New enforcement powers will prevent Dale Farm happening again, says Pickles

Local authorities will be given stronger enforcement powers to “prevent unauthorised sites like Dale Farm from ever being established in the first place”, the Communities Secretary told the Conservative party conference today.

Eric Pickles said: “The Dale Farm saga has now spent 10 years before the courts. Justice delayed is justice denied. It’s time that planning law was enforced. It’s time to uphold the British rule of law.”

Pickles argued that “rights and responsibilities cut both ways”, adding that it was time to respect the family life of those who had to live next door to illegal sites.

He said: “It’s time to respect the property rights of law-abiding homeowners. We should take no lectures from far-left activists or penpushers parachuted in from some obscure United Nations agency.”

The Communities Secretary claimed that the Labour government had undermined the planning system.

“They created a system where special treatment was given to Travellers,” he suggested. “Whatever their intentions, this fuelled resentment and undermined community cohesion. We should support those who play by the rules.”

Pickles said the government would provide £60m to support councils in building and improving official Traveller pitches, and had given those on official sites stronger tenancy rights.

He added: “Treating law-abiding people equally and fairly. But it’s not right to have planning rules which gave a green light to traveller camps being dumped in the Green Belt and open countryside.”

Pickles insisted that the planning system needed to be improved.

He claimed: “Labour churned out over 1,000 pages of central planning guidance. They made the planning regime the preserve of inspectors, pressure groups and planning lawyers. So we’re simplifying this guidance to 52 pages.”

The Communities Secretary said a quicker system was needed, one that provided greater certainty for local firms and local residents.

On the controversy over the government’s National Planning Policy Framework, Pickles insisted that it was “not a choice between countryside and concrete”.

He promised: “Our countryside is one of the best things that makes Britain great, and we will protect it.”

The Communities Secretary also insisted that transparency would help councils “save billions” through better procurement, joint working, and driving out waste.

He acknowledged that local government had been the most efficient part of the public sector, particularly compared to Whitehall.

But he added: “By dismantling Labour’s interfering, intrusive laws and regulations, we can do even more for less. In a radical extension of localism, we are giving councils a new general power of competence to champion their local communities.”

Pickles also vowed to tackle the “gold-plating” of equality rules and to stop taxpayer-funded full time trade union officials. “If unions want to raise money for Labour do it in your own time, not on the rates,” he said. “We’re going to call time on this last closed shop.”