Political View COLUMN - Edward Argar, MP for Melton & Syston

It is important that there are the right homes, of the right size, and in the right places, to meet genuine local housing needs - and that must include a sufficient amount of social and affordable housing - and to help enable people to get a foot on the housing ladder.

But this does come at a cost of increased pressure on local infrastructure and local services, so the council, when it does grant permission for new developments, must do what it can to ensure these pressures are addressed.

Although, as an MP, I have no power over planning decisions locally, they affect us all.

In Melton and the surrounding villages, we can see all too clearly the increased pressure on local roads; we see the pressure on school places; and perhaps most clearly we see the increased pressure on access to GP appointments at Latham House Practice in the town, which is having to cater to an ever-growing patient list.

While I continue to press the local NHS to deliver the second GP Practice in Melton that has long been talked about, and is much needed, there are within the planning system some steps that Melton Borough Council can take when granting permissions to help manage the pressure on local services.

When a proposed development is of a certain size, the council can compel the developers to pay a contribution to help address the increased pressure on local services arising from that development.

It is, in my view, vital that when the criteria for this are met, that the borough council always seeks to impose that contribution on developers and, crucially, that it keeps track of it and ensures that when it is due, it is paid by the developers.

These funds, while not necessarily solving the pressures entirely, can still play a big role in helping manage them, so I was very concerned by recent reports suggesting that Melton Council had apparently failed to collect significant due funds in time on a development in Frisby.

The planning department of the council has a tough job to do, but it is a vital one for all our communities.

So it is essential the council’s leadership ensures that the planning team is fully staffed, and efficient in processing applications on time, so that decisions are taken locally, not by the Planning Inspectorate, if they are not decided in time here in Melton; that any conditions imposed by the council, or contributions due, are adhered to; and that where enforcement action is needed for a breach of planning it is taken swiftly and firmly.

Got right, and done efficiently, planning can help drive the future prosperity and success of our towns and villages; but where it doesn’t work smoothly it can hold back a town, or areas, potential and see breaches of planning rules go unenforced and unpunished.

As I say, I recognise that the planning team do have a tough job to do, so it’s vital the leadership of Melton Borough Council are clear in how they plan to better resource the team, keep staff turnover to a minimum, and deliver a smooth, efficient, planning and enforcement service to local people.