The January ‘Message from [the] Chief Planner’ of England, Joanna Averley, headlines the Government’s National Planning Policy consultation open till 2 March 2023.
… suite of proposals, for implementation in Spring and some later in 2023…
The Chief Planner writes:
….This is a wide-ranging consultation on proposals both for immediate implementation and then for a fuller update of the NPPF later in 2023. The proposed immediate changes are highlighted in the tracked changes NPPF document which is published alongside the Prospectus. It provides wording that is indicative of what would be implemented immediately, subject to the results of this consultation.
The suite of proposals, for implementation in Spring and some later in 2023:
- Make clear how housing figures should be derived and applied so that communities can respond to local circumstances, including policies relating to the application of local housing need, how local constraints and character could be taken into account – section 4;
- Address the application of the five-year housing land supply and its impact on local plans currently being prepared – section 3;
- Boost the status of Neighbourhood Plans – section 4;
- Address issues in the operation of the housing delivery and land supply tests
- which relate to local authority performance – section 4;
- Increase the accountability of developers and data regarding their
- performance – section 5;
- Encourage local planning authorities to support the role of community-led groups in delivering affordable housing on exception sites and set clearer expectations around planning for older peoples’ housing – section 5;
- Promote more beautiful homes, including through gentle densification – section 6;
- Safeguard existing biodiversity on sites proposed for biodiversity net gain (BNG) – section 7;
- Make sure that food security considerations are factored into planning decisions that affect high quality farmland – section 7;
- Seeks views on how planning policy could address climate adaptation, alongside ongoing work on flood risk assessments and exploring a form of carbon assessment for development – section 7;
- Enable new methods for demonstrating local support for onshore wind development, and reflect British Energy Security Strategy commitments to support repowering of onshore wind and energy efficiency measures – section 8;
- An outline of the programme of transition from the current method of local plan preparation to the new approach following the enactment of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill – section 9;
- Outline the proposed approach to preparing National Development Management Policies – section 10;
- How policy might develop to support Levelling Up – section 11;
- Outlines the focus of the fuller update of the NPPF later in 2023 to reflect the LURB after it becomes an Act – section 12.
The consultation will be open until 2 March 2023 and you are encouraged to respond before that date – you can do so here. The Government will respond to this consultation in Spring 2023, publishing an updated NPPF as part of this, so that policy changes can take effect as soon as possible.
See the proposed immediate changes highlighted in the tracked changes NPPF document, published alongside the Prospectus.
