Whole streets to get veto on what is built in their area

Michael Gove today admitted the Tories will not hit their manifesto pledge to build 300,000 new homes each year by 2025 as he gave neighbours the chance to veto plans for housing in their area in new 'Street Votes'. The map shows how 'urban sprawl' has already changed the face of the former market town over the past decade - and seen it encroach on surrounding villages, practically swallowing them up as it expands ‹ Slide me › MILTON KEYNES AND BLETCHLEY: Buckinghamshire in 2000 and 2021 - with the scale of development revealing how countryside around the likes of Upper Weald and Broughton is disappearing As well as 'Street Votes' on planning applications, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill also promises: In return for permission for housing developments, developers will have to pay a ' non-negotiable levy' to deliver the infrastructure that communities need, such as housing, schools, GPs and new roads. But some think more votes will mean more historic names linked to Britain's past could be wiped out; The planning system will be fully digitised to make local plans easier to find and engage with; Landlords will have to rent shops out to the highest bidder if they have been vacant for over a year; Pavement licences that allowed more pubs and restaurants to serve food and drink outside during lockdowns will be made permanent; Planning row threatens to split the Tories as Boris struggles to please both Red Wall MPs and Shire Conservatives Planning policy has emerged as one of the biggest dividing lines in Boris Johnson's Tories. Yesterday Robert Jenrick, Mr Gove's predecessor as housing secretary, predicted the government would miss its target of 300,000 new homes a year 'by a country mile'. Tory MP John Penrose, who has campaigned for new housing policies, said the plans including street votes 'mean local residents can't have unwanted development thrust down their throats, but can allow development that make homes affordable for their children and are right for their area'.