David Cameron has unveiled plans to reform England's broken planning system, which he described as "one of the biggest shifts in power for decades".
'Open Source Planning', our planning green paper, outlines proposals to use 'open source democracy' and neighbourhood involvement to encourage sustainable development.
Whitehall targets and unelected quangos will be scrapped, to be replaced with a democratic system for national infrastructure and incentives to promote local homes and jobs.
Launching the paper in a speech to the Post-Bureaucratic Age conference in London, David said our plans show "how a system that was controlled by a few can be run by the many".
Caroline Spelman, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, described Labour's planning system as "bad for democracy, bad for the environment and bad for business", and she added:
"Too many decisions taken by unelected quangos, there is too much unnecessary red tape and there are no incentives for local residents to back sustainable development. We will put local communities in the driving seat."
You can read our planning green paper in the document viewer below, or alternatively click here to download a copy in PDF format.
THIRD PARTY COMMENTS ON THE CONSERVATIVE GREEN PAPER
"There is much here that local government would endorse, including the abolition of regional plans and targets, cutting out the ludicrous over-engineering of the process and cutting down the national policy framework."
Cllr Margaret Eaton OBE DL - Chairman of the Local Government Association (comment made in a personal capacity)
"The Green Paper is very positive and I believe it will be well received. It sets a good direction for the planning system which will be a vast improvement on the current system."
Cllr Merrick Cockell - Leader of the Council, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
"There is much for local government to be pleased about. The paper should by and large be really well received. It gives many of us the powers and freedoms that we have been longing for."
Cllr Gary Porter - Leader, South Holland District Council
"There are very few issues more emotive than the impact of planning decisions on individuals, households and whole communities. I welcome the whole of this Green Paper for its greater emphasis on local communities and local councils being set free to shape their futures and being able to enjoy the benefits that sustainable development can bring."
Cllr Keith Mitchell CBE - Leader, Oxfordshire County Council
"I am pleased we now have more details on the Conservative Party’s plans with which we can work and we share their ambition to improve the UK planning system. We will of course work closely with whoever wins the next election to ensure the planning system delivers housing wherever it’s needed."
Peter Redfern - Chief Executive, Taylor Wimpey
"This is a truly radical approach to the planning system but it is a workable approach and one which will be a definite improvement on the current system."
Nigel Moor, BA (Hons) MCD FRTPI FICPD FRSA - Former director, RPS (planning consultants)
"Increasing the delivery of housing and other development, while simultaneously shifting control to the local level, is a formidable challenge. The Green Paper contains some innovative and potentially exciting ideas for this, which deserve wider discussion."
Roger Hepher BA, MRICS, FRICS - Head of Planning, Savills London
"I warmly welcome your enhanced commitment to community collaboration and participation – and I genuinely think that anything that can be done to relate planning more closely to local communities, their needs and aspirations and to engender a sense of ownership by the local community in the planning process must be good news and should lead to better developments."
Mark Brown - Partner, Local Dialogue (community engagement consultants)