After much delay, the Localism Bill was finally published on 13 December 2010.
The Bill, which aims to transfer more central government powers to local level, includes proposals to significantly reform planning law (see Part 5 of the Bill.)
This article looks at the Bill’s key proposals to shake-up planning law. Of course, the Bill is subject to parliamentary scrutiny, so these proposals may change.
The main proposals are:
1. Abolishing the Regional Strategies. There has been a lot of confusion and contention surrounding this issue. Click here and here for further details;
2. Amending the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Local authorities will have more control over the setting of the CIL. They will have to allocate a proportion of the CIL revenues they receive from developers back to the local neighbourhoods where the development(s) have taken place. This will allow those most directly affected by development to benefit from it. For a related story on the CIL, please click here;
3. Restricting the role of the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate will be unable to re-write local plans, which guide development in local areas. Instead, the Inspectorate will be allowed to assess plans at a public examination, and will have to rule them “sound” before they can be adopted. Amendments will only be suggested at the request of the local authority. Local authorities will be able to suggest changes during the public examination, and will be forced to publish up-to-date information, so that local people can see what planning documents they are preparing;
4. Introduction of “neighbourhood plans.” The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 will be amended to introduce neighbourhood planning rights (“neighbourhood development orders”) that allow local communities to permit certain types of development without the need for planning permission. The idea is that parish councils and “neighbourhood forums” can come together to decide where new shops, offices or homes should be built in their area and what green spaces should be protected. All such developments will be voted on by local people in local referendums (more than 50 per cent of the vote is required to approve a development);
5. Abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC). This will mean that government ministers will take decisions on nationally significant infrastructure projects, such as airports and wind farms;
6. Duty to co-operate. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 will be amended, so that local authorities and public bodies have to co-operate with each other in relation to the planning of sustainable development. This includes the preparation of development plan documents;
7. Pre-application consultation. Developers will be required to consult the local community before submitting a planning application for a large development – the Government has suggested that this could be, for example, a residential development of more than 200 units. Developers will have to take into account any opinions raised during this consultation before submitting their planning applications; and
8. Enforcement. Local authority planning enforcement powers will be improved. The Bill will tackle abuses such as making misleading planning applications, and running retrospective planning applications and enforcement appeals simultaneously. Other enforcement measures include increased financial penalties for planning-related offences, and the extension of time limits for taking action against people who conceal unauthorised development.
The Bill raises a huge number of issues (and questions) and will have significant implications for local authorities and developers.
Although the Government says that the Bill is not a “Nimbys’ charter”, developers will need to get local people to embrace development in their areas.
In light of the proposed new local referendums and pre-application consultations, developers will need to be able to influence local residents, persuading them of the merits of their schemes and proposals. Developers may also find themselves having to collaborate with third parties on the design of a development.
It will be interesting to see how the definition of “neighbourhood” in the Bill develops, as it could constitute a small or large number of people, meaning that a vote on a potential development may be decided by only a few local people.
The Second reading of the Bill is scheduled to take place in the House of Commons on 13 January 2011. We will update you with any significant developments during the Bill’s parliamentary progress.