Legislation / Legal
CLG: The Coalition Government's intended abolition of Regional Strategies can be taken into account when making planning decisions, the High Court agreed recently. The judgment - in a High Court case brought by CALA Homes - confirms that the intended scrapping of Regional Strategies is a 'material consideration' which can be considered by local planning authorities & planning inspectors when making decisions.
The Government has long announced its intention to abolish the strategies through the Localism Bill, which received its Second Reading on 17 January 2011 in the House of Commons and is currently in Committee stage. This latest judgement will not affect decisions already made on planning applications.
HO: Millions of people will ‘be protected from unwarranted state intrusion in their private lives with a return to common sense government’, the Home Secretary outlined last week in the Protection of Freedoms Bill, which follows the review of counter-terrorism & security powers and the scrapping of ID cards. It also drew on views put forward by the public through the radical Your Freedom website set up after the coalition government came to power.
