MPs challege planning reforms
A default “yes” to development should be removed from the government’s proposed planning reforms, a committee of MPs said today. But concerns are raised elsewhere about the UK’s housing shortage.
The proposed changes, which slim 1,000 pages of policy down to 52, prioritise economic growth over environment or societal concerns, said the communities and local government committee.
This new draft of the national planning policy framework (NPPF) risks poorly planned and unsustainable development, the committee added.
As well as opposition from MPs, the reforms have caused an outcry among campaign and specialist interest groups, including the National Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, who say they will facilitate an urban sprawl and damage environmental development.
The government said the proposed changes simplify the current system and focus on sustainable development, which it says is necessary to boost growth, give communities more say in their local area, and protect the environment.
David Cameron has insisted that the proposals include environmental and social dimensions and the government argue that the default answer to planning proposals is “yes” – except where that would compromise sustainable development.
‘Risk’ of unsustainable development
However the committee of MPs raised concerns that sustainable development is not comprehensively defined and over the default “yes” to planning.
Clive Betts, committee chairman, said: “This undermines the equally important environmental and social elements of the planning system,” he said. “As currently drafted, the ‘default yes’ to development also carries the risk of the planning system being used to implement unsustainable development.”
The committee also want developers to bear responsibility for proving that a scheme will do significantly damage to the area, rather than on the local planning authority.
The framework would introduce several ambiguities that are more likely to slow down the planning process. Gaps or contradictions in the document are likely to fuel a system of ‘planning decision by appeal’ instead of the local decision-making that ministers advocate. Clive Betts, committee chairman
“The government wants to simplify the planning system, make it more receptive to all forms of sustainable development, and is keen to ensure effective decisions are reached more quickly,” said Mr Betts. “Yet, as currently worded, the framework would introduce several ambiguities that are more likely to slow down the planning process.
“Gaps or contradictions in the document are likely to fuel a system of ‘planning decision by appeal’ instead of the local decision-making that ministers advocate.”
Housing shortage
However the Home Builders Federation (HBF) highlighted the housing shortgage, estimating that only half the number of homes needed were being approved. It said there was a 10 per cent decrease in the number of homes given permission to be built from the start of July to the end of September, compared to the same period last year.
It said that this was half the 60,000 permissions required to meet demand.
HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley said the figures showed why the government needed to “stand firm and deliver a robust planning system” that provides enough homes.
Planning Minister Greg Clark said he was grateful for “the practical and measured way they have approached the exercise”, and added he was determined for the NPPF to put power into the hands of local people though “a simpler, clearer system, which safeguards our natural and historic environment while allowing the jobs and homes to be created that our country needs”.