Mebyon Kernow has condemned the announcement from the UK Government that it intends to take planning powers away from local councils if they do not meet central government targets for house-building.

MK leader Cllr Dick Cole described the announcement as an “undemocratic outrage.”

He was commenting on a statement made by the Housing Minister, Sajid Javid, who said that councils which fail to meet targets would be stripped of the right to decide what is built within their boundaries, with inspectors making decisions instead.

Mr Javid told a Sunday newspaper that he would be “breathing down” the necks of local authorities.

Today (March 5), the Government intends to announce an overhaul of planning rules, with a new “Planning Policy Framework.”

In a statement issued today, the leader of Mebyon Kernow, Cllr Dick Cole, said: “The UK Government’s top-down plan for housing targets and the threat to strip local councils of their planning powers, if they do not do as they are told, is an undemocratic outrage.

“This will take local planning decisions even further away from local communities, and I do not believe, for one second, that Government officials inside the M25 corridor know what is best for Cornwall and its people.

Cllr Cole also repeated MK’s call for meaningful devolution and the creation of a Cornish Assembly, with power over all aspects of planning and housing.

“We want to see a Cornish National Planning Policy Framework replace the NPPF produced by central government, which would allow housing and other targets to be agreed locally without interference from Whitehall.

“MK is committed to a lower and more sustainable housing target, with development geared to properly meet the needs of local communities, and planning policies that defend the Cornish countryside.”