New research reveals that 78 percent of Councillors think that the Government’s proposed reforms to the planning system will make planning less democratic – with 61 percent of Conservative Councillors holding this view.
The report commissioned by BECG and conducted by Savanta ComRes also found that Councillors (64 percent) believe the majority of consultation should take place when considering individual applications, rather than when making Local Plans, contrary to the Government’s Planning Reforms.
Interestingly, over half (52 percent) of the Councillors surveyed believed there should be a review of the Green Belt, with 65 percent believing that more land should be added to the Green Belt.
Andrew Howard, Managing Director at BECG commented:
This report highlights the huge challenges facing the Government’s planning reforms. There is significant scepticism amongst Conservative Councillors, and the Government will have to put in some serious spade work to persuade their local government colleagues to embrace these changes, which many see as eroding local democratic control of planning.
