Leadsom asks for timeline on quango's demise

South Northamptonshire MP Andrea Leadsom has described her colleague Eric Pickles' Localism Bill as 'a fantastic early Christmas present for Northamptonshire.' The Conservative MP was speaking during a debate on the Bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Mr Pickles introduced the Bill, which aims to shift power from central government to councils and communities, earlier this month.
It is described by government as a 'radical package of reforms' that will establish new rights for communities, revolutionise the planning system and give communities control over housing decisions.
Critics of the Bill say it is a 'Nimby's charter' which will allow the Tory's to scrap Labour housing plans and undermine future provision for homes.
But Mrs Leadsom welcomed it on Tuesday, saying it will mean her constituents can once again hold out the hope that they 'can control the over-development and lack of infrastructure in their community.'
She said: "Northamptonshire was part of a regional spatial strategy.
"It was decided that it should be the fastest-growing county in the country, but we have been poorly served by a lack of infrastructure in schools, hospitals, roads and access roads to deal with the amount of housing that has been forced upon us."
She also welcomed the decision to scrap regional planning quango, the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation, which she said spent 'almost £20 million of taxpayers' money, but local people have very little to show for it.'
Mrs Leadsom also took the opportunity to attack West Northamptonshire joint planning committee plans to build up to 20,000 new houses on green-field sites, including Collingtree - adding that she hoped these proposals would now be scrapped.
She asked Parliamentary under-secretary of state for communities and local government Robert Neill to clarify how quickly Northamptonshire could move from the control of the planning committee to a 'local development framework' deciding the future of housing in the county.
"The gap could be as much as eight to 12 months, and councillors are very concerned about what might happen with developer options on sites in the event that we no longer have a top-down plan in the absence of the bottom-up framework," she added.
Mrs Leadsom also raised concerns about the number of wind farm developments in South Northamptonshire, asking: "Is there any scope in the Localism Bill to include greater opportunity for local communities to have their say and influence both the location and number of wind turbines?"
Mr Neill replied that the Bill would be pushed forward as soon as possible and that it would enable local plans to address issues such as wind farm development.
He said: "The Localism Bill's proposal to abolish the regional spatial strategies will give much greater scope to local authorities such as hers to develop in the right place, and in a way that is appropriate to the context of local communities."


Read the full exchange below:

Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister on the Localism Bill, which is a fantastic early Christmas present for Northamptonshire. My constituents now hold out the hope once again that they can control the over-development and lack of infrastructure in their community, which was a feature of the past decade or more. Northamptonshire was part of a regional spatial strategy. It was decided that it should be the fastest-growing county in the country, but we have been poorly served by a lack of infrastructure in schools, hospitals, roads and access roads to deal with the amount of housing that has been forced upon us.
The West Northamptonshire Development Corporation took control not only of the planning strategy for housing, but of planning itself-away from Northampton borough and Towcester-and local residents have had to sit on their hands while feeling a distinct lack of local democracy in the planning that has been forced on them. I therefore congratulate my hon. Friend on deciding to get rid of the RSS and to scrap the WNDC as soon as possible. In the year ending 2010, the WNDC spent almost £20 million of taxpayers' money, but local people have very little to show for it.
As well as that top-down control, we also had the West Northamptonshire joint planning committee forced on us by a statutory instrument in 2008. Although technically owned by the local councils, the committee has been required to come up with a plan to build up to 20,000 new houses in my constituency, many of them on green-field sites, including beautiful villages that were listed in the Domesday book, such as Collingtree, Denton, Brafield-on-the-Green and Hackleton. I am grateful to Front-Bench colleagues who visited my constituency before and after the election to try to set at ease the minds of people who felt that their communities would be ruined. I hope that the committee will not progress any such plans. Indeed, it received 6,000 complaints from local residents about its proposed strategy.
The problem is how we get from where we are today to where we want to be after the Localism Bill is on the statute book. Our problem is that some of the councils want to get rid of the West Northamptonshire joint planning committee now and others are afraid of creating a planning vacuum if we walk away from the committee but have nothing to put in its place. I would be grateful if the Minister could clarify how we can move from the present situation, with the West Northamptonshire joint planning committee still in place, to where we want to be-with a local development framework and with local communities deciding how much housing they should have and where it should be. The gap could be as much as eight to 12 months, and councillors are very concerned about what might happen with developer options on sites in the event that we no longer have a top-down plan in the absence of the bottom-up framework. That is a key question for my hon. Friend the Minister.
In Northamptonshire, we are beset by wind farm applications. We are not a very windy county, but my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris) and I have some 15 wind farm applications between us, many in beautiful areas where communities are desperately unhappy about them. Is there any scope in the Localism Bill to include greater opportunity for local communities to have their say and influence both the location and number of wind turbines? We need to introduce renewable energy in Britain, and it will form a key part of our energy security in the years to come, but we need far greater accountability so that local communities can have their say and be a part of the planning process from the bottom up, rather than being told what to do by top-down government.
To conclude, I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and all those hon. Members in their places a very happy Christmas and new year.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Robert Neill): In answer to my hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom), the Localism Bill is coming forward very soon. Localism will enable neighbourhood plans to have regard to issues such as wind farm development. Our reforms will apply equally to wind farms that are considered under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which of course have to be consistent with national policy, as I have said. We are also taking steps on changing planning structures, and if my hon. Friend keeps in touch with me on those matters, I hope that we will be able to discuss how to translate the existing, top-down structures into something more democratic. The Localism Bill's proposal to abolish the regional spatial strategies will give much greater scope to local authorities such as hers to develop in the right place, and in a way that is appropriate to the context of local communities.