LI life: Policy update By Theo Plowman
Back to School The summer has been a busy time for policy with no summer break in sight; there were several important consultations launching and concluding. The government’s planning white paper was introduced, DEFRA’s England Tree Strategy launched and the Environmental Land Management Consultation was revived and settled in the space of a month.
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arliament and schools returned on September 1st and whilst the attention of the chamber may be focused on the return of students, Brexit legislation quickly returns with the Fisheries Bill. Whilst you’d be forgiven for perhaps overlooking the Bill as seascape more than landscape, the debate and subsequent voting will give an indication as to how Boris Johnson’s government will wield his 80-seat majority and may give indications for future bills more pertinent to our sector. Following the conclusion of the most recent round of UK-EU trade negotiations, the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said it ‘seems unlikely’ that a deal will be agreed ahead of December 31. If the UK is to get a deal it will be a lengthy and time-consuming affair, with lots of legislation needing to pass through Parliament in a relatively short time period. Parliamentarians will also want to know how the Government plans to support those losing their jobs, and what will be done to try and create new jobs in order to prevent unemployment rising further. Planning White Paper August 6th 2020 has in some planning circles already been coined “Planning Reform Day” with the Government’s Planning for the Future white paper landing with a degree of ferocity, with claims it will deliver “radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the Second World War”. Whether it will be quite so “D-Day” is a question that
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the planning sector is still grappling with. The consultation period on the white paper ends on 29 October 2020. The aspiration in the document is that (subject to time extensions for recent plans) new local plans should be in place by the end of this Parliament, so by Spring 2024. Given that those local plans will take up to 30 months to be put in place under the new system proposed, the necessary primary legislation will need to have been passed and in force, with any necessary accompanying Regulations and guidance, by Autumn 2021. This article will briefly outline the proposed reforms, and some of the key sections for our sector to consider further as the consultation moves forward. Reform of Local Plans The NPPF is here to stay, and is now to be ‘representative of all general planning policies’ and will act as the standard by which local plans will adhere. Local plans will be simplified into three new development categories: – Growth areas: Suitable for substantial development – essentially a fast-track scheme for those areas ordained suitable. – Renewal: Areas suitable for development but with specific usage requirements e.g. residential, healthcare and education (reminiscent of U.S. zoning laws). – Protect: Stricter areas such as AONBs, Green Belts and ‘significant areas of green space.’ Could see usage of National Character Areas or other measures of landscape ‘beauty’.
Digitising Planning and Consultation A classic trope of tattered planning notices attached to lampposts has come to be a symbol of the outdated system. Perhaps hastened by lockdown and the subsequent rush to digitise planning activity, the government is seeking to shift development proposals and consultations to be digital by default. Resourcing design As noted in the recent Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission (BBBBC) there have been clear indications that many LPAs lack staff and skills to deliver better, beautiful design. The white paper accepts that there have been cuts and subsequent skills drains, but points towards a somewhat nebulous “culture change” in planning departments to make them more digitally-adept and forward looking. All these changes will, of course, need money, and whilst there is a promise of a resourcing and skills framework there isn’t a huge amount of detail around how to properly resource design. Design Codes and ‘Beauty’ Whilst we are eagerly awaiting the response to the BBBBC’s final report (due in the coming months) it is clear that government has read and pushed ahead with some of the report’s recommendations. One of the most appealing of the commissions ideas appears to be the “fast-track for beauty”, the idea being that beautiful well-designed developments will have lightning quick approval. Unfortunately, I have neither the space or the ink
