Planning Green Paper
Conservative Planning Policy Green Paper
The Conservatives have published its long-awaited Planning Green Paper. We have summarised the main points of it below. Over the coming weeks, we will be talking to a number of people in the industry to gauge the reaction and likely impact upon the planning system if these proposals were enacted. If you would like be kept up-to-date with this research, please email the team.
Summary
Under the title of Open Source Planning, the Conservatives in their latest Green Paper have proposed a radical rethink of the planning system, based on measures to ensure local democratic accountability in the planning process. This would mean the scrapping of unelected bodies, such as regional development agencies, and of regional and national house building targets.
A key principle of Open Source Planning is that planning would be a collaborative process, with emphasis placed on the local community being meaningfully engaged in a development proposal right from inception. This principle of collaboration also extends to local planning authorities and other public bodies, which would have a duty to co-operate with each other and others involved in shaping the local environment.
There are also policy proposals to actively encourage development through community incentives. In the case of local councils and communities accepting development, the government would match the additional money any development generates through council tax for six years as well as allow them to keep any increase in business rates for six years. In the case of new affordable housing, local authorities would have a boosted version of this scheme, with each unit attracting from government 125% of annual council tax revenue over six years.
In the case of community incentives to accept wind farms, it is proposed that they would keep the business rates generated for six years. The Green Paper also states that the Conservatives are exploring community ownership of wind turbines and how discounted electricity could be made available for communities within the vicinity of wind turbines.
Instead of the current system of developers compensating local communities under planning obligation requirements delivered via section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a single unified local tariff would be applicable for all proposed residential and non-residential schemes, graded according to size.
A presumption in favour of sustainable development has been proposed. This means that developers would have the right to build as long as they conform to national environmental, architectural, economic and social standards, the local plan, and pay a tariff compensating the local community for amenity loss, and for infrastructure costs.
Faster planning approvals would be granted to schemes which had no objections from a significant majority of immediate neighbours. This is expected to encourage developers to collaborate with local communities over their planning proposals. What constitutes a “significant majority” is not defined.
There are also a number of other policy measures to reduce planning system complexity. It would be possible to amend the Use Classes Order so that land and buildings could be used for any purpose allowed within the local plan. The number of appeals made against local planning decisions would be limited. Additionally, planning inspectors’ powers to rewrite local plans, as long as they comply with national standards, would be abolished.
In the case of national infrastructure projects, major developments such as power stations would be considered through planning enquiries with binding timetables, with the final decision taken by a minister. Large scale projects extending over many miles or vast areas, such as high speed rail links, would be implemented via private or hybrid Bills, with Parliament deciding their outcome.
The Conservatives have also pledged to reintroduce the ‘needs test’ for out of town retail development, where a developer would have to prove the need for additional out of town shopping.
To view a PDF of the Green Paper, please click here.
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
Open Source Planning confirms the Conservative commitment to provide local authorities that allow new homes to be built with the same amount of money again as they would receive from additional council tax.
If the authority opts for affordable housing, the Conservatives will reward them with 125% of the value of the additional council tax they receive.
When permission is given for new businesses, similar incentives will apply, with central government offering the same amount of money again as they will receive from additional business rates.
All of the above will apply for six years.
The green paper also makes the new commitment to allow councils to allow neighbourhoods to retain some of the money contributed to councils by developers when planning permission is given.
At a 24th February event on planning policy attended by Chelgate, the Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps MP was asked if this would be sufficient incentive for councils to allow developments that would otherwise have been refused. Shapps stressed that the policy will have dramatic effect merely in the sense of changing incentives so that there are positive reasons for development, with local authorities for the first time seeing clear gains. As the green paper laments, currently ‚our planning system is almost wholly negative and adversarial‛. It goes on to state that ‚We believe this incentive will prove strong enough to produce the scale of house building the country needs‛ [emphasis added] but then indicates that this incentive may be increased if it proves insufficient: ‚we will keep the level of this council tax incentive under review in order to ensure that it does deliver‛.
A LOCAL PLAN AND A PRESUMPTION IN FAVOUR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
A key goal of the green paper is ‚establishing a presumption in favour of sustainable development: the presumption will be that individuals and businesses have the right to build homes and other local buildings provided that they conform to national environmental, architectural, economic and social standards, conform with the local plan, and pay a tariff that compensates the community for loss of amenity and costs of additional infrastructure‛.
The notion of a Local Plan that this paragraph touches on is central: different parts of the country will be allowed to draft their own specifications when it comes to what kinds of development they want in their local area. While this plan ‚must
conform with national environmental, architectural, economic and social standards and constraints, but within this national framework‛ it will, the paper promises, be ‚truly local‛. The paper continues:
“We believe that the planning priorities and policies – the vision for the development of a community, produced by local democratically-elected representatives following a process of collaborative democracy – should not be overridden by central government inspectors. We will therefore remove the planning inspectors’ powers to change local plans.
“Instead of having the power to ride roughshod over local sentiment by effectively rewriting these plans (as at present), the Inspectorate will be asked to report to the Secretary of State on any direct breaches of national planning guidance and process, to ensure that the plan has been produced within the statutory framework and to ensure that the plans are genuinely spatial, i.e. they take neighbouring plans into account so that, for example, developments which straddle local government boundaries are consistent between plans. All other issues will be left for local determination.”
THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING COMMISSION
The Conservatives propose to abolish the new IPC, ‚retaining its expertise and fast-track process within government‛ but leaving the final decision to the Secretary of State. By such means, Tories hope to retain the advantages of such a body but ensure the decision-making process remains democratic. ‚We will abolish the entire bureaucratic and undemocratic tier of regional planning, including the Regional Spatial Strategies, the Regional Planning Bodies, and national and regional building targets.‛
APPEALS
The grounds for making appeals will be limited: ‚[D]ecisions on specific planning approvals taken by a democratically accountable local authority should be regarded as sound unless it can be proven otherwise.‛ These grounds are:
1. that correct procedure was not followed in assessing the application; or
2. that the decision reached is in contravention of the local plan.
But local residents will be given the right to appeal against local planning decisions for the first time – a right previously allowed only to developers.
WIND FARMS
As above, the Conservatives will allow local communities to keep the business rates generated by wind farms for six years. The green paper also states that the party is examining ‚how community ownership of wind turbines can be introduced, as on the continent, and how discounted electricity can be available to communities in the vicinity of wind farms.‛
MOBILE TELEPHONE MASTS
Open Source planning states that ‚all types of mobile phone masts in England (including Network Rail, TETRA and small/pico masts) must be subject to the same, full planning process as other forms of development, so giving local communities a greater say on where they are located.‛
The green paper goes on to advocate incentives for operators to share masts and to support new technologies ‚such as WiMAX and wireless broadband‛ that may reduce the number of masts required.
TRAVELLERS
The Conservatives recognise the strength of concern about traveller sites as they begin the section on travellers: ‚Conservatives believe in social responsibility … The vast majority of travellers accept this, but a very small minority do not‛.
But councils will be encouraged to provide for some authorised traveller sites - with stronger powers to tackle illegal sites given to those councils that do:
“Where, therefore, councils have made appropriate provision for authorised sites in their area, which reflect local need and historic demand, we will provide them with stronger enforcement powers to tackle unauthorised development and illegal trespass. In addition, we will introduce a new criminal offence of intentional trespass.”
At the same time, it is important that settled council taxpayers do not foot the bill for the construction of new authorised sites. We will also therefore reform the system of traveller site funding to councils so that councils are properly compensated for new sites and require travellers to make a contribution to the appropriate cost of services on authorised sites.
RETAIL DEVELOPMENTS
The green paper advocates the return of the ‘needs test’ introduced by the Major government but scrapped by Labour. This test required developers to prove that additional out of town supermarkets and other retail developments were necessary:
“The needs test gives local authorities an important power to control out-of-town development and allows them to focus regeneration and development on their local high streets… We will ensure that a needs test is readopted, and will enable local councils to take competition issues into account when formulating their local plans.”
MINERALS
The Conservatives would ‚look to repatriate the determination of the amounts of minerals required back to Minerals and Waste Planning Authorities, subject to national environmental standards to ensure that each authority makes its provision in a fair and sustainable way. Exception would be made for nationally strategic deposits of minerals, where responsibility for determining amounts would rest with the Secretary of State.‛
The green paper goes on to argue that as well as being a more democratic system than present arrangements, this makes economic sense. The current system of county quotas for minerals is, it argues, at odds with the ‘proximity principle’ that minerals ought to be used as close as possible to where they are worked.
Open source planning also states:
“Clearly, geography has to play a part in minerals policy; you can only extract where the mineral lies. Mineral deposits do not, of course, respect administrative boundaries. There will, therefore, no doubt be a need for Minerals and Waste Planning Authorities to work closely with each other where deposits are shared. Those areas which need to import minerals will be free to make their own arrangements with other authorities or to pursue options such as increasing the amounts of recycled aggregates they use.” “Our policies in brief”
Pages 2-3 of the green paper set out all of its proposals. In full:
Our policies in brief
Our new Open Source planning system will mean that:
1. for local housing, local infrastructure and the local environment:
a. we will eliminate large amounts of unnecessary bureaucracy by:
• abolishing the entire bureaucratic and undemocratic tier of regional planning, including the Regional Spatial Strategies and national and regional building targets;
• amending the Use Classes Order so that people can use land and buildings for any purpose allowed in the local plan;
• abolishing the power of planning inspectors to rewrite local plans – so long as they comply with national standards, are sensibly related to neighbouring communities, and have been developed by a fair and proper process, they will be approved; and
• limiting appeals against local planning decisions; (such decisions will be challengeable by developers or local residents only if they involve abuse of process or failure to apply the local plan);
b. we will create a new system of collaborative planning by:
• giving local people the power to engage in genuine local planning through collaborative democracy – designing a local plan from the “bottom up”, starting with the aspirations of neighbourhoods;
• encouraging upper-tier authorities (e.g. county councils and unitary authorities), which are responsible for infrastructure such as waste, roads etc., to compile infrastructure plans; and
• giving all local planning authorities and other public authorities a Duty to Co-operate so that there is a sensible conversation between all those involved in shaping neighbourhoods and the landscape.
c. we will create a system of approvals which is much more open and responsive by:
• establishing a presumption in favour of sustainable development: the presumption will be that individuals and businesses have the right to build homes and other local buildings provided that they conform to national environmental, architectural, economic and social standards, conform with the local plan, and pay a tariff that
compensates the community for loss of amenity and costs of additional infrastructure;
• ensuring that significant local projects have to be designed through a collaborative process that has involved the neighbourhood; and
• giving immediate neighbours a new role – with a faster approvals process for planning applications to which a significant majority of the immediate residential neighbours raise no objection. This will give developers a strong incentive either to design buildings in ways that do not adversely affect immediate neighbours (perhaps by involving immediate neighbours in designing these new buildings), or to reach voluntary agreements that recompense immediate neighbours for any loss of amenity.
2. for infrastructure of national significance:
a. we will abolish the unelected Infrastructure Planning Commission whilst retaining its expertise and fast-track process within government;
b. we are likely to use private or hybrid Bills to promote very major linear projects like high-speed rail – ensuring a proper Parliamentary process;
c. we will ensure that all other major infrastructure projects like power stations:
• are considered at planning inquiries which have binding timetables, and which are governed by the national planning framework (see below), so that they focus on planning issues and are not held up by discussions of wider policy such as the desirability or otherwise of types of power generation; but
• are given final planning permission by a democratically accountable Minister, informed by the conclusions of the inquiry, with the decision subject to a specific time limit; and
d. we will provide transitional arrangements for projects already before the Commision to ensure that these projects are not disrupted or delayed.
3. at national level, for all forms of development:
a. we will publish and present to Parliament for debate a simple and consolidated national planning framework, which will set out national economic and environmental priorities, and how the planning system will deliver them;
b. as part of this we will issue a reduced number of simplified guidance notes, setting out minimum environmental, architectural, design, economic and social standards for sustainable development; and
c. we will maintain national Green Belt protection, Areas of Outstanding Nature Beauty, National Parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and other environmental designations which protect the character of our country’s landscape, stop unsustainable urban sprawl and preserve wildlife.
