The Politicians in Planning Network

The Politicians in Planning Network (known as PIPA) aims to influence planning policies and to press decision-makers to address current planning-related issues effectively. Members of PIPA play an important part in developing policy, knowledge and good practice.

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The PIPA Conference 2010 held in Sheffield on Saturday 6 November was a great success with both Minister Bob Neill (pictured above) and British National Party Councillor Clive Jefferson (Pictured top of article) debating the contents of the Decentralisation & Localism Bill about to be published. The theme for the 2010 Conference was Planning & Localism: Delivering Community Aspirations.
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Cllr Jefferson challenged the Minister in the questions and answer session asking the Minister for clarification on several of the most controversial aspects of the bill which the Minister didn't mention in his briefing.

Cllr Jefferson asked; “Will you be fulfilling your election promise and introducing the rights of appeal for third parties, individual citizens as appose the current system which costs on average £750,000 for a judicial review to challenge a planning application?”

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“Will you be enforcing the absolute requirement for planning consent to be the first action taken and achieved before any development takes place, stopping the disgraceful practice of councils giving certain groups in our community “retrospective planning permission”
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And finally Cllr Jefferson asked if the Minister was going to help all the planning graduates get places in local government as currently thousands of planning graduates are faced with having to pay back up to £50,000 in tuition fees if they do not work for a local authority for two years within five years of graduating. Several graduates have contacted me and asked me to highlight the fact that graduates are unable to even get voluntary places in local government and are now facing bankruptcy before their careers even begin!”
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The Minister had no answers to any of the above.
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Cllr Jefferson told BNP news “Minister Bob Neill, having his hands on the levers of power now, attaining ministerial rank on promises to deal with these vital issues has totally failed his electorate and will not be allowing third party appeals, will not stop retrospective planning being granted and will do absolutely nothing to help the planning graduates. This is just typical of the current coalition government, refusing one election pledge after another and people are suffering because of it. It was a long drive to Sheffield and back from Cumbria but it was worth it to expose this man and to challenge him on the real issues in planning not the tame staged questions he was enjoying before I was given the floor.”

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Clive then had lunch with the minister and had a lively debate about equality and treating everyone with fairness and tolerance.

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“I confess that I took some pleasure in guiding the conversation down this route for 30 minutes before telling the minister that I was in fact the National Organiser of the British National Party!”

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An amused Mr Jefferson told BNP News that the information didn't sit well with the minister who made a derogatory comment about the party and left the table and the university. What a shame Minister Neill could not show tolerance and equality to a rival political party, some would call that hypocrisy, Mr Jefferson concluded.

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NOTE: A sound file of the showdown will be available soon.

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The Coalitions "big society" is a sham and has proven to be lame and lackluster on the real issues, just like Mr Cameron, simply a PR exercise with no real substance.