A right of appeal by third parties

Dear Sir,

With regard to the recent debate in The Chronicle about how our planning laws could be improved, there could well be a middle way.

Labour seem to believe in a more locally controlled system with the majority of homes developed by housing associations and local authorities and tailored to what the community needs.

The Conservatives prefer the present system of a developer, market driven system with limited right of appeal by local communities.

Both seem to be about who is in charge of the planning system without the checks and balances that would make planning a fairer system.

A right of appeal by third parties such as community groups such as town and parish councils, neighbourhood planning committees and specified action groups could help to counter the strong grip that developers have over the planning system at present.

This is something that the Liberal Democrats have advocated for many years and is supported in part by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).

Yours sincerely,

Dr Peter Hirst

Middlewich