A petition calling for increased local control over planning decisions in Croydon has been dismissed by the cabinet member for regeneration, who claims it would halt much needed development. 

Chris Philp, Conservative MP for Croydon South, argues the introduction of three local area planning committees, in place of one centralised committee, would prevent 'indiscriminate' development as it would enable local councillors to block projects deemed unsuitable for their region. 

Paul Scott, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, has hit back, claiming the proposed structure would make it impossible to address the borough-wide need for new housing, as each committee would likely block any significant developments planned for their area. 

Cllr Scott, representative for Woodside, said: "Barely any councils use the area planning committee structure, and for good reasons.

"The key one is that planning is a strategic matter, which needs to be looked at borough-wide in order to increase the availability of housing. 

"Chris Philp knows that if there was a local planning committee, staffed with Tory councillors, any plans for development would be refused.

"Our current target is to build 33,000 homes over the next 18 years but, if this change was implemented, nothing would move forward. 

"We are listening to people, we hear their objections, but planning has to be centralised to a degree, otherwise individual areas would always refuse."

Mr Philp recently led a campaign opposing the development of a 17-storey 'skyscraper' in Purley, plans for which were ultimately approved after a lengthy appeal process involving an intervention by the Government's Secretary of State for Housing, James Brokenshire. 

In his new petition, signed jointly by prospective Croydon Central MP Cllr Mario Creatura, Philp points out that 90% of planning applications are currently approved in the borough. 

"At the moment, councillors from distant parts of Croydon who do not understand our area decide applications here – often imposing very bad schemes," he said. 

"Many other councils including the London Boroughs of Kingston and Barnet, and Wiltshire and Durham amongst others do this already.

"Let’s have area planning committees in Croydon now."

Philp MP also argues that the council should not demolish any more family homes to make way for blocks of flats until all the Brownfield sites in the Borough have been built on. 

Brownfield sites are areas of land which have been previously developed, but are not currently in use. 

According to Cllr Scott, this would have a drastic effect on the suburbs, since that is where the majority of Brownfield sites are found. 

"We're keen to see a gradual evolution of the suburbs. 

"If we were to build purely on Brownfield sites, there would have be a massive transformation of these areas if we are to address our housing needs."