Five possible effects a snap General Election could have on the UK planning system
Now that the General Election is taking place on 8th June, here are five possible effects for planners to consider: Neighbourhood Planning Bill
The Bill has returned to the Lords for Consideration of Commons amendments to take place at the Lords on April 26th. With the snap election looming in June, is it likely that the Bill will make it through Consideration of amendments to Royal Asset before the election? Only time will tell.
Brownfield Land Register (BLR) and Planning in Principle (PIP)
On the 15 and 16 of April New Statutory Instruments were introduced to speed up housing building on brownfield sites. The third legislative step in the Planning in Principle Model (Technical Detail Consent) has yet to be implemented into law. Depending on who wins the snap election, this could determine whether the legislation for Technical Detail Consent will move forwards.
DCLG Changes
There could be a different ministerial team at DCLG, but nobody’s sure if Theresa May is likely to have another cabinet reshuffle. That said, Gavin Barwell only has a majority of 165 votes in his constituency, therefore there is a reasonable possibility of him losing his seat.
Delays to NPPF changes
The consultation on proposed changes to National Planning Policy concluded on February 22nd 2016. It was expected that changes to the NPPF could take
place soon. However, it is fairly probable that change could be delayed until after the election as Javid and Barwell will be busy campaigning. Appeal times
The advice for appeal times near Local Elections was recently amended. The guidance is that appeal decisions that are considered to raise particular sensitivities may not be issued until the election results have been announced. This is likely to be extended for the general election. With just under 2 months of campaigning, it will be interesting to see the stance that political parties will take on planning issues. Vail Williams will be keeping a close eye on the political events as they unfold and will provide an update on what this means for UK Town Planning.
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