REVIEW OF PLANNING LAW

That this House notes that planning decisions need to take account of the commercial and housing needs of an area and balance these against environmental factors and the heritage of that area; believes that the current planning laws, far from making it too difficult to secure planning permission, weight the process too much in favour of the planning applicant by limiting the amount of notice provided to people who will be affected by the application and giving the applicant a right of appeal not provided to objectors; considers that elected representatives should be allowed to raise objections to planning applications on behalf of constituents; and believes that the law needs to be urgently reviewed in the light of these considerations.