DCLG unveils further measures to streamline planning application process

The Planning Minister has this week launched a consultation on technical measures designed to improve the planning application process.

The proposals include:

• reinstating an applicant’s ability to challenge councils about the information necessary for an application to be valid;
• removing the need for councils to list their reasons for granting planning permission;
• removing the requirement to provide design and access statements with most minor applications.

The Department for Communities and Local Government claimed the measures would “cut out unnecessary paperwork, bureaucracy and duplication”.

However, it stressed that the proposed changes would not alter government policy on good design, adding that decisions were still expected to reflect the importance placed on good design.

Planning Minister Nick Boles said: “We are determined to cut away unnecessary burdens and paperwork and provide a simpler, swifter planning system for all.

“The small changes we are proposing are another step in streamlining an application process that for too long has been weighed down by the need to provide irrelevant information and detail.”

The proposals arose out of an earlier consultation on streamlining information requirements for planning applications, conducted in July 2012.

The latest consultation paper can be viewed here. 

The consultation closes on 4 March 2013.