Our right to have a say on what is built in our local areas is at risk. The Government is changing the rules on how decisions are made on roads, homes, power stations – anything that needs permission to be built. 

We have started this petition to make the Government give us a right to have a say on the rules for making decisions on roads, homes, and renewable energy.  

Silencing the people’s voice on what happens in their local communities would be disastrous for the places we all live and the unique viewpoints, culture and situations that are found across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is an unprecedented attack on local democracy which would leave local people powerless as the Government could construct anything on “crown land” without ever consulting local people. 

Right now, the “local plan”, created by local councils and in consultation with local residents, is the most important factor in decisions on what is built in a local area. For example, a developer might want to get permission for housing, but it’s going to be hard to get permission if its not in the “local plan”. Without the “local plan” being the most important factor, new coal fields, fracking sites, prisons, detention centres and housing developments that are strongly opposed by those living nearby, could get the green light from the Government in England, and override local plans.

We are Aide, Joshua, Rhianna and Theo, we’re from a student group for action on climate change in Lincolnshire. We are so worried about these changes because of the harm that this can cause to our environment and to our futures as the Government makes our voice even less important in our local area.  

It is my future and the future of other people like me that is being decided now. 600,000 development decisions are made every year in England alone. We need as many people as possible to sign the petition to stop these changes to the law being made.