‘Urgent’ need to reform planning reform

LANDOWNERS’ leader William Worsley called on the government to address the urgent need for reform of the planning system.

The entire system must be reformed so it becomes, efficient, flexible and transparent – and cost effective, the president of the Country Land and Business Association told visitors to the Royal Norfolk Show.

“I am sick of travelling up and down the country hearing about delays in getting permission, the excessively restrictive policies and the absurd number of conditions attached if anyone does eventually get consent.”

The existing planning system was too cumbersome and expensive, said Mr Worsley. It stifled enterprise in the countryside to such an extent that all too often even insignificant applications were turned down.

The government should also fight in Brussels to ensure Common Agricultural Polcicy reform was be sufficiently well funded to both ensure a profitable agricultural sector, Mr Worsley added.

“Farming is about both food production and protecting the natural environment, not one or the other,” said Mr Worsley. Farmers should be properly paid for all the things society wanted them to provide.

“The landscape and wildlife, soils, air and water all depend on the way in which the land is farmed. It is because farming and the environment are so closely intertwined that we need polices in place that recognise this connection.”