Whilst the recent changes to the National Planning Policy Framework and Grey Belt have been well publicised, there is a raft of other changes being proposed, mainly through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. In summary the changes being sought include the following:
Streamlining Decision Making
The Planning Reform Working Paper tries to address three perceptions the Government considers is slowing down planning decisions:
- A lack of clarity on which applications go to planning committee.
- The excessive time spent by local politicians considering applications which are in line with Local Plans.
- Insufficient understanding of planning law on the part of committee members.
The Government’s objective is to produce quicker quality decisions in line with local plans. By removing trivial applications, this will allow planning committees to focus on applications which are not in line with Plans.
National Scheme of Delegation
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will
- Give the Secretary of State new powers to produce regulations requiring delegations to a committee, subcommittee or officer in given circumstances ie the Government will decide what applications can go to committee. The aim will be to stop minor schemes such as householder applications clogging up committee agendas.
- Standardise the size and composition of planning committees. The aim is for smaller committees.
- Make provisions for the training of committee members and Mayors, who will now be empowered to exercise planning duties.
Those without a training certificate will be unable to make decisions.
Fees
Local authorities will be empowered to set fees such that they are able to recoup the cost of assessing the application. The Secretary of State reserves the right to intervene if they believe the fee is unreasonable, including having the power to dictate the fee. Any income from fees is to be ringfenced for planning purposes.
Whilst the changes will be welcomed by the development industry the devil will be in the detail. Preventing certain applications from going to the planning committee will put added pressure on the chief planner who will be lobbied by members to make a certain decision. Not all local authorities have a conveyor belt of major planning applications and the small householder schemes can be their most controversial schemes. This loss of local democracy will hit local community groups who want to ensure an application is considered by their elected representatives. The Government is also being naïve in thinking most applications comply with the local plan, the reality is most applications, however minor, are likely to be contrary to some policy in the plan.
Bar the opportunity to bring in more officers via the increase in planning fees, this does not address the reluctance of many councils to bring forward local plans that allocate enough sites for their housing and employment needs.
Development and Strategic Scale Nature Recovery
Nutrient neutrality and water neutrality requirements have stopped many new housing developments from starting. The Government wants to unlock this blockage and streamline the costly surveys that are required where there are on-site habitats for protected species requiring on-site mitigation efforts.
The Government’s objective is to mitigate environmental harms at a strategic scale, and achieve better outcomes, whilst also allowing greater development. It is therefore proposed that
Environment Development Plans (EDPs)
Natural England (NE) will be required to prepare Environment Development Plans (EDPs) which are tailored to specific forms of development in set areas. They will identify the environmental features, be they landscapes or features, likely to be harmed by the development and the conservation measures to be taken by, or on behalf of, NE to protect and improve those features.
Charging Schedule
The plan will include a Charging Schedule which is to be paid by developers through the Nature Restoration Fund. Should developers contribute to the Nature Restoration Fund and pay the levies in the EDP, they may able to circumvent set elements of the Habitats Regulations on site.
EDPs must be approved by the Secretary of State and will only come into effect if ‘made’ by the Secretary of State. The EDPs must meet the ‘overall improvement test’ which will seek to assess whether the conservation measures set out in EDP are likely to sufficiently outweigh the negative environmental impacts of development
EDPs can be subsequently revoked if the Secretary of State finds that conservation measures are proving ineffective at the mid-EDP stage gate o EDPs must include rational monitoring processes for this purpose
Natural England CPO Powers
EDPs can disregard on-site harm if environmental features are conserved elsewhere. Natural England will be given the power to Compulsory purchase land for conservation purposes
Levies
The levies in the Charging Schedule of each EDP can be mandatory which works to effectively remove the power of developers to opt for the existing Habitats Regulations on certain sites. The Secretary of State will assess the levies in an EDP to ensure they do not make the development economically unviable. Developers will still have the Right to Appeal the amount of levy charged on a site. Levy funds will be ringfenced for the conservation measures set out in the EDP
The EDPs will take time to be produced and are very dependent on resources at NE. These measures have the potential to fix water and nutrient neutrality issues but there is plenty of scope for legal challenge
Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO)
The Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 set in place certain circumstances in which the prospect of planning permission, the Hope Value, could be ignored. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will extend the CPO power to Parish and Community Councils however it can only be used for affordable housing schemes.
Authorities will be able to confirm their own CPOs in some instances rather than obtain approval from the Secretary of State.
National Policy Statements (NPSs)
NPS will have to be updated at least every five years to reflect changes in government strategy and priorities. As part of this process all NPSs will be updated by July 2025.
Development Consent Orders (DCOs)
The Secretary of State will have the power to make a direction on a case-by-case basis whether a project requires a DCO, opening the door for Mayoral Development Orders on regional infrastructure decisions. This change will also allow for solar farms that produce over 49MW of power to go through the local planning authority rather than the DCO process.
Credits for Neighbours
Those living near energy infrastructure will be eligible for credits, paid through their energy bills. I think many local opposition groups will see this as a way of trying to “buy” a planning permission.
Judicial Reviews
The Government plans to tighten up the rules on applications for Judicial Review. Where they are found to be ‘totally without merit they will not have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
