Conservatives pledge local decision making over planning issues such as opencast coal mining

A clear dividing line has emerged between the Conservatives and Labour at the next General Election over issues such as local planning decisions. Labour have regularly come under fire for adopting a ‘Stalinist’, top down approach to planning decisions – often overruling local councils to impose decisions against local wishes.

But under recently announced Conservative plans to substantially shift decision making back to local government and local people, this top down Labour approach will end if the Conservatives win the next General Election.

This is particularly important for the residents of Shuttington, who are concerned about potential plans for an open cast coal mine which would devastate the surrounding countryside.

Local councillors are unanimous in their opposition to opencast coal mining, but their views would be irrelevant if the government decided to overrule the council – something which the current Labour government has done recently in Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

More controversially, in 2004 local Labour MP Mike O’Brien, when he was Energy Minister, wrote to the Welsh Assembly urging Assembly Members to impose an opencast coal mine, against the wishes of local people, at Ffos y Fran in South Wales:

“May I take this opportunity to say how pleased I was to hear that the East Pit opencast development has been approved…The Planning Decision Committee’s acceptance of the Inspector’s conclusions that the need for coal and the economic benefits would outweigh the harm to the environment and the amenity of local residents is particularly noteworthy. I hope that these arguments will also carry weight with the committee which decides the Ffos y Fran application…”

(Letter from Mike O’Brien to Welsh Assembly, Dec 2004, released under the FOI).

Given the controversy locally over the potential for opencast coal mining returning to North Warwickshire, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, former soldier Dan Byles, this week travelled to London to discuss the issue with shadow Energy Minister Charles Hendry.

Speaking to the Herald this week, Dan said: “The issue of planning is fast becoming a major dividing line between Labour and the Conservatives.

“I have long been opposed to Labour’s Stalinist, top down plans for housing and for major planning decisions, which are a classic examples of Labour control freakery.

“There is a local concensus, for example, that we do not want to see opencast coal mining return to North Warwickshire. But under this Labour Government the opposition of local councils to opencast coalmining in South Wales, in Leicestersire and in Derbyshire has been overruled and opencast mining imposed by ministers in London.

“That’s why I’m delighted that Charles Hendry, who will be the Energy Minister if the Conservatives win the next General Election, has told me that he wants to see increased democratic consent for local planning decisions.”

Charles Hendry, Shadow Minister for Energy, said: “It is vitally important to get the balance right between national and local needs. We are committed to increasing the say that local people have in planning matters. Whilst we accept the need for many of these planning applications, at the end of the day they must have democratic consent.”

Dan Byles went on to say: “The choice at the next election is clear.

“If you want to protect our green spaces from the bulldozers, and if you want decisions over local planning issues to be made by locally elected councillors rather than imposed by central government, then you need to support the Conservatives at the next General Election.”