Practioners Draft National Planning Policy Framework Published
June 2011
The Plan for Growth, published by HM Treasury in March 2011, included a commitment from the Government to significantly simplify and reduce the amount of national advice on planning matters emanating from
This commitment followed on from an earlier announcement in December 2010 from Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark MP that he would be seeking to consolidate the wide range of policy statements, circulars and guidance documents into a National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The December announcement indicated that the NPPF would be: -
- localist in its approach, handing power back to local communities to decide what is right for them;
- used as a mechanism for delivering Government objectives only where it is relevant, proportionate and effective to do so; and
- user-friendly and accessible, providing clear policies on making robust local and neighbourhood plans and development management decisions
Mr Clark has sought advice from a select group of Government advisors and a draft NPPF prepared by the latter has now been published and is to be the subject of consultation. The Advisory Group’s recommendations include: -
1. That the presumption in favour of sustainable development should be seen as the "golden thread" running through both plan making and decision taking via planning applications;
2. That the notion that economic growth leads to environmental degradation should be "firmly laid to rest";
3. That each local authority should produce one plan for its area – the local plan. Beyond this, additional development plan documents, or supplementary planning documents, should be necessary only exceptionally;
4. In the absence of an up-to-date and consistent plan, applications will be determined in accord with the NPPF, including its presumption in favour of sustainable development;
5. Applications that "may substantially conflict" with the NPPF can be called in by the Secretary of State;
6. Local planning authorities should prefer applications for retail and leisure uses to be located in town centres where practical, then in edge of centre location, and only if suitable sites are not available should out of centre sites be considered;
7. The retention of existing policy tests for green belt;
8. The retention of existing policy tests for the protection of the historic environment; and
9. New policies to promote green spaces and wildlife corridors in order to halt the loss of habitats and restore biodiversity.
It should be noted that this document is not adopted Government Policy but has been prepared and commended to the Government for adoption. The practitioners who have prepared it hope it will “add to the debate” but the Government will publish its own draft this summer and subject it to consultation. It remains to be seen whether at 55 pages the draft NPPF is seen as too verbose – Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles MP has been suggesting 10 pages should be enough to do the job!
As to reaction to the draft, this has inevitably been mixed. Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) president Richard Summers has criticised the advisory group’s suggested draft of the NPPF, raising concerns over how the proposed presumption in favour of sustainable development is expressed in the document. The Town and Country Planning Association, meanwhile, claim that the document waters down the definition of sustainable development. But property industry lobby group the British Property Federation has welcomed the suggested draft’s contents, BPF Chief Executive Liz Peace said: “We particularly welcome the pro-growth message in the recommendations. Councils have for too long taken planning decisions with little knowledge of the viability issues that surround development and with little regard to the economic impact that development will have on their area.”