Conservatives use conference to draw a clear line on the green belt

The Conservatives used their party conference to set out a clear alternative to Labour on planning and housing, with announcements aimed at winning back voters who have moved to Reform and the Liberal Democrats, particularly in rural and suburban areas.

At the conference, Shadow Housing and Planning Minister Gareth Bacon argued that the Conservatives could not win the next election while supporting green belt development, describing Labour’s grey belt policy as green belt development under another name.

The Conservatives also proposed replacing section 106 and the Community Infrastructure Levy with a single development levy, scrapping the Future Homes Standard and abolishing Natural England and the Environment Agency. Shadow Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government Katie Lam has been asked by Kemi Badenoch to consider how the planning system could be completely rebuilt, this could include scrapping the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) or open to considering a zonal planning system.

With Badenoch’s rising popularity, much of the media attention was focused heavily on her. Meaning these planning and housing announcements were to try and give these new shadow cabinet members an opportunity to make headlines, introduce themselves and show that the Conservatives have a wider team developing their policies.

However, these announcements were all too familiar to those working in planning and development. The usual promises to simplify the system, remove barriers and prioritise brownfield land all sound appealing, but they do not say where homes will be built if they want to protect the green belt.

Going forward, Conservative councillors are likely to feel more emboldened and become more vocal in opposing Labour’s housing targets, particularly where development is proposed on the green belt. With clearer backing from the national party, we should expect greater resistance to green belt applications in rural and suburban areas where Labour’s targets are already unpopular.

At the same time, most Conservative councillors recognise that more homes are needed and that Labour’s targets and changes to the planning system have given them less control over where development takes place. Early engagement will therefore become even more important. Developers will need to explain why a site has been selected, listen to local concerns and show clearly what the development will provide for the existing community. The aim should be to move the conversation beyond whether development should happen and towards how councillors can help secure the best possible development.