READING Borough Council has voiced strong objections to changes set to be made to planning policy.
It follows recent announcements by the government for proposed changes to national policy which could see regional planning policy overridden.
A consultation published back in February, Strengthening Planning Policy for Brownfield Development, outlined plans to change how regional planning policy is applied.
The proposals would see national policy override local plans and more stringent tests on housing delivery, especially in Reading– one of the 20 largest urban areas in England.
The report lays out three main proposals, the first of which is to give “significant” weight to the benefits of delivering as many homes as possible and take a “flexible approach” in applying planning policies.
It also lays out 20 towns and cities which would see tests applied for housing delivery.
Those whose score less than 95% on a given housing delivery test would then have their regional planning conditions overridden in favour of “sustainable development.”
It also seeks views on changes to the requisite threshold on planning referral to the mayor of London.
The council argues that the measures would lead to overcrowding and poor living conditions for residents, as well as significant impact on the “character” of the town as the balance of homes and high-rise buildings is affected.
As well as providing its own response to government consultation, the council has joined with nine other regional authorities to publish a joint response.
Together they argue that limited space in urban areas and region-specific complexities mean that the proposals are “unlikely to be effective.”
The council cites its own record on delivery of homes and argues that there is not the space in Reading to accommodate the plans.
Micky Leng, Lead Councillor for Planning at Reading Council, said: “In Reading, we are prepared, as we always have been, to pull our weight in helping to solve the housing crisis.
“Our track record on delivery of new homes against assessed local needs is very strong, and the vast majority of this is on brownfield land.
“Housing development at high density on brownfield sites has been going on in Reading for decades, particularly in the town centre.”
He explained: “However, these new planning policy proposals mean that Reading is one of a select few large urban areas that will now be expected to make up for failures in housing delivery across the rest of the country.
“The Government’s new proposed policy changes would make this even more pronounced, by threatening to bypass our adopted local policies if we even fall fractionally below the expected number of new homes, and including if this is due to matters completely out of the Council’s hands, such as the wider economic picture for example.”
He said that the council “fully acknowledges” the need for new housing, particularly affordable housing, and “fully supports” the principle of building new homes on previously developed land.
“But there is a much wider discussion to be had about how this can be unlocked by Government funding and how vital infrastructure can be provided alongside any new homes.
“The national consultation misses the opportunity to start that important conversation”.
