MIDDLEWICH MP Fiona Bruce is calling for improvement to the government’s neighbourhood plan process.

Mrs Bruce partook in a debate on the DCLG select committee’s recently published report on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in the House of Commons in December.

The report found that the government’s flagship planning policy needs to do more to protect against unsustainable development in England and ensure communities aren’t subject to unwanted housing development.

Mrs Bruce welcomed the findings of the report but urged Clive Betts MP, chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee, to join her in asking ministers to speed up the neighbourhood plan process.

She said: “Suspension of the local plan for Cheshire East Council, covering my constituency, is causing untold concern despite a huge volume of work by Cheshire East Council.

“I therefore thank the committee for highlighting many points, including the need for clarification of what sustainable development actually means, the need to facilitate partial adoption, and the inclusion of housing contents in planning numbers, which would go a long way to help my council finalise its plan.

“In the meantime, while the minister considers those points, will the chair of the committee join me in asking ministers to speed up the process for the formulation of neighbourhood plans?

“No fewer than 14 such plans are now in train in the Cheshire East area, but these are small communities.”

Mrs Bruce proceeded to ask Mr Betts did he agree that there should be a ‘clear, quick process, free of bureaucracy and with the appropriate resources and support’, so that the plans can be finalised in early course.

Mr Betts responded that there is widespread support for the concept of neighbourhood plans but that there is some concern poorer communities may not be able to adopt the process as easily as more affluent ones.

“That goes back to the issue of the relative status of neighbourhood and local plans if, for example, 14 neighbourhood plans are being developed and there is no local plan,” he added.

“We think that the definition of sustainable development in the NPPF is a good one and we do not want to change it. The problem is that the definition goes on to say that sustainable development is defined by everything in the NPPF and we thought that that circular argument was unnecessary.”