Growth Bill sees town and village green reforms as well as planning overhaul

A clampdown on the “misuse” of town and village green applications as well as a range of reforms to the planning system were at the heart of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill unveiled by ministers last week.

The draft legislation covers many of the measures announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles in a ministerial statement issued on 6 September.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will hold a detailed consultation on the town and village green changes.

Defra said the reforms would see town and village green applications excluded for land which has planning permission (or a publicised planning application) or is identified for potential development in a local or neighbourhood plan (including draft plans).

“There are already well over 4,000 existing TVGs and they will retain full protection,” the Department said. “TVGs can continue to be registered where no development is either proposed or the subject of ongoing community consultation.”

The Bill will see the introduction of landowner statements “which represent a legal challenge of land ‘as of right’ without having to physically impede access”.

There will also be enhanced fee powers for applications to amend the registers under Part 1 of the Commons Act 2006.

The Department claimed that millions of pounds would be saved through the changes. “This includes savings to local authorities, developers and landowners through cuts to legal fees, public inquiry costs and costs resulting from devaluation of land and delays,” it said.

The town and village green measures are expected to come into force by summer 2013.

The Bill includes high-profile measures allowing applicants to opt for major applications to be decided by the Planning Inspectorate “where councils have a very poor record in deciding applications”.

Other reforms in the Bill include :

• allowing the reconsideration of affordable housing requirements in s. 106 agreements “where the agreements are economically unrealistic". Ministers insisted that this would unlock some of the 75,000 homes already with planning permission “that are currently stalled due to lack of commercial viability”;
• in relation to planning applications, ensuring that information requests from councils are “proportionate to the scale and nature of the development proposed and relate only to matters likely to be a material consideration in deciding the application”;
• changes to the award of costs regime to encourage “timely and positive decision making”. Planning inspectors are to have additional powers to initiate an award of costs between parties. “Powers will allow Planning Inspectors to recover all or part of the Secretary of State’s costs for all types of appeals as a further incentive to good behaviour throughout the planning process from all sides”;
• updating compulsory purchase law, “allowing inspectors to award costs when an inquiry is cancelled at short notice”;
• making it easier for local authorities to choose, “if they wish”, to dispose of surplus land held for planning purposes;
• allowing broadband street cabinets and other infrastructure to be installed rapidly “without requiring lengthy state approval across may local authority boundaries”;
• removing over-lapping development consent regimes, “where multiple permissions from different government agencies are required on top of planning permission”. This will implement recommendations from the 'Penfold' review;
• postponing business rate revaluation until 2017. “This decision will avoid local firms and local shops facing unexpected hikes in their business rate bills over the next five years”;
• changes to the infrastructure regime in the Planning Act 2008 as well as technical changes to the Special Parliamentary Procedure;
• reforms of the energy infrastructure system; and
• more local discretion for councils over when they review the planning conditions for mineral sites, “rather than following rigid, centrally-set targets”.

The Bill also contains provisions for the new optional 'employee-owner' status, where workers would give up certain employment rights in return for shares in the business.

Eric Pickles said: "These common sense reforms will support local jobs and local firms. They complement the changes we are already delivered through the Localism Act, from streamlined planning guidance and, shortly, from the local retention of business rates."

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said: “Town and village greens are cherished community spaces, and it’s absolutely right they continue to have the strongest protection.

“Yet the system can be abused to stop developments like affordable housing from being built. We’re stamping down on the abuse of this law that can effectively shut local communities out of deciding what development is right for them. This Government has a vital mission to support growth and spread aspiration, and these new plans will help that to happen.”

Philip Hoult