Relaxing rules on home extensions will 'blight neighbourhoods' and should be ... - Telegraph.co.uk

Several Conservative-led councils have questioned the changes and the Liberal Democrat conference last month called for the policy to be abandoned.

The LGA said that extensions which would previously have been altered and improved through the planning process in order to make them acceptable to neighbours will in future go ahead unaltered.

That will result in "inappropriate development and increased friction between neighbours," the group said.

The LGA also questioned the need for the changes, pointing out that last year, councils received around 200,000 planning applications but only around 22,000 were rejected outright.

The association is now calling on the Government to scrap plans which could result in "inappropriate developments" and contribute to the loss of garden space, flood risk and ecological damage.

Mike Jones of the LGA said: "This policy potentially gives the green light to unsightly and out-of-place development without delivering a big enough boost to the construction industry to justify the potential damage.

"Loosening rules around extensions would eliminate this vital mediation process in a large number of cases.

"The 22,000 applications which are rejected each year are knocked back for good reasons and it would be totally wrong if extensions which were previously rejected due to objections from neighbours or because they were judged to blight the neighbourhood could now sneak back in unimpeded.

"We agree with the Government that stimulating the construction industry is essential to economic recovery but this proposal is not the answer."

Planning minister Nick Boles last night told a newspaper: "The planning system needs to strike a balance between the rights of the homeowner and their neighbours.

"Our proposals will make it easier for thousands of hard-working families to undertake home improvements to cater for a growing family. It will also help generate new business for local construction companies and small traders."

Last month, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles warned local councils could lose powers over planning applications if they hold up planning developments.

He said he would strip individual local authorities of responsibility for planning if ministers thought they were unduly slow in approving developments or made the wrong decisions.

Town halls can currently invoke a rule known as Article Four to protect neighbourhoods from planning.

In an interview in September, Mr Pickles said a member of the public could seek damages against councils which used the article.