Planning chief slams 'flawed' new laws

[dutchman]

Relaxed planning laws will mean 'anyone can build anything', according to a top council figure.

Chairman of the planning committee, Councillor Kevin Maton, said new laws were completely flawed and would lead to neighbour disputes.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced the changes in a bid to kick start house building and cut red tape in local government.

The move, set to be introduced for a 12-month period, will see families allowed to extend their homes by up to eight metres - around double the current figure - without full permission. Business planning laws will also be loosened.

"I don’t think there will be any winners in this," said Labour councillor Maton, who regularly meets with fellow councillors to discuss planning applications in Coventry.

"The main problem here is not the planning system but the lack of investment and the lack of affordable housing.

"It is playing around the edges of the real issue which is the need for new homes here in Coventry and across the country.

"Allowing people to extend their homes by up to eight metres might sound like a good idea but it might not be so good if you live next door to someone who does it and you lose all the natural light into your home.

"Of course, it would also mean that anyone could build anything. There would be no control over appropriate materials or how the extension looks or how well it fits into the surrounding environment.

"Planning rules are in place to protect the applicant and the near neighbours - and this free-for-all will, I am sure, lead to more neighbour disputes and inappropriate development.

"At the moment if someone strays from their planning approval or attempts to build without approval we can take action.

"Under these proposals anyone will be able to build anything and we won't be able to do a thing about it."