Housing targets - LDF or neighbourhood development plans? - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

This is the message that was in the Local Growth white paper and was in the briefing note on Neighbourhood plans issued last week/ week before by Greg Clark. It's clear that government is keeping to its rhetoric of localism being about growth it's just a shame the press releases haven't quite been couched in those terms so communities believe now that if they don't want it they don't have to have it - which isn't at all the case.

I think you are always going to have to keep in mind just how much store the Government are putting in the New Homes Bonus and just how much reliance the politicians will be placing on it to fill the gaps. Politicians will not want to be left to the mercy of communities when it comes to assessing the amount of funding that can be gained from ensuring that now housing is built and occupied. Likewise, Government is seeking to pull councils in the direction of encouraging housing growth, no matter what the local opinion might be, becuase that is the only way they will secure any non-ring fenced funding to do the things they want to do. It's becoming fairly obvious that the Localism aspect of this in respect of planning and housing delivery, is very much about additional development, if the community wants it, not about if they want any development at all. I think that there are some communities are going to feel that they have been sold a pup on this when that dawns on them. The real winners in this will be those who have councils and therefore LPAs, that don't feel any financial pressure to deliver new housing and can therefore deliver a Local Plan that merely maintains the status quo. There's little doubt that in some of the richer areas of the south, the council will be able to obtain a referendum result that supports an above inflation increase in the annual council tax in exchange for minimum housing numbers. Localism at a price or postcode.

Spot on as usual Roger. The really problematic thing will be that the pressure for new housing is focussed in those southern districts where, as you point out, councils and their electorate are likely to opt to pay the price for not allowing development. I'm really unclear whether the Coalition are intending that to happen or whether they actually believe their own puff. Either way it doesn't seem to clever at the moment.

By the way it seems to me that LPAs need to get their Local Development Documents done in double quick time, so they're ready to deal with Neighbourhood Plan requests and have some framework in which they may sit - quite a problem when you're making cuts left, right and centre.