We had all the fun of the fair in Brighton this week at the Liberal Democrat’s party conference.

With the party enjoying a surge following the general election, Nikki Davies and William Jankowski share their perspectives on one of the most significant Lib Dem conferences in years. 

Nikki Davies shares her perspectives on the conference:

An opportunity to carve their path or a giant elephant trap?

After four days at #LDconf, it’s clear this is the question the party is asking itself about the government’s proposed planning reforms.

Support it and the Conservatives will say they are just like Labour, object to it and risk being made to look, by all parties, like giant hypocrites. Is there a way to navigate this whilst delivering political gain?

In the fringe events, I heard equal amounts of anti-development and pro-house building comments. True to form for the party that in some areas has tried to steal a march on the Tories by adopting what they feel is a vote-winning anti-development stance whilst trying to balance the fact their manifesto featured the highest annual housing building target of all the parties at 380,000.

Baroness Dorothy Thornhill boldly asked colleagues which pile of their general election leaflets would have been bigger – the one with the housing target or the one calling to protect the greenbelt – after which there was a palpable unease in the room. She called for councillors to show ‘backbone and leadership’, to stand up for more housing, making the best out of an imperfect planning system because it’s what their residents deserve. I could not agree with her more.

There was a broad spectrum of views shared by some of the 72 new members of parliament. One fringe meeting heard how communities object because developers prefer to ride roughshod over carefully curated Local and Neighbourhood Plans. In the industry, we know that policy-complaint and locally-allocated projects get no easier ride. It’s the us vs them rhetoric; the developers vs communities picture painted by some politicians which fuels the vocal minority and prevents the collaborative work we need to tackle the country’s housing crisis.

Conversely, Watford’s Mayor Peter Taylor referenced the Hertfordshire Infrastructure and Development Board, an organisation we manage in partnership with the Herts Growth Board, as an example of the type of private and public sector collaboration that is required to overcome the toxicity that exists and develop strong working relationships built on trust and a mutual understanding.

Even more importantly, Mayor Taylor told one fringe about the families he sees arrive at Watford Town Hall with a suitcase and nowhere to sleep. A truly heartbreaking sight. For me, this anecdote perfectly demonstrates the consequence of saying no, the outcome of putting the thirst for election wins over the duty required of our political leaders. Something I hope more politicians across all political parties will start to understand and change course to correct.

There is no better time than now for the Liberal Democrats to carve their own path on housing and become the party of ‘Yes, if’ as Luke Taylor, the new MP for Sutton and Cheam put it. Engaging to say yes, if you deliver community facilities, yes, if you provide a new bus service, yes, if your homes are delivered sustainably.

There is no political party better placed to hold the government’s feet to the fire in Westminster, and in positions of leadership in so many local authorities across the country, to ensure the delivery of the homes the people of this country so desperately need.

Commenting on the conference, William Jankowski reflects:

In many ways, a lot has changed for the party since last year’s conference. It now has a record number of MPs, and has taken control of a number of local authorities not just in the ‘blue wall’ but across the country. Clear causes for celebration (and a few more stunts), but also an important time to reflect on what the party should be doing with its new-found greater power and influence.

On its approach to housing, nevertheless, it seems not much has changed at all, with the party still seemingly still divided between the party establishment and younger members in particular. While the former recognises the need for more housing, with a desperate plea for more social housing in particular, the prevailing view is that sufficient infrastructure needs to planned and delivered along with it.

As Gideon Amos, the new MP for Taunton and Wellington suggested, doing so would also help to make selling the case for new housing much easier. Not a simple case of ‘NIMBYs or YIMBYs’ as London Councils’ fringe event name would suggest then, the party’s approach to housing should be seen through the lens of Luke Taylor MP’s own term of ‘YIMBYIF’.

Nevertheless, even where considerable infrastructure is proposed, questions remained around deliverability and workforce challenges, with scepticism as to whether the government would be able to plug the workforce gap required to deliver its ambitious housing targets, with Baroness Dorothy Thornhill calling on Labour to deliver a workforce strategy to overcome the construction workforce crisis.

Not limited to construction, many also pointed to the need for planning departments across the country to be afforded adequate resource to promptly and effectively process applications. The government’s proposed 300 planners was highlighted on multiple occasions to be less than one new planner per local authority, and wholly insufficient. As well as recruiting new planners, there was a recognition of the need to create better incentives to retain existing talent, rather than local authorities being seen as a mere ‘training ground’.

The many tougher and long-term challenges aside, one which can and should more easily be overcome is certain factions of the party’s surface level scepticism of the industry, with partnership working becoming the norm.

To that end, I was delighted to hear Baroness Thornhill call for a culture shift in the way we engage with the industry, and Mayor Taylor speak about the need to talk to developers both individually and through forums such as the Hertfordshire Infrastructure and Development Board.

Only by working together can we truly deliver on the shared ambition to ensure everyone has a place to call home and for local communities to thrive.