Sutton Scene - Deputy Leader of the Council Column 161020

The Government is proposing sweeping changes to the planning system and is seeking feedback through a consultation. The potential impacts on our borough were discussed at this Tuesday’s meeting of the Council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee.

A new ‘national algorithm’ would calculate how many homes should be built in each borough. This would see a 263% increase in Sutton’s annual housing target - the equivalent of building three Sutton Point developments (the new flats overlooking Sutton station) every year. To find the land to meet these targets would put huge pressure to develop on suburban areas currently protected in our Local Plan. 

The proposals also include changes to the requirement to build affordable housing. Currently any development of over 11 units must include affordable homes too -  this would only apply to developments of over 40 units in future. As most developments in Sutton are smaller in scale, this would mean most of the new homes built would be unaffordable for the majority of our residents.

Concerns were also raised about the requirement to designate ‘Growth Areas’, where outline planning permission would be granted automatically, and a requirement for development to only conform with a borough ‘pattern book’ of approved designs. Our borough is made up of distinctive areas with specific local characters and range of building styles, so the worry was that it would be impossible to capture these local distinctions in a blanket design code. The proposals would give some protections for Green Belt and Conservation Areas, where planning permission would be required, but completely ignores Areas of Special Local Character (ASLCs).

Also worrying for the committee was the limited opportunities for residents to influence and have their say on planning policy and applications. We worked very hard to engage with residents throughout the work developing our Local Plan and were delighted to receive over 4,500 comments which helped shape the final approved plan. Under the Government’s proposals, local residents would only be allowed to comment on the designation of Growth and Renewal Areas. There would be no opportunity to comment on individual applications in Growth Areas where outline permission will have been granted automatically once a new Local Plan is adopted.

We believe that, as the people who live and work in our borough, you should have a say in how that area is developed and changed. So the Council will be submitting a response to the Government’s consultation highlighting our concerns about the negative impacts of the proposed planning reforms on our borough and the failure to allow resident input on changes to their area.

The consultation is open to all, so you can read the consultation document and submit your own comments here. The consultation closes on 29 October 2020.