Barrow & Furness Conservatives - Return to main page
Home Events Contact Us Links

In this section
- Section Home
- News Archive
- Campaigns

Search this siteSearch this site


Join our mailing listJoin our mailing list



RSS FeedsRSS Feeds

- News RSS
- Blog RSS
- Gallery RSS
“Open Source” planning will help residents shape future of Furness

John Gough, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Barrow & Furness welcomed major new policies from Conservatives to reform England’s ‘broken’ planning system.

A new system of ‘Open Source’ democracy and neighbourhood involvement will help deliver sustainable development across Furness. Whitehall targets and unelected quangos will be scrapped, to be replaced with collaborative working and new incentives to promote and reward local homes and jobs.
 
This comes as official Government surveys show only 1 in 3 people think they can influence decisions in their local area, and just 1 in 5 people think they can influence national decisions.
 
Under a new policy initiative, entitled Open Source Planning, Conservatives will:
 
  • Use collaborative democracy to allow local communities to create ‘bottom-up’ local plans, helping local residents shape and protect the character of their neighbourhoods.
  • Reward local Councils and communities through incentives to encourage building new homes and businesses, in contrast to the current regime where Whitehall effectively grabs back the money raised from new homes and business.
  • Maintain national Green Belt protection and other special protections for wildlife and the countryside, whilst allowing sustainable development elsewhere in accordance with local plans.
  • Abolish Labour’s new unelected and unaccountable central planning quango – the Infrastructure Planning Commission, whilst retaining a fast-track process to avoid planning inquiries taking years; and give MP’s a new role to vote on and ratify national planning policy.
  • Change Whitehall’s restrictive parking rules to ensure more parking spaces are provided in family homes and near local shops, taking the pressure off crowded residential streets.
Mr. Gough said:
“The Government’s planning system is a source of immense frustration and concern for many people. Under Labour, planning rules are too complex and too many decisions are taken by unelected officials, ignoring the views of local residents.
 
“This bold new Conservative vision will put local residents in the driving seat to help shape our community, transferring power from Whitehall bureaucrats and Labour’s unelected regional quangos. This will help deliver new homes and jobs for Barrow & Furness, whilst championing local democracy and protecting our local amenity and environment.”

Add to Del.icio.us Digg this

Promoted by Jack Richardson on behalf of Barrow & Furness Conservatives both at Abbey Road Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria LA14 1LG Tel: 01229 820158 Fax: 01229 820158