Pictured above: Rupert West

An East Midlands land and property agency has warned that proposals in the Government's Localism Bill will increase red tape for land-based businesses.

As the Government concluded a consultation process on controversial aspects of the Bill,  King West said that the plans spelled out in the consultation document and the Bill were 'unsound'.

In particular it warned that the Bill would discourage landowners from providing land and buildings - so called 'Community Assets' - for use by local communities.

King West's director, Rupert West, who is also Northamptonshire chairman of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said: "The proposals won't work and will discourage land and property owners from providing buildings to be used by their local communities."

He said Ministers have frequently mentioned the plight of rural pubs and post offices but said this is not addressed by the Bill or the consultation document.

He added that he would have welcomed proposals to make these countryside businesses more economically viable by reducing red tape and the tax burden, as the Government has often promised to do.

But the Government has decided to take the opposite approach, he said. It is proposing more regulations to give local authorities the power to ban owners from selling or giving away their land or buildings until the local community has had a chance to raise funds to bid for them, which could take up to a year.  

Mr West, who is based at the firm's Market Harborough branch in Leicestershire, said: "As a result the owner will lose the chance to sell or transfer his property at a time of his or her own choosing, which will make it much harder to plan ahead or take advantage of unexpected opportunities. It is very bad news for rural businesses.

"For generations, landowners in rural areas have provided privately owned assets for the good of the local community, but this Bill's proposals threaten this long-standing tradition. There is hardly a village in the country that has not benefited from the landowner providing a playing field or village hall."