Planning Act regime extended to six business and commercial project types

June 27, 2013

The Planning Act 2008 regime is to be extended to six business and commercial project types, the Department for Communities and Local Government has announced.

The six types are:

manufacturing and processing: for example, car factories and food processing plants;
leisure, tourism, sports and recreation such as sports stadiums, theme parks and hotel complexes;
offices and research and development centres;
warehousing, storage and distribution sites;
conference and exhibition centres; and
aggregate and industrial minerals: for example sand, gravel.

Developers will be able to ask for their application to be determined at a national level through the infrastructure planning regime.

Retail-led schemes and residential proposals will not be able to make use of the regime.

The DCLG confirmed that existing requirements to consult local communities would be retained.

The Department is to introduce draft regulations, setting out the types of business and commercial development, for final approval by Parliament.

Planning Minister Nick Boles said: “We are determined to help bring about new investment and jobs. Making sure businesses can have confidence in quicker and better planning decisions is an important part of that.

“Opening up the fast-track system will help get sustainable development underway sooner and minimise delays that only bring uncertainty for local people and businesses looking to create jobs.”

The DCLG claimed that the fast-track measure “has the potential to save business tens of thousands of pounds in planning fees and reduce the planning process by months.”