Planning Reform Bill
With the Government still not content with the way the country’s planning system is operating, it yesterday published its latest plans in the shape of the Planning Bill. The Government’s earlier commitment to increasing public participation appears to be at the core of these new plans with community consultation becoming not just a key element but a legal one. The Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears is hoping that this latest package of measures will speed up the system, increase transparency and ensure easier involvement for the public.
With previous major infrastructure projects being plagued by huge and costly delays, the Government is hoping that the measures set out in this Bill will avoid such problems, with the proposals aiming to achieve quicker decisions on such projects. Community consultation is also a crucial part of these plans with the Bill enhancing the public’s role not only in setting out national infrastructure plans but also improving its involvement in the actual decisions.
With local authorities seemingly only getting to grips with the LDF process, the local town and country planning system also fails to escape further Government tinkering with the Bill also aiming to simply the process.
Overall, the key plans for major infrastructure under the Bill include:
- Ministers to set national priorities for infrastructure. However, this will only happen following both public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny
- Developers to consult local communities on all projects as they are being prepared
- The public to have improved access to Planning Inquiries – an individual’s right to be heard will be protected
- An Independent Commission to take decisions on major projects
In terms of the local planning system, the Bill seeks to improve the process alongside addressing one of the Government’s key issues, climate change, through;
- Councils being able to set new charges for contributions to community infrastructure
- Permitting households to install items such as solar panels and wind turbines without planning permission
- Councils to take action on climate change when preparing local plans
- Improved flexibility for local planners in the creation of local plans
With the previous changes to the planning system still being felt, it will be interesting to see whether these latest measures will achieve the Government’s wishes.
You can view the Bill by following the link below: