Parliamentary reporter @TrinderMatt

BORIS JOHNSON faces a clash with Tory backbench rebels over planning reforms that Labour has dubbed a “developers’ charter.”

In the wake of the Conservatives’ defeat last week in the Chesham and Amersham by-election, where the proposals were a major issue, many Tory MPs, including former prime minister Theresa May, warned the government not to ignore voters’ views. 

To help meet their target of building 300,000 new homes a year in England, ministers claim that an overhaul of the planning system is needed to boost the construction of high-quality, sustainable homes.

But Labour and campaigners warn that the proposals would undermine local democracy by removing the members of public’s right to be heard in person and stripping elected planning committees of decisions on development.

Along with the HS2 railway line being built through Chesham and Amersham, fears of extensive construction in the surrounding Chilterns countryside were widely expressed by local residents during the by-election campaign.

Labour will try to pile pressure on the Prime Minister today by tabling a Commons motion calling for protections for communities who object to planning applications.

The opposition-day motion cannot bind the government, but Mr Johnson would be under pressure to rethink his plans if there was a sizeable Tory rebellion.

The PM conceded that his party had a disappointing night on Thursday as voters in the Buckinghamshire constituency — in Tory hands since its creation in 1974 — helped the Liberal Democrats overturn a 16,000 majority to win by more than 8,000 votes.

Shadow communities and local government secretary Steve Reed said: “Voters have shown Conservative MPs what they think of the developers’ charter.

“Those MPs now have the chance to join Labour in voting to kill off these perverse reforms once and for all.”