Minister issues wording for presumption in favour of sustainable development
The government has published draft wording for the presumption in favour of sustainable development that is to be at the centre of a reformed planning system.
This says that:
- “There is a presumption in favour of sustainable development at the heart of the planning system, which should be central to the approach taken to both plan-making and decision-taking. Local planning authorities should plan positively for new development, and approve all individual proposals wherever possible.
- Local planning authorities should: prepare local plans on the basis that objectively assessed development needs should be met, and with sufficient flexibility to respond to rapid shifts in demand or other economic changes; approve development proposals that accord with statutory plans without delay; and grant permission where the plan is absent, silent, indeterminate or where relevant policies are out of date
- All of these policies should apply unless the adverse impacts of allowing development would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policy objectives in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) taken as a whole.”
Planning Minister Greg Clark said he was publishing the wording to give an early indication of the government’s intentions. It will be included in the NPPF, which should be issued for formal consultation in July.
Clark said the presumption would encourage development while keeping essential environmental protections in place, cutting down “reams of unwieldy planning policy”.
The minister claimed that the current planning regime was “one of the biggest barriers to providing the homes people want and the businesses local economies need”, and hindered developers by being slow, costly and uncertain.
Councils would be given a strong incentive to have an up-to-date local plan, since in their absence decisions would have to be made according to national policy.
Clark said: “By putting this presumption at the heart of our new framework we will give the planning system a wake-up call so the right sort of development, that everyone agrees is needed, gets approval without delay.
“This change to planning policy will speed up development, while placing a strong emphasis on the protection of the environment and local communities’ interests."
He said local plans would allow communities to have a stronger voice in determining what development occurred in neighbourhoods.
John Silvester, spokesman for the Planning Officers’ Society, predicted that the presumption would encourage local authorities to take a much more proactive approach to development than previously.
“They will need to ensure that they have local plans in place, that they are always up to date, and that they deal with all the key issues relevant to their area; and furthermore that they adopt a development management approach encouraging the right development in the right place at the right time,” he said.
The proposal was welcomed by the property development industry. Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation said the proposed presumption “sends a powerful message that allowing development to take place should be the default position where proposed development is in line with a local plan”.
Home Builders Federation executive chairman Stewart Baseley described it as “a promising start for what is a vital part of ensuring positive planning for housing requirements”.
Ministers are sensitive to charges that they are placing development ahead of environmentalism.
Clark said councils had been given stronger powers to prevent unwanted ‘garden grabbing’, while green belt, sites of special scientific interest and other environmental designations would be maintained, and a new one introduced to protect green areas of local importance.
Mark Smulian and Philip Hoult
