Marcus Jones, Nuneaton’s Conservative MP, has welcomed the comments made by a senior Labour MP, Clive Betts, that local Councils should move quickly to adopt a Local Plan.

Mr Betts, the Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee in Parliament, is quoted in a Parliamentary report about unsustainable developments. Mr Betts confirmed that 41% of local authorities do not have an adopted Local Plan, which he called “simply not good enough.”

Marcus has been leading the calls locally for the Borough Council, who are one of the 41% not to have a Local Plan, to implement a Plan to prevent ‘planning by default’, where developers can win applications on appeal due to the absence of a Local Plan. It has caused significant concern to thousands of local people worried about unsustainable development without adequate infrastructure, including highways, schools, dental practices and NHS services such as GP surgeries.

Commenting, Marcus said: “This is the first admission of anyone in the Labour Party that not having a Local Plan in place is not good enough. We have been trying to tell the local Labour Council this for many months so perhaps now they will listen to their own Party colleague who is absolutely right when he says that it is simply not good enough.

“The Borough Council is looking more and more cynical as this issue drags on, putting narrow party political interests ahead of the needs of the town and local people. I repeat my question about the Local Plan and when it will finally be implemented, to which I am yet to receive a response from the Council.

“If not now, when?”