Housing and Green Belt are two very big issues locally at the mpment, so we’ve been peeking at the Lib Dem Manifesto for the general election.
Here’s a few policies worth mentioning:
Abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission and return decisionmaking,
including housing targets, to local people. We will create
a third-party right of appeal in cases where planning decisions go
against locally agreed plans.
– so the district council could decide housing targets for the district!
Introduce a new strategy to bring the UK back on target to halt the
loss of habitats and species and as far as possible restore biodiversity
by 2020.
– sounds good to us
Introduce landscape-scale planning policies with a specifi c remit to
restore water channels, rivers and wetlands and reduce fl ood risk by
properly utilising the natural capacity of the landscape to retain water.
– important for quite a lot of our district.
Protect greenfield land and our built heritage by reducing the cost of
repairs. We will equalise VAT on new build and repair on an overall
revenue-neutral basis. This will also help to reduce the costs of repairs
to historic buildings.
This one needs explaining. At the moment if you renovate an old building on a brownfield site and turn it into housing, you pay VAT. But if you cover a small green field with housing , you don’t pay VAT. This proposal would balance things out by charging VAT for borh at a lower level (encouraging the use of brownfield sites)
on the subject of building,sort of, just when are the pavements around the bus stop outside Makays and its environs going to be relaid? Its a mess.sorry all I seem to do is whinge on this website!!!
This should be shouted from the roof tops it is by Mark Francois. Lots of people will vote Conservative because of this.
I checked the Lib dem manifesto to make sure this is not just the local lib dem party playing the local issue. It is not, the above is on page 80 in Black and White so the Conservatives are not the only alternative govt., the Lib Dems are too, its just they are not promoting well.
Mark Francois told the Hullbridge Action group that the Conservatives would scrap the centrally imposed targets but that Hullbridge would still have to have the houses.
@Michael
If Mark Francois said that then I believe that is the correct open and honest position given the Conservative Green Paper on Planning published in Feb. However, I am not sure if all Conservative supporters are saying that because what I am getting is that it is being said that they will scrap the targets, returning the decision on numbers to local councils to decide upon but with an silent inference because the numbers will be under local control that the Conservatives will accord somehow to residents protests in Rawreth,Hullbridge,Hawkwell etc., an stop unpopular proposed developments. That would be most unlikely and I would say untrue having read the Conservative Green Paper on Planning. Good to note Mark’s honesty but he needs to tell his local supporters as well so that there isno misunderstanding in election leaflets an canvassing.
I too applaud the honesty of Mark Francois. Democracy would be much healthier if plenty of others were to take a leaf out of his book.
I cannot believe the idiotic scenario of paying no VAT if you build on greenbelt land but you do pay VAT if you renovate a building on a brownfield site and turn the building into a dwelling. WHO for gods sake has allowed this to continue for so long???? A nonsense on a grand scale. We are trying to preserve our greenbelt but Labour, I guess, would prefer us to build on greenbelt and preserve brownfield sites! Am I right or have I got this all wrong, admin.
The VAT Law is a little complex but broadly there is a special rate of VAT (5%) for certain renovations. I understand that once VAT has been charged at any rate above 5% it cannot be reduced to less than 5%, hence the 5% rate.