A Congleton resident has called on the community to unite and voice their opposition to the Government's planning white papers by signing a petition.

Richard Walton has lodged a petition, which gives residents a streamlined summary of the two 80-page long white paper documents, and the potential impact the planning process would have on Congleton if passed.

Mr Walton told Nub News that he wants Congleton to work together and sign the petition, in order for the overwhelming opposition against the white papers to be passed onto Congleton's MP Fiona Bruce (Conservative), who would "lobby the government on this matter".

Mr Walton said: "I've read through the documents and it is very hard going, I'm no planning expert, but there is so much to take in and it makes you feel like you need a planning degree just to understand it.

"I can imagine there have been a number of people who have started reading these documents and gave up, 80-page documents are not democratic and the sheer length of these papers may have been a deliberate tactic, knowing that the majority of people wouldn't read it all.

"I wanted to try and make it easier for the average constituent with a streamlined version."

The radical changes to the planning system announced by the government are currently in the midst of a 12-week consultation.

A white paper titled Planning for the Future, recently published by the Government, detailed a number of changes to the system in England, including speeding up the process, with laws to ensure that local authorities had projects signed off in under 30 months.

The paper also mentioned planning permission being "automatically secured" for development on land designated for "growth".

In Mr Walton's petition, he states: "We the undersigned believe that proposed changes to the planning system outlined in the Government's 'Planning for the Future' and 'Changes to the Current Planning System' White Papers take us further away, not closer, to addressing flaws in the current system."

His concerns from the papers were summarised as:

"The plans would remove local accountability and undermine democracy by taking power away from local communities and decision makers – leaving it instead to an unaccountable algorithm.

"It is vital that decisions about the number and types of houses being built in our communities are taken locally, and that those responsible for decisions are accountable to residents.

"The proposals will make it easier for developers to circumvent affordable housing obligations due to the proposed exemption of developments under 50 dwellings from this requirement. We desperately need more genuinely affordable houses, not less.

"The proposals leave Cheshire East exposed to potential huge increases in developments and speculative housing applications. The current housing requirement in Cheshire East is calculated at 1,068 per year. However, under the proposed algorithm this would jump 67% to 1,774."

Mr Walton concluded: "We accept that the current system is flawed, but the consequence of these changes will inevitably be to benefit the market and property speculators rather than our communities."

You can sign Mr Walton's petition here.

At a meeting of Congleton Town Council's Planning Committee last month, Andrew Thomson, a planning expert, who has consulted on the town's neighbourhood plan attended where the committee agreed to request that Cheshire East Council urged the Government to perform a U-turn on the planning changes recently announced.

The town council also agreed to an additional 90-minute meeting, which will take place this month, to discuss what actions it will take against the Government's planning reforms.