against it at the final reading.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Sarah James, Cllr Katherine Foxhall, Cllr Cheryl Briggs, Cllr Viral Patel
Vale of White Horse District Council Green Group