Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis has launched a ‘plain English’ guide to planning for free schools, with an accompanying guide to the planning system in general.
DCLG writes:
Communities looking to have their say over the future development of their local area will have all the information they need at their fingertips, thanks to a new guide to the planning system published today (5 January 2015).
Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis published a new plain English guide to how England’s planning system works, making clear the opportunities for people to get involved in the debate over what gets built in their neighbourhood.
Since 2010 the government has implemented wide-ranging radical reforms of the planning system, including abolishing the unpopular and ineffective Regional Strategies and give local people a greater say over future building in their area.
Today’s new guide offers a quick and easy explanation of how the new planning system works, how local and neighbourhood plans are written and adopted locally, and how to go about obtaining planning permission.
Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis said: ‘The previous system of top-down targets left residents powerless in the face of local development – our reforms have reversed this, and put people back in control.
People are already voting with their feet, with 1,200 communities involved in neighbourhood plans, and 80% of authorities have published a local plan – this plain English guide gives all the information anyone would need to get involved in the local decision-making process.
UK Gov guide and article
