COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (096) issued by The Government News Network
on 21 May 2007
Communities
Secretary Ruth Kelly has unveiled major reforms of the
country's planning system to make it fit to tackle new
challenges in the 21st century - speeding up the system alongside
improved community consultation.
The wide-ranging White Paper has four key pillars:-
* A better, quicker system to decide major infrastructure
projects with enhanced community engagement and an improved level
of expertise.
* Simplifying the local planning system for householders to make
it far easier to make home improvements like extensions and
conservatories, where there is little or no impact on neighbours.
* Planning playing a bigger role in tackling climate change.
* Ensuring the planning system continues to support vibrant town centres.
The government also pledged a new commitment to protect the green
belt. The White Paper makes clear previously developed brown field
land must remain the clear priority for housing development with
our parks and green spaces protected.
The simplifying of the local planning system for householders
will allow councils to focus on strategic priorities such as more
homes for future generations and tackling climate change.
The White Paper will;
Bring in a new system for dealing with major infrastructure
decisions (transport, water, waste and energy) with community
consultation locked into every stage of the process:
A new system will replace over 8 different planning regimes and
could save over £1 billion within 10 years - it includes:
* A new national policy framework set by Ministers and parliament
setting out how we will meet the country's key infrastructure
needs for the next 10-25 years, bringing it together under one
legal framework. This will be subject to public
consultation.
* A new stronger but clearer inquiry system with
more expertise. This will be led by an independent commission
consisting of leading experts from key sectors - including
planners, lawyers, environmentalists and community experts - who
will take decisions on individual projects. This will include new
"open floor" debates where residents can have their say
rather than having to go before a court-room style inquiry
hearing.
* A new legal requirement on developers to consult
with the public and key parties such as environmental groups and
heritage experts.
* Major expansion of free access to advice
from planning professionals - so not just those who can afford to
pay can make their voices heard.
Slash planning red tape for local householder applications and
supporting local planners:
* Planning permission will not be required for minor developments
- such as conservatories, small scale extensions and
microgeneration devices like solar panels - where it is clear they
have little or no impact on neighbouring properties.
* At the
same time local authorities will retain the right to restrict
planning permission with strengthened safeguards to deal
specifically with eyesore developments.
* Allowing minor
amendments, like the repositioning of a door, to be made to a
planning permission without the need for a full planning
application.
* Simpler information requirements for all
applications, with for example, the introduction of a standard
application form.
* Introducing a new fast-track appeals
system - so appeals have to be lodged within eight weeks rather
than six months and the time to deal with these standard
householder appeals is slashed from 16 weeks to eight.
*
Allocation of £28 million through the Planning Delivery Grant
(PDG). These grants support local authorities to provide a swifter
and more efficient planning process.
New measures to tackle climate change:
* Planning policy rules to put tackling climate change at the
heart of building new communities for the first time. New
developments across villages, towns and cities will have to
consider measures to reduce carbon emissions.
* Housing
Minister Yvette Cooper to head a new 'green offices'
taskforce with industry to set a timetable and action plan for
delivering substantial reductions in carbon emissions from
commercial buildings within the next 10 years.
* Cutting
red-tape for householders wanting to install small-scale renewable
technologies - such as solar panels. Planning permission no longer
required where it is clear there is little or no impact on
neighbours.
* Cutting red-tape for the use of microgeneration
in commercial and agricultural business.
Ensuring the planning system supports vibrant town centres
The Government will bring forward new planning rules to enable
councils to better prioritise town centres over out-of-town
shopping and block developments that threaten the survival of high
streets and small shops.
* A new test will require councils to
scrutinise any proposal for shopping developments outside of the
town centre.
* It will require councils to carry out a
rigorous assessment of the impact of unplanned out of town
developments and to refuse any application that may have a
negative impact on the local high street.
* Local councils
will also get the power to rule whether a development will support
the town centre and benefit the consumer, in deciding whether new
shops should get the go-ahead.
Ruth Kelly said;
"It is 60 years since the Attlee Government introduced the
Town and Country Planning Act - the system has created thriving
towns and protected our green spaces.
"But today we face challenges that the Attlee Government
could never have foreseen - the need to cut emissions from climate
change, or the need to support high-quality jobs and build more homes.
"If we are to thrive, we need a better system for taking the
difficult decisions. If we do not the risks are significant -
energy shortages, mounting congestion and increasing pollution."
She added;
"There are parts of the current system which can be costly,
confusing and inaccessible for local people.
"We need a simpler system that is quicker but which locks in
community consultation at every stage of the process.
"We must meet the challenges of low-carbon living, protect
the vitality of our town centres and improve how we consult local
people. We must also build the infrastructure we need to support
our communities and ensure high quality jobs and international competitiveness."
"Nobody will agree with every planning decision but our
reforms will make the system better focussed, fairer, faster and
more accessible for all. They will support our goal of improving
the places where we live, work, visit, and enjoy."
The planning system has improved significantly since 1997.
Decision-making is quicker, house-building has risen and town
centres have been revitalised - more than 40 per cent of new
developments are built in the heart of towns and cities compared
to less than 25% ten years earlier.
However, communities can still find the planning system too hard
to engage with. For example, determining major infrastructure
decisions can be inaccessible to local people and too slow and
bureaucratic in meeting the needs of the country as a whole.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling said:
"We need to streamline the procedures so that people can
have their say at the same time as reducing delays and
uncertainties. Secure, clean energy supplies are vital. Currently
major energy projects, including wind farms, can take many years
going through the planning system which is confusing and
unpredictable for both industry and communities.
"With a third of our power stations needing replacing by
2020 these new proposals will help industry make the investments
that the country needs, and provide communities with clarity on
how they can take part in the decision making process."
Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said;
"Transport plays a crucial role in everyone's life and
in the UK's economy. In the past our planning system has
sometimes lead to too much uncertainty and delay for projects that
would deliver big benefits for us all.
These proposals, consistent with the Eddington transport study,
will improve the decision making process whilst still ensuring
that schemes remain subject to rigorous scrutiny and wide public consultation."
Environment Secretary, David Miliband said:
"Getting the right planning decisions for everyone is
fundamental to the quality of people's lives. It ensures
everyone has access to green space and unspoiled countryside and
supports the economic development which is vital to creating jobs
and ensuring our continuing prosperity. But the challenge of
climate change means we also need to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases and use our natural resources wisely.
"This White Paper proposes to simplify the planning system
and ensure that we meet our social, economic and environmental
objectives, including tackling climate change, in an integrated
way. I believe these reforms are essential if we are to create a
planning system that is fit and able to meet the challenges we face."
Notes to Editors
1. The 'Planning for a Sustainable Future' White Paper
can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1510503,
the accompanying consultation document can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1510731
2. The White Paper sets out our detailed proposals for reform of
the planning system, building on Kate Barker's
recommendations for improving the speed, responsiveness and
efficiency in land use planning, and taking forward Kate
Barker's and Rod Eddington's proposals for reform of
major infrastructure planning. Further information can be found at
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1162076
and http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/39A/41/eddington_execsum11206.pdf
3. The allocations for the first tranche of PDG for 07/08
together with accompanying documentation can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1143674
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