Half of all urban councils impacted by proposed brownfield planning reform raise concern
Reading Borough Council has joined nine urban councils in questioning Government proposals on brownfield reform after raising concerns that the changes could override local planning policies.
The consultation, Strengthening planning policy for brownfield development, which was launched in February 2024, sought responses on the following three proposals:
- Changes to national planning policy to give significant weight to the benefits of delivering as many homes as possible and take a flexible approach in applying planning policies or guidance relating to the internal layout of development.
- Changes to the way the Housing Delivery Test operates in the 20 towns and cities subject to the uplift in the standard method. This would introduce an additional presumption trigger where their Housing Delivery Test score falls below 95%. In these circumstances the presumption in favour of sustainable development would apply to applications on previously developed land.
- Reviewing the threshold for referral of applications to the Mayor of London
Reading submitted its own response to the consultation and contributed to a joint response with nine other urban authorities.
In its individual response to the changes concerning the housing delivery test, the borough council said it was already delivering the homes required according to local evidence of housing needs.
It also warned that the town does not have the space to accommodate the Government's expected housing provision for Reading, which includes an arbitrary 35% increase in housing need.
In addition, Reading raised concerns that the proposals could impact the character of the town as local planning policies, on both the mix of homes needed and tall buildings, could be overridden.
Reading is one of the 20 urban authorities in England that would be subject to more stringent tests on housing delivery under the Government's new proposals.
Ten of the 20 councils affected by the policy raised concerns, according to Reading.
In their joint response, the 10 councils said that limited space in the major urban areas and particular complexities with development on urban sites - including past contamination, air quality and challenges in providing a high standard of living for new residents - mean the Government's proposals are unlikely to be effective.
Micky Leng, Lead Councillor for Planning at Reading Council, said: "Our track record on delivery of new homes against assessed local needs is very strong, and the vast majority of this is on brownfield land.
"However, these new planning policy proposals mean that Reading is one of a select few large urban areas that will now be expected to make up for failures in housing delivery across the rest of the country.
"The Government's new proposed policy changes would make this even more pronounced, by threatening to bypass our adopted local policies if we even fall fractionally below the expected number of new homes, and including if this is due to matters completely out of the Council's hands, such as the wider economic picture for example."
In its own response to the consultation published last month, the Local Government Association (LGA) questioned the wording of the proposals.
It also said the Government was "remiss" to conclude that the planning system is the barrier to developing brownfield sites, which it said was a sentiment "made clear through the proposals and statements in this consultation".
Adam Carey
