Is our changing politics changing planning?

The victory by the Green Party in Gorton and Denton last week shows that our changing politics is probably here to stay. The traditional politics of Labour or Conservatives, with the odd smaller party thrown in, is no longer. In what can now be described as a five-party system, this means that political control is never guaranteed as it may have been, and Councils are likely to be more politically diverse, resulting in planning committees that are equally diverse.

What does this mean for planning? To put it simply – it’s no longer business as usual. Applicants will now have to contend with more disparate planning committees. We are already starting to see these committees following in elections in recent years, where the dominant party within an area has fallen back to be replaced by councillors from the Greens, Reform, Lib Dems and others.

With the local government elections taking place in May this year, there is the opportunity for a radically different set of local councils. With current polling, it’s impossible to predict how these councils will turn out, especially when voter turnout in local elections is much lower than general elections, and we should expect changes in council control across the board.

This year’s elections will be quite seismic as a mid-term election on the Labour government, especially in historic Labour strongholds in London and Wales where they are under threat. After this year’s election, we could easily see the Greens and Reform surging across London councils with Labour in retreat, a similar tale in Wales.

Across England where elections had been postponed, and then rescheduled, these could spell difficulty for both Labour and Conservatives with these ascending parties picking up seats across the board.

In my 10 plus years of politics, I’ve never experiences a political landscaped so open for parties to succeed in.

This will mean that your sites may come under increased scrutiny from politicians and political candidates, and being able to navigate politics will be essential for success. The CCP can help you navigate the system and place your sites on the pathway to permission.

If you have any sites that you would like us to assist with, get in touch.