David Chappell challenges Tory opposition to rural development

Today David Chappell was asked to address Suffolk businessmen at a Grant Thornton Business Breakfast. Below is his speech

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My background is as a Quantity Surveyor, 35 years in construction dealing with the harsh realities of contract and money.

I have been asked to come here today to present the Liberal Democrat Suffolk Business Policy, That is going to be easy for me….

We don't have one….

***** (this was greeted with laughter and applause. The presenter of the event told me that with these words I turned the audience around and got them to like me. See page 3 for when I went into regional detail.)

The second point I was asked to demonstrate was what Lib Dems could offer Suffolk Business people. That's easy as well…

Vince Cable.

(This was also met with murmurs of appreciation.)

Just compare the options that you have. I quote from Vince

"One is to trust the people who led us into the present mess to get us out of it, but this would be a triumph of hope over experience."

"Another is to put your trust instead in a team of bright young things who have no beliefs or convictions other a sense that it is their turn to rule."

We face a huge challenges in this country, economic, social, climate change.

These are challenges for people who have been tested in the real world of work, not those nurtured in a culture of Westminster politics

You understand business. When you appoint people to head up your business, or a division within your business you look for experience, and expertise, for a proven track record.

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The next Chancellor will need to guide our country out of the crisis we are in and that leaves you with only one suitable candidate.

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All the political parties promise to cut red tape for business….but the red tape you face today was generated by the Labour party…and the Tory Party.

Do you really think they are going to change?

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The government talks of assistance to business. In 2008 they offered the Small Firms Loan Guarantee. In 2009 they offer the Enterprise Finance Guarantee. New web site, new name. More spin, no stability.

The government set up a 'national' insurance protection scheme for businesses. Only 58 companies benefited from that scheme.

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Government policies have been guided, not by good practice and well thought out planning, but the pressure for a new headline.

It seems as though every two years new initiatives are trumpeted, scrapping what has gone before.

We can end this with fixed term parliaments. Governments will then plan for an election in four or five years time. We may then get some stability in planning for the future.

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We believe it is wrong for the government to ask business to pay for the costs of implementing their policies. Businesses should not be debt collector for students debts, or child maintenance; acting as an immigration controller; or as a benefits agency for maternity pay; or a financial advisor on stakeholder pensions; or the proposed 2p tax for every plastic bag, which the government want shops to collect and then spend themselves on green projects. While no doubt employing more civil servants to check you have done it right!

We must also end the command and control of regulations passed down to unelected quango's with accountability only to a Minister, who then claims he is acting on expert advice from these quango's

We must stop government money funding excessive salaries to civil servants who incur no real personal risk in their decision making.

*****

I said earlier we have no Suffolk Business Policy and while that is correct we do have a Policy for the East of England. Indeed we voted on it at our Regional Conference last Saturday.

We recognize the problem the region and the County are having with cash flow; with red tape; with transportation; and I see a growing potential problem for you with energy costs.

In respect of cash flow we welcome the government's decision to break up the taxpayer owned banks but we need to ensure government funded banks are releasing money to business…

Nor should we be shy about letting banks go bust. If the taxpayers are going to be a guarantor for banks survival, then they might as well be nationalised.

We do not believe that the Tory policy of slash and burn with regard to public spending is the way to battle the recession. Mass unemployment will only make the recession worse and lower confidence.

Liberal Democrats want to promote 'green' jobs and local apprenticeships designed to fit the needs of local business rather than central government targets.

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We want to give you incentives to reduce your carbon emissions.

Liberal Democrats want to end the practice of upwards only rent reviews, and ensure that business evictions could only take place when there is evidence that the business is unviable. Not when the rents are too high for the business cycle.

We also want to encourage local authorities to support local businesses by being flexible about payments, and end the practice of demanding 3 or 6 month's rent upfront.

*****

I was pleased to see the EU's £65 million Rural Development programme to enhance rural businesses.

However, my experience as a local Councillor gives me a number of concerns.

Six parishes in St Edmundsbury had £2.4 million made available from the EU. This funding was specifically to assist cash flow and support business start ups. I found the local Tory Council in St Edmundsbury reluctant to publicise the availability of these funds. I had to resort to writing to the local paper and placing adverts myself in Parish Newsletters. This reluctance to promote help from the EU does not help local businesses. That money is after all simply a return to Britain of our own taxes.

I am also concerned at the way the local Tories are seeking to ban redevelopment in the countryside. The St Edmundsbury Local Development Framework if accepted in its current wording will ban development of existing brownfield sites in rural areas unless they are inside or adjacent to villages.

There is a development taking place in Risby. The construction of an anaerobic digester on a farm, which will take farm waste and generate electricity for 3,000 homes. This is good example of creating green jobs.

The local framework if adopted will ban such developments unless immediately adjacent to villages.

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The local Tories are also seeking to change national planning policy to ban development on agricultural land, and yet it is on farms, where we have 500,000 pigs producing slurry in Suffolk, that anaerobic digesters are best placed.

This would also stop farm diversification, which is a key generator of jobs in the rural parts of Suffolk. We have 3 farm diversification projects within a mile from this venue. It is the way forward and should not be banned.

I really don't understand why the local Tories have such an aggressive policy opposing development of existing sites in the countryside and challenge them to defend this position.

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On the other hand I welcome the Tory proposal to scrap central controls of the planning system. Planning departments seem to me to be a wild card with officers having far too much discretion over what is approved and what is not. There is a saying that if you put one proposal before 4 different planning officers you will get 4 different responses, none of which will be agreed with by the inspector who reviews the appeal.

Businesses as well as residents deserve far better from local authority planning departments, and local Councils need far more flexibility to mould planning policy to local needs.

I will conclude with our Recovery Plan which is to:

Have a massive investment programme to create jobs and help the environment

Cut taxes for struggling families so they have more money in their pockets

Keep people in their homes, so they don't need to fear unfair repossessions

Lower energy bills so people can afford to heat their homes

Action to help people who lose their jobs or have debt problems

Ensure government-owned banks are run in the public interest to help keep businesses afloat

Reform banking and the City so this can never happen again

Action to deliver future economic stability

International action to reinvigorate global trade

New priorities for Government - cut waste and invest in education and families.