The Government proposes to make fundamental and wide-reaching changes to planning law in England, and yes, if the changes go ahead, they will affect us here in the Maldon District. The Government’s intentions are set out in three “White Papers” (proposals to change the law).
These are consultation papers, so they include questions that we can all answer, such as
- “What three words do you associate most with the planning system?” and
- “Do you agree that there should be automatic outline permission for [some] areas?”
There’s a summary of each paper below, followed by information on where you can obtain copies, and a few more examples of the questions.
White Paper “Planning for the Future”
– consultation ends 29th October 2020
These are the core, long-term proposals for England. They include creating new Local Development Plans, which will give automatic outline planning permission on some land; introducing “Building Beautiful and Sustainable Places”; and bringing in mandatory fees for developers to contribute to schools, roads etc.
New Local Development Plans
To allocate land for development, the Government wants each planning authority (eg Maldon District Council) to create a new, simplified Local Development Plan (LDP) – and they would get just 30 months to do so.
This would include a six week public consultation for us to comment, including on the Council’s proposed land usage. This is important, as the LDP would categorise all land as either “Growth”, “Renewal” or “Protected”:
- “Growth” land would be for substantial development, and would automatically have outline planning permission, with an efficient route to full permission;
- “Renewal” land would be for smaller scale development, such as small sites at the edge of villages; with types such as re-development having automatic outline planning permission;
- On “Protected” land a proposed development would need to go through an efficient but full planning application process, in a similar way to today.
These efficiencies would come from more rules and less discretion; more maps but fewer words; from avoiding overlap between national policy and local plans; and from new web-based tools with searchable data.
Neighbourhood Plans
These would provide local detail, such as the style of building to be allowed in each village. We understand that Tollesbury Parish Council is pressing ahead with our Neighbourhood Plan, to try and get it “made” before the new planning laws are passed.
“Building Beautiful and Sustainable Places”
means that developments meeting certain “beautiful” design criteria would be fast-tracked; and all new homes would be “zero-carbon ready”. You may also have seen the proposal for every new street to be lined with trees.
The Infrastructure Levy and Planning Obligations
are fees that councils can charge a developer to help fund schools, roads, Affordable Housing, etc. But the amount is currently optional, and it depends on a council’s negotiation skills. Instead the Government proposes that contributions would be mandatory, and on a fixed scale.
White Paper “Changes to the Current Planning System”
– consultation ends 1st October 2020
This consultation was launched after the last magazine deadline and closes on 1st October! It proposes four interim changes, mostly to help boost the economy following Covid-19, and to help smaller builders.
It includes amending the way councils work out how many homes to build, to reflect both predicted demand (as now), and current housing numbers; and to reflect both affordability (as now), and whether that’s become worse over the last 10 years.
It would also divert a quarter of Affordable Housing funds to the First Homes scheme, and allow up to 40 or 50 new homes in a development before the builder has to contribute to Affordable Housing (today it’s ten).
White Paper “Transparency and Competition”
– consultation ends 30th October 2020
The Government wants to improve the Land Register to include not just land ownership, but also any contracts that people may have for that land. Eg If someone has the right to buy a piece of land should it get planning permission, then this agreement would be registered.
More information
HART can also provide paper copies at £2 each. You may just want the main paper – “Planning for the Future”.
The Government’s own one-page summary: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/907469/One_Pager_v4.pdf
Opinion piece from Town & Country Planning Association:
www.tcpa.org.uk/blog/blog-the-wrong-answers-to-the-wrong-questions
Opinion piece from Campaign for the Protection of Rural England:
www.cpre.org.uk/news/major-planning-reforms-criticism/
First Homes scheme – consultation outcomes:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/907214/200728_PUBLICATION_Govt_response_FH_condoc_v4.pdf
Salford council hits out:
https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/councils-hit-out-at-undemocratic-planning-reforms/
Here’s a 9-minute, easy-to-watch video round-up of key information.
Download the White Papers:
Planning for the future
Deadline for comments 29th Oct 2020
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future
Changes to the current planning system
Deadline for comments 1st Oct 2020
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-the-current-planning-system
Transparency & competition (land supply)
Deadline for comments 30th Oct 2020
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transparency-and-competition-a-call-for-evidence-on-data-on-land-control
Have your say!
This article isn’t trying to offer opinions on the reforms – there’s plenty of that in the media, and HART is not campaigning about it. Many of the proposals do seem to be improvements, but perhaps it’s unlikely that anyone would agree with all of them.
If you want to have your say, “Planning for the Future” is the Paper we think people who aren’t planning professionals or economists are most likely to be able to comment on (!)
You don’t have to answer all the questions but you might like to comment on these for example:
- “Do you agree that Neighbourhood Plans should be retained?”
- “What do you think about the design of recent new development in your area?”
- “When new development happens in your area, what is your priority for it? (More affordable housing / Better infrastructure such as transport, schools, health provision / Design of new buildings / More shops &/or employment space / Green space / etc …)
You can also write to our MP, Priti Patel, at priti.patel.mp@parliament.uk.
Meanwhile, on Gladman and Obsidian…
HART continues to watch out for Gladman submitting a revised application for the Mell Road field, and for Obsidian’s 44-acre (18-hectare) development. Either of these – or indeed another development entirely – could arise, and this is why HART hasn’t closed, or disbursed the funds kindly donated by Tollesbury residents. We’re not actively fund-raising at the moment, but the money is safe, and ready to use to fight any further inappropriate developments if needed.