Fears Government planning reforms could weaken Warwick district’s flood defences

Councillors have raised concerns that the Coalition’s plans to simplify planning and introduce a bias in favour of economic growth may have environmental consequences both in its towns and in terms of climate change.

And officials have warned that the Government needs to define exactly what it means by ‘sustainable’ development to avoid costly appeals.

Cllr John Hammon, who is responsible for development, told Warwick District Council’s executive committee on Wednesday that councillors wanted protection from “ugly” features such as broadband cabinets in the streets.

Flooding was also identified as a concern, with building on flood plains and the need to prevent flash floods by minimising ‘run off’ in built up areas part of current policies.

Cllr Hammon said: “We feel the Government has taken away the policies that give us protection.”

Cllr Hammon added that members also felt the council should be active in reducing climate change, and that it should be the starting point for all applications dealing with renewable and low-carbon energy.

The Government’s proposed National Planning Policy Framework says the purpose of of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development and calls for permission to be granted where plans are absent, say nothing or are ‘out of date’.

Officials have warned of the need to define what ‘sustainable’ means.

Speaking before the meeting, Cllr Hammon said something should not be seen as sustainable simply because it had economic benefits.

He said: “We want the guidelines to be sorted so that professional planners can follow them and it doesn’t result in decisions being overturned all the time and going to costly appeals.”

Officers also say local plans may need to be more detailed to protect areas previously covered under Government policy and will take longer to produce.

The forthcoming Localism bill is widely understood to give more power to communities, but the Government says neighbourhood plans can only promote more development, not less, than specified in the district council’s local plan.

Protection for the green belt will remain but the Government will require local authorities to consider ‘strategic priorities’ and their strategy for meeting identified requirements for sustainable development when defining boundaries.

Cllr Hammon added that filling gaps in villages and fully or partially redeveloping brownfield sites might affect more sites than are currently allowed in a few designated villages and sites.