Government Planning Power Grab

15 June 2026

Dacorum Liberal Democrats Condemn Government Planning Power Grab

Major housing decisions could now bypass local councillors entirely, just as Dacorum nears completion of its first Local Plan in years

• The government will bypass Dacorum's planning department, allowing developers to send major applications straight to Whitehall
• The move comes despite years of Conservative failure to give Dacorum a Local Plan, and just as the council is finally on the cusp of getting one
• Victoria Collins MP brands it a "power grab" that punishes a council doing exactly what Labour said it wanted while standing up for local communities 

The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Government's decision to place Dacorum Borough Council's planning department into special measures, branding it a Labour government power grab that strips local people of the right to have a say over what gets built in their own communities.

Under the special measures regime, developers can now send major applications, those for ten homes or more, straight to the Planning Inspectorate, sidestepping the council and the very councillors who residents actually elected.

Lib Dems have described the timing as cynical and hypocritical - ripping away the carpet from underneath Dacorum’s local plan process just as it nears completion. 

For years, Dacorum was left without an up-to-date Local Plan, a direct legacy of the Conservative government that kept rewriting the rulebook while local Conservatives failed to agree on a Local Plan, leaving our communities without protection from unplanned development. Now, just as the council is on the cusp of finally getting a plan in place and working hard to secure affordable housing, infrastructure, GP surgeries, and school places, ministers have stepped in to take over. 

It's a particular slap in the face given Labour's own promise of a "plan-led" system. Dacorum has been doing precisely what ministers say they want, putting in the work to get a Local Plan over the line. Instead of support, it's being unfairly shut out.

Liberal Democrats say the council has been caught between a rock and a hard place: the government is ramming through major planning reforms which have put extra pressure on planning authorities, but without fixing the broken planning fees system, which would give councils the resources they need. Rather than fixing that, ministers have chosen to take power and fees away.

Across Dacorum, this isn't about residents being against new houses. People understand we need them, especially genuinely affordable ones. What they object to is development without infrastructure, without a plan, and now, without any local say at all.

Cllr Adrian England, Portfolio Holder for Place says:

"This is a power grab, plain and simple. Just as our Council is on the cusp of finally getting a Local Plan in place, after years of Conservative failure to deliver one, the government are shutting out local communities. While the government thinks it knows best, local Liberal Democrats are working hard to stand up for local communities within the national planning law.”

“In our local plan work, the Liberal Democrats are pushing to get the affordable housing and infrastructure our communities need. This Whitehall takeover could jeopardise that. We’ll keep pushing to get the best for our towns and villages in Dacorum and working with Victoria Collins MP to fix the broken planning system.”

Victoria Collins MP,  says: 

"People across Berkhamsted, Tring and our villages are fed up with a top-down planning system that neither protects the greenbelt nor delivers the social and affordable homes we need. They're against development dumped on communities without the roads, GP surgeries and school places to match, and now without even a local voice in the room.

"Dacorum has been caught between a rock and a hard place. The government have put in place more rules, more applications and with no extra funding. Instead of fixing that, the Government has simply taken power away. I'll be pressing ministers to reverse this decision and to back, not punish, councils working hard for local communities."