The Localism Bill: more power to the people

Cllr Simche Steinberger. Photograph: Hackney Citizen

As a Hackney councillor, I welcome the Localism Bill currently making its way through Parliament. This bill will hopefully, when it is passed into law, enable local residents to have a proper input into the planning process and help decide what regulations they want in relation to their neighbourhoods.

Hackney is famous for the diversity of which we are all rightly proud. One of the consequences of this diversity is that residents in different parts of the borough have different needs and views of what they want for their local areas. This new law will enable each area to implement the policies they think are best for the residents of that area.

The possibility of devolved planning powers could, for example, enable residents in my ward (Springfield) and other wards which have similar needs to change the rules governing loft conversions and extensions, so as to make it easier for growing families to adjust their homes to suit their needs.

Many of my constituents have large families, and there is a severe shortage of adequate accommodation, especially in new high-rise blocks, which rarely include flats with more than four bedrooms. This means that children often grow up with insufficient space, which is unhealthy and increases the chance of antisocial behaviour. It also puts pressure on the council to provide additional homes through new development. Allowing large families to convert their homes would lessen the need for new developments, and it would not cost the council any money (in fact, the council would generate revenue from the planning application fees it would receive and from the increased council tax paid on larger homes).

The provisions of the Localism Bill will also make it easier for local communities to block new developments that they do not think suitable for their area, including developments that involve buildings, such as, for example, the new Clapton Tram Sheds development and the twenty-four storey block in Woodberry Down.  The Tram Depot is one of the oldest and most historical buildings in Hackney, and the new development could displace businesses that have been there for many years in order to accommodate a seven-storey block.

The Localism Bill will also make it easier for residents to establish and run local markets, such as that currently being piloted on Chatsworth Road.

The Hackney executive recently made a formal contribution to the consultation process on this bill on behalf of the council. This contribution made a large number of objections to the provisions contained in the bill. In preparing this response, the executive failed to consult its own residents to see what their views were; indeed, the opposition parties were not even consulted, promoting the official opposition Conservative group to submit their, more favourable, contribution to the consultation process, which would solve a lot of residents’ problems and serve their needs. This episode itself demonstrates the weakness of centralised, one-size-fits-all policy-making in Hackney where a small number of officials make decisions on behalf of local residents without necessarily taking their views on board.

Fortunately, the Localism Bill, which will hopefully be passed soon, will significantly curtail the ability of Hackney Council to ignore the views of local residents and return power back to the people where it belongs.

Simche Steinberger is a councillor for Springfield ward and deputy leader of Hackney Conservatives.

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