Reforms to planning committees, regional development and nature restoration are among the key changes being put forward by the government in proposed new legislation.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, introduced to Parliament by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), features a raft of measures that the government claims will speed up planning decisions to boost housebuilding and remove challenges to the delivery of vital infrastructure.
Key headlines announced within the Bill include:
- Planning Committees: The Bill will see to streamline planning decisions by introducing of a national “scheme of delegation” which will outline the types of applications being determined by officers and those going to committee. It will also control the size of planning committees, with committee members being required to completed mandatory training. Councils will also be empowered to set their own planning fees to help cover costs.
- Nature Restoration Fund: A special fund will be created that will ensure builders can meet their environmental obligations in a more efficient and effective manner by pooling contributions to fund larger environmental interventions
- Compulsory Purchase reform: These reforms will be aimed at more efficient buying of land needed to drive forward housing or major developments, without overcompensating landowners. Under the proposals, inspectors, councils and mayors, where there are no objections, will take decisions instead of the Secretary of State.
- Clean Energy: The Bill also seeks to help approved clean energy projects, including wind and solar, that will be active by 2030, are prioritised for grid connections, helping many ready-to-go projects avoid lengthy waits.
- Strategic Planning: The Bill will look to introduce a system of spatial development strategies – to be produced by mayors or, in some cases, local authorities – that will look across multiple local planning authorities for the most sustainable areas to build, ensuring join-up between development needs and infrastructure requirements.
- National Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP): The Bill will aim to speed up the delivery of such projects, making sure the consultation requirements for projects – such as windfarms, roads or railway lines – are streamlined, with national policies against which such applications are assessed are updated at least every five years. Changes will also be made to the Highways Act and Transport and Works Act in an attempt to reduce bureaucracy.
- Challenging decisions: The process for legally challenging government decisions on infrastructure projects will be overhauled, with ‘meritless’ cases only having one attempt at legal challenge, as opposed to three.
- Development Corporations: Government-established organisations designed to help develop specific areas, previously used to deliver post-war towns, will be given enhanced powers to help the government meet its 1.5million national housing target.
Under the plans, people living within 500m of new pylons across Great Britain would also get money off their electricity bills up to £2,500 over 10 years.
Fred Quartermain, Partner in the Thrings Planning and Environment team, said: “The government has been clear in its position that it wants to solve longstanding issues with the planning system, with the ambitious reforms in this Bill potentially taking a big step in that direction.
“This includes addressing the imbalance between professional planners and politicians in decision making, misalignments in strategic planning and under-resourcing. We will be watching with great interest to see how these proposals might develop as this Bill progresses through Parliament.”
Thrings’ Planning and Environment lawyers have extensive experience in navigating complex local and national planning policy legislation and has successfully supported commercial and residential clients to optimise the use of their land to generate innovative new long-term revenue streams through the creation of natural capital projects and other diversification initiatives To find out more and for advice on your development proposals, please get in touch.