Rural constituencies such as Mid Norfolk are facing unprecedented pressure from aggressive ‘out of town’ developers intent on dumping copious amounts of houses on the edges of our towns and villages – creating several issues, not least with infrastructure and services.

When communities go out of their way to create their own Local and Neighbourhood Plans and embrace the spirit of Localism, I believe it is vital that Government ensures that their plans carry proper weight within the planning system.

It’s clear that the Five Year Land Supply Rule (which was designed to prevent ‘Nimby’ Councils from ignoring the housing requirements in their own Local Plans) is being used to railroad inappropriate development through, against the wishes of local councils and communities, and to the detriment of sustainable planning, and trust in the planning system.

That’s why, as I promised my electorate at the last Election, I am raising the whole issue of local planning with Ministers – and I have secured a Parliamentary debate tomorrow (Tuesday 30th January) to explore the challenges being faced and insist that Ministers work with me, councillors and fellow MPs to find a solution. 

The debate is at 4.30pm – 5.30pm and will be viewable on the Parliamentary website at: https://goo.gl/DDDjiL

Rest assured, this is a campaign I shall be pursuing in the weeks and months ahead.