Latest news with #ValleyPark
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Call for councillors to keep planning powers
An Oxfordshire MP has called for local councillors to retain their control over planning, as the government proposes major reforms. Olly Glover, the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot & Wantage, said councillors played a "key role" in the planning process and should keep their current positions. The government has said it wants to ensure "councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area". A working paper sets out three options for a "national scheme of delegation", which would see more applications dealt with by unelected planning officers. Giving a speech on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in parliament, Mr Glover said councillors in his constituency had secured positive amendments to plans. He said when the application for more than 4,000 homes at Valley Park in Didcot came to a planning committee, officers recommended it was approved. But councillors said there was not enough provision for healthcare and there was a lack of cycling and walking infrastructure. He said: "Due to elected representatives making speeches during the meeting, outlining the issues, the planning decision was deferred for a couple of months and those things were able to be added in. "Keeping that local link and making sure that local people are brought into the planning process, and it's done with rather than done to, continues to be very important. "And councillors play a key role in that and that is why they should retain their current positions and influence on planning committees." The government wants to build 1.5 million homes by 2029 and is introducing legislation to change the planning process. It said it wanted to "modernise" how councillor-run planning committees work, ensuring they focus on "key applications for larger developments". A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said: "The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will improve local decision-making by ensuring councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area, and democratic, local engagement with how homes are built will continue to be supported. "This will speed up decisions and ensure they are being taken at the right level so we can get Britain building again." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. No excuses not to build 1.5m new homes, Rayner says Planning reforms will end development chaos, says Rayner Ministers want planning reform to boost building Planning Reform Working Paper: Planning Committees
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Oxfordshire MP says councillors should retain planning powers
An Oxfordshire MP has called for local councillors to retain their control over planning, as the government proposes major Glover, the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot & Wantage, said councillors played a "key role" in the planning process and should keep their current government has said it wants to ensure "councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area".A working paper sets out three options for a "national scheme of delegation", which would see more applications dealt with by unelected planning officers. Giving a speech on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in parliament, Mr Glover said councillors in his constituency had secured positive amendments to said when the application for more than 4,000 homes at Valley Park in Didcot came to a planning committee, officers recommended it was councillors said there was not enough provision for healthcare and there was a lack of cycling and walking said: "Due to elected representatives making speeches during the meeting, outlining the issues, the planning decision was deferred for a couple of months and those things were able to be added in."Keeping that local link and making sure that local people are brought into the planning process, and it's done with rather than done to, continues to be very important."And councillors play a key role in that and that is why they should retain their current positions and influence on planning committees." The government wants to build 1.5 million homes by 2029 and is introducing legislation to change the planning said it wanted to "modernise" how councillor-run planning committees work, ensuring they focus on "key applications for larger developments".A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said: "The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will improve local decision-making by ensuring councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area, and democratic, local engagement with how homes are built will continue to be supported. "This will speed up decisions and ensure they are being taken at the right level so we can get Britain building again." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man arrested in connection with April shooting of 14-year-old
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Peoria man was arrested after an alleged connection to a shooting in April that left a 14-year-old injured in South Peoria. Kavione D. McCall was arrested Tuesday after police allegedly found a stolen car at the 1600 block of North Missouri Avenue and four people got out and ran. The police arrested all four, and after taking McCall in for questioning, he was arrested for an alleged connection in the April shooting. McCall was taken to the Peoria County Jail, where he was booked on several charges, including possession of a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated battery, and aggravated discharge of a firearm, among others. At 11 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8 while driving down the 200 block of MacArthur Highway, police officers saw a person lying on the road with an apparent gunshot wound in the leg, according to a news release from the Peoria Police Department. A few minutes after finding the boy, five rounds were detected on the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system at that location, which is near the Valley Park shopping center, the release said. The boy was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the release said. As of Tuesday afternoon, McCall remains in jail, according to court documents. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
