Questions to ask Alberto Costa MP

Responsibility and Policy
 

1. Why do you continue to support Conservative planning policies that centralise control and undermine local councils’ ability to shape sustainable development?
    
2. Do you accept that years of top-down housing targets from previous Conservative governments have contributed to unbalanced, speculative developments in Harborough?

Affordable Housing
 

1. You say you opposed cutting affordable housing from 40% to 10%, yet the Conservatives, when in government, set viability rules that lets developers do exactly that. What will you do to get this changed nationally?
    
2. How can you claim to support affordable housing whilst remaining part of a political party that allowed developers to dodge their responsibilities when they were in power?

Lutterworth East
 

1. You criticise Lutterworth East, but it was backed by Conservative-led councils. Why didn’t you speak out earlier or act to stop the development at the time?
    
2. What will you now do to address the noise, power line, and bypass issues that residents face in Lutterworth East?

Infrastructure and Speculative Development
 

1. Why did the previous Conservative government fail to tie housing targets to infrastructure investment, leaving local roads and services overwhelmed?
    
2. Do you accept that the under-resourced planning departments, caused by national funding decisions, are partly to blame for poor local outcomes?

Environmental Planning
 

1. Do you support battery storage facilities being built on farmland, or will you commit to pushing for them to be located on industrial sites like Magna Park?
    
2. Will you back legislation to require solar panels on all new warehouses and commercial buildings, to reduce pressure on our countryside?

Trust and Accountability
 

1. Why should residents trust you to defend local planning priorities when your party’s policies created the very problems we now face?
    
2. If you disagree with Conservative policies on planning as your letter to us suggested, why haven’t you publicly called for them to be reformed or voted against them in Parliament?
   
    

Neil O’Brien and Conservative Planning Policy

• Neil O'Brien (Conservative MP for Harborough) was Minister for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, directly responsible for national planning policy.
• Under his tenure, Conservative reforms weakened local control over development, encouraging developers to challenge and override Local Plans more easily.
• He supported policies that made it easier for developers to reduce affordable housing commitments on viability grounds – the exact issue Costa is now complaining about.
• The Conservative government centralised planning powers, undermining the ability of local councils to enforce their own policies.

In March 2020, he stated in Parliament: ‘We need to build more homes; the Government are absolutely right about that,' and urged councils to build more — particularly in cities. Yet now, as his constituency faces a major housing proposal near Great Glen and Stretton Hall, he called it 'hasty' and flawed. Isn't that a contradiction, supporting national housebuilding targets as long as it's not in your own backyard?

⚖️ Secretary of State Can Overrule Local Decisions

• Costa fails to mention that the Secretary of State can and frequently does overrule local councils, especially on controversial applications.
• When this happens, it leads to costly legal battles and planning appeals, funded by taxpayers.
• The threat of being overruled pressures councils into accepting poor planning outcomes to avoid wasting public money.
• This makes it harder for councils like Harborough to uphold their Local Plan or resist unwanted developments.

🏘️ 5-Year Housing Supply Shortfall – Caused by Conservative Mismanagement

• Harborough District Council does not have a valid 5-year housing land supply – a key reason developers are able to push through unwanted schemes.
• This shortfall opens the floodgates to speculative development in areas not designated for housing in the Local Plan.
• The reason many Liberal Democrat and Conservative-run councils (including Harborough and Blaby) are in this position is because the Conservative government repeatedly increased housing targets with little regard to infrastructure, local need, or delivery challenges.
• The new Labour government has increased quotas further, but it's building on a Conservative legacy of missed targets, underdelivery, and overambitious planning frameworks.

🏢 Warehousing and the Conservative Legacy

• The expansion of warehousing in Lutterworth stems from planning precedents and infrastructure decisions made under Conservative councils and MPs.
• Conservative-led councils have welcomed warehousing jobs for years but failed to plan for the housing and infrastructure needed to support them.
• The lack of affordable housing provision is a direct result of developer-led viability assessments, which were strengthened by Conservative policy.

💬 Cut to Affordable Housing – Allowed by Conservative Policy

• While Costa criticises the drop from 40% to 10% affordable housing, this reduction is perfectly legal under national rules his own party set.
• Developers can submit a “viability assessment” to justify lower contributions, and councils must accept it if it's deemed reasonable.
• The planning inspectorate (under the Secretary of State) often supports developers on appeal, especially in areas without a 5-year land supply.

🔋 Battery Storage and Energy Infrastructure

• Battery storage and substations are part of the UK’s net zero transition – a strategy supported by successive Conservative governments, including under Rishi Sunak.
• The Swinford wind farm and National Grid connections make this area a logical location.
• The Conservative government has encouraged local authorities to approve energy infrastructure to meet national targets.

🏛️ Public Meeting – Political Posturing?

• While inviting residents to a public meeting is welcome, this letter reads more like electioneering than genuine problem-solving.
• It blames the council and developers for issues that stem from national Conservative planning policy and years of underinvestment in local authority planning departments.
• Costa is trying to position himself as a local defender after years of supporting or enabling the very policies causing the problems.