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# Leader of Staffordshire County Council calls for stronger reforms of planning policy to help speed up new housing developments
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/leader-of-staffordshire-county-council-calls-for-stronger-reforms-of-planning-policy-to-help-speed-up-new-housing-developments/
- Published: 2018-03-07T10:08:10.000Z
- Updated: 2018-03-07T10:08:10.000Z
- Description: The leader of Staffordshire County Council has called for stronger reforms of planning policy in order to speed up the building of new homes across Lichfield and Burntwood.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Politics, Planning, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 18:23, News

The leader of Staffordshire County Council has called for stronger reforms of planning policy in order to speed up the building of new homes across Lichfield and Burntwood.

Cllr Philip Atkins’ comments come after Prime Minister Theresa May pledged to make changes such as reducing red tape, fast-tracking applications and giving communities more control in the decision-making process.

[![Cllr Philip Atkins. Pic: M Holland](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/5008037399_3c12d53aab_b.jpg)](//lichfieldlive.co.uk/2016/02/23/leader-of-staffordshire-county-council-backs-calls-for-sunday-trading-hours-to-be-set-locally/5008037399%5F3c12d53aab%5Fb/)

Cllr Philip Atkins. Pic: M Holland

But while he welcomed the announcement, Cllr Atkins said more needed to be done.

“I am pleased that the government has recognised that the current planning system is flawed and needs to change,” Cllr Atkins said. “However, the reforms still need to be strengthened further to ensure that local county areas have the infrastructure needed to support new homes and sustainable development.

“Like cities, we need to be able take a strategic view to better align infrastructure with housing development and we would like to see even greater collaborative working between our district and borough partners, who are responsible for planning control and ourselves as the county-wide infrastructure lead, in the urgent delivery of more homes.”