Labour U turn after cost saving job cuts to reinstate conservation officer as resistance to the Draft Local Plan grows

The Liberal Democrat opposition in the London Borough of Ealing have been campaigning for the need to have at least one conservation officer to support and assist residents in preserving building and town heritage as well as protecting the "green lungs" of the borough.  The Labour administration have finally seen sense and caved into our demands with an officer responsible for almost 30 conservation areas across five of Ealing's seven towns.

This means that the council can provide specialist technical advice relating to historic buildings, conservation areas and other applicable design matters, including tree cover for planning applications and other development consents. 

The timing of this recruitment can only be seen as an admission by Labour that the draft Local Plan, which hugely unpopular with residents, is a charter for concreting over green space (Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land spaces) and building high density towers in town centres.

We have called for a refocusing of the local plan to ensure that our built environment is appropriate and fit for purpose in the twenty first century including a focus on

i)               Green Infrastructure - protecting green space

ii)             Buildings for the Future – establish net zero carbon as default for quality residential development and setting CIL[1] at £300 per tonne of CO2 to fund infrastructure

iii)            Connected Communities - encourage local transport while not repeating the failed experiment of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs).

Labour have run out of building areas for houses and sports facilities across the borough so that they are now redesignating green belt and Metropolitan Open Land so that it can be built on in the future. 

Liberal Democrat Councillor Jon Ball, Opposition Spokesperson on Planning and Housing

"The recruitment of a conservation officer is the Labour Council acknowledging that this is essential to preserve the character and heritage of Ealing, which the Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on for a number of years.  This about protecting the fabric of the building, character of the towns as well as the green spaces and the environment itself. 

While we recognise the importance of providing the additional genuinely affordable housing that Borough residents need, we reject the cynical removal of Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) protections across the borough. This role comes at a critical time when a draft Local Plan is being developed which outlines a development framework for the next 15 years."