All too often the planning system is driven by developers and lawyers pushing large-scale developments. What we need is local councils to be able to come up with a long term town plan, and then developers be invited to build in accordance with it.

That’s why the Government introduced the Localism Act – to give local neighbourhoods and councils more control over local planning and new powers to create town plans. The Localism Act contained provisions to make the planning system clearer, more democratic, and more effective and to put power back in the hands of local communities.