Neighbourhood Plans allow towns and parishes to deliver sustainable housing where the community want it and to plan for future community fabric. It was great to welcome the Government’s Neighbourhood Plan Champion, John Howell MP, to the constituency where he met with local representatives from our Town and Parish Councils. 

During the meeting, we discussed the limitations of Neighbourhood Plans. John was able to clarify certain issues and took on some ideas as to how the plan process could be made easier for councils to navigate. John is now feeding these ideas back to the Housing Minister, Kit Malthouse. 

This meeting was a follow up to a call for change which I made in the House of Commons, whereupon the Housing Minister invited me to bring many local Parish and Town Councillors and clerks to his office in Westminster to discuss. This is a great working example of concerns raised locally going to the heart of Government.