Immediately start prioritising growth in planning decisions, says DCLG guide

Local authorities should immediately start prioritising growth in the decisions they take locally and consider renegotiating section 106 agreements to kick start stalled developments, the Department for Communities and Local Government has said.

In a guide summarising the impact of the Budget on the planning system, the Department also announced that it would extend to businesses the right to initiate neighbourhood plans and neighbourhood development orders.

The DCLG acknowledged that some of its planning reforms would take time to deliver. But it added: “The government has made clear its expectation that every council should be firmly on the front foot in encouraging and supporting growth. Local authorities should be pressing ahead without delay in preparing up-to-date development plans which set out the opportunities for growth in their areas.”

The DCLG called on local authorities to ensure they are not imposing unnecessary burdens in the way of development.

It suggested that where development has stalled, councils should be open to reviewing section 106 agreements at the request of developers “and look at making possible amendments to get growth underway”.

The guide, which can be downloaded here, covers a range of issues. These include:

The presumption in favour of sustainable development

• This “powerful” new principle underpinning the planning system is intended to ensure that the default answer to development and growth is ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’, “except where this would clearly compromise the key sustainable development principles in national planning policy, including protecting the Green Belt and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty”
• It is intended to give developers, communities and investors greater certainty about the types of applications that are likely to be approved, “and will help to speed up the planning process and encourage growth”
• A draft wording will be published for consultation in May 2011.

The national policy planning policy statement

• All national planning policies will be brought into one “concise, easy to use” document called the National Planning Policy Framework. This will be “pro-growth”
• The framework will contain the government’s key economic, social and environmental objectives and planning policies to deliver them. The presumption in favour of sustainable development will be at the heart of the framework
• The framework will be published for consultation later this year with the aim of finalising it by the end of 2011, “if that is possible”.

Changes to permitted development rights

• The government is proposing to scrap the requirement to get permission for a change of use for vacant and derelict offices from commercial to residential. A consultation will be launched “shortly”
• An urgent review of the Use Classes Order will also be launched. This will “examine the role the Use Classes system can play in supporting growth”.

Piloting elements of the land auctions model

• The government said it is interested in testing the potential of land auctions to “bring forward land for development, improve competition and provide greater certainty for developers”
• Pilots of the approach will take place by auctioning parcels of public sector land with planning permission. The outcomes will be used to look at the use of land auctions more widely.

Extension of neighbourhood planning to businesses

• Extension to businesses of the right to initiate Neighbourhood Plans and Neighbourhood Development Orders “will encourage growth by reducing the need to apply for planning approval in order to develop”.

Removal of Whitehall targets

• The target specifying the levels of housing development that should take place on previously developed land will be removed through the national planning policy framework. “As has been evident in the debate over ‘garden grabbing’, the definition of previously developed land has become discredited”
• There will still be “strong policy protection” for the environment, including maintaining the Green Belt, National Parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other environmental protections.

Removal of bureaucracy from planning applications

• Reforms to simplify and speed up the planning application process will include a 12-month guarantee for the processing of all planning applications, “including appeals which have been made in a timely fashion”.

The duty for councils to co-operate on planning issues

• The Localism Bill will place a new duty to co-operate on councils to work together to address planning issues that impact beyond local boundaries, such as on transport, housing, or infrastructure. “Councils are already operating in natural economic areas that stretch beyond traditional boundaries through 31 local enterprise partnerships.”

Major infrastructure applications

• Democratic accountability will be returned to decision making on applications for major infrastructure projects such as wind farms, power stations and road schemes
• The new Major Infrastructure Unit “will maintain the stability and speed of the current fast track system for applications, but decisions will be made by Ministers rather than unelected officials”.

Commenting on the Budget, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "The actions set out in the Budget will create the conditions for growth and put this country back on a strong and stable economic footing. We are unblocking the complex, costly planning system, regenerating redundant sites and putting the brakes on the years of Whitehall micro-management that has tied business up in red tape, slowing and stifling growth.

"The current planning system is bureaucratic, we will make it easier to navigate. We have a system plagued by conflict and appeals. We will establish a system where councils, communities and business work together. Instead of fighting against development imposed from Whitehall, local people will have a far greater influence over what is built in their area. We will maintain protection for the Green Belt and the environment - as we are committed to sustainable growth.”

Philip Hoult