Keir Starmer isn’t simply cancelling elections – his newest energy seize is secretly worse | Politics | News | EUROtoday

As a councillor, it may generally really feel such as you get nothing proper.

Win funding for a brand new bench and a few might be happy to have a brand new place to relaxation their legs. Simultaneously, nonetheless, there’ll be others satisfied that stated bench is a beacon for delinquent behaviour. It may be onerous to please everybody.

Of course, the stakes are raised to a complete new stage when one thing main is proposed – a serious retail outlet that might trigger a gridlocked nightmare on the roads, a late-night venue within the improper spot or – mostly – a whopping new housing property.

I perceive the accusations of NIMBYism however, to be frank, I’m fairly proud to be a NIMBY if meaning ensuring that residents’ ideas are listened to earlier than miles of fields are concreted over for brand new housing. In my ward of Nunthorpe, the place I function a Conservative councillor, this has been an ongoing concern since my election and for a lot of moons earlier than.

As councillors and neighborhood leaders, we have now labored onerous to get residents what they deserve, with our space usually taking the brunt of the city’s new housing. A protracted-awaited neighborhood centre, a brand new GP surgical procedure and funding for native colleges have all occurred because of locals who actually care.

So I used to be completely dismayed to listen to that Keir Starmer’s new plan may rock the very foundations of those native powers. His new plot is to curb council planning committees – elected councillors – of their proper to determine on small developments, with selections handed over to “expert trained planners”.

The Local Government Association has warned about this planning shake-up.

It stated: “Planning committees are the democratic backbone of the planning system, with councils being accountable to their communities about what should be built where. This is a central tenet that must remain under a reformed planning system.”

Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly has the measure of it, saying Labour dangers “bulldozing through communities, overriding local democracy and concreting over the countryside.”

Yes, we completely must cease opposing growth only for the sake of it – in spite of everything, most of us stay on land that was as soon as a area. But Starmer, as normal, has acquired it so improper. What really must occur is holding grasping builders to account. They ought to be pressured to pay for correct infrastructure and construct communities that make sense, relatively than making imprecise guarantees earlier than shifting on with their diggers.

First, native elections throughout the nation face cancellation. Now there’s a ploy to quietly strip away powers from these elected to combat our nook and shield our pursuits. At first sight, I completely get it appears like a dry planning tweak. But on nearer inspection, it’s about stripping native voices from the image and handing energy to faceless “experts”. And that ought to fear everybody.