Campaigning in Stoke Gabriel
In the morning I visited Stoke Gabriel to listen to views about local and national issues. Many national companies have raised concerns about the effect of a rise in national insurance but it will also effect small businesses in Devon. Giles Shaw from Bay Tree Services explained how this would effect his bottom line and be yet another tax on local job creation.
If elected, Conservatives will stop the NICs increase for everyone earning under £35,000 and make everyone earning under £45,400 better off. 7 out of 10 working people will be better off with the Conservatives than under Labour, and nobody will be worse off.
I also visited the site of the proposed Rowes Farm development with Cllr Rosemary Rowe to see for myself just how inappropriate this site would be for 50 homes and the impact this would have on this small community. People resent large scale development imposed by regional spatial strategies.
We will give genuine power to local communities to tackle the chronic shortage of affordable rural housing. We will allow villages and towns to create entirely new community-led bodies with planning powers to develop local homes for local people, provided there is strong community backing. Affordable homes built by local housing trusts will remain in local ownership in perpetuity, ensuring that future generations can benefit. Local housing trusts will be able to grant themselves planning permission, provided (i) they do not expand the community by more than ten per cent over any ten year period, and (ii) not more than 10 per cent of local residents object in a community referendum.
