Times online

January 05, 2004

Labour plans to build on countryside

By Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor

Need for jobs outweighs Nimby concerns, says rural affairs minister

JOHN PRESCOTT plans to strip local councils of their power to block building on greenfield sites as part of a policy to create more rural jobs.

He will target the Nimby (not in my backyard) mentality of shire councils who can halt any development by designating an area worthy of conservation. He wants to reduce the grounds on which they can reject new building.

The plan to create industrial jobs and the conversion of agricultural buildings into new homes was denounced last night by rural campaigners as a “pox on the countryside”.

Critics fear that Mr Prescott’s vision for rural Britain will simply create unsightly new buildings and conversions as villages are allowed to spread into the green belt.

Ministers hope that the move will bring more jobs and prosperity to some of the most deprived rural areas.

For the first time, building projects will be given the go-ahead in the remotest rural villages, which have been strictly protected in planning laws.

Projects most likely to be approved will be those encouraging tourism and renewable energy, such as wind farms and biofuel refineries. Local authorities will be unable to reject developments “for the sake of the countryside” but instead must consider specific tests such as impact on character or beauty or the diversity of landscape or wildlife.

The plan for change is being finalised by Mr Prescott’s Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Ministers believe that it signals that the Government is intent on securing a future for rural areas, especially after reform of the Common Agriculture Policy.

The right for councils to designate local places with a special conservation status, such as the Aylesbury Vale, is to be scrapped. In future, greenfield development may also be allowed if there are “wider benefits” from farm diversification.

Planning controls will also encourage people who wish to develop horse riding, breeding or livery facilities and new homes for people who need to protect farm animals or crops.

Barn conversions may be allowed to create homes for low- income or key workers; otherwise, there will be tighter controls on “standalone” homes.

The final vision is expected to be announced at Labour’s rural affairs conference in Manchester this spring but ministers have already sent out draft guidance for consultation. Ministers have been swayed by complaints from rural entrepreneurs, farmers and land owners about negative planning decisions which stifle new business ventures and prevent job creation.

The Countryside Agency, the Government’s leading adviser on rural matters, broadly supports the need for change. But the Campaign to Protect Rural England said that the planning bonanza will bring “a pox on the countryside”.

Tom Oliver, head of rural policy, said: “The Government has made the fundamental mistake of failing to value the ordinary, everyday countryside for its own sake. The landscape between our rural towns and villages, its beauty, tranquillity, biodiversity and heritage, appears to be regarded as a blank sheet of paper on the developer’s drawing board.”

Alun Michael, the Rural Affairs Minister, defended the planning shake-up. He told The Times: “We don’t want rural Britain to become a museum of the landscape. Planning rules must make rural communities fit for the 21st century. Otherwise we could just make it impossible for people to do business in our rural villages and that would be tragic. There is a need to diversify the rural economy because the numbers of jobs in farming and land- related business are just not there anymore.”

David Curry, the Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government, said: “If these reports are true, it would appear the Government is planning to ride roughshod over the feelings of local people.”