The government’s flagship Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been introduced into Parliament today.
It promises that the reforms will mean new homes and key infrastructure are developed faster in a ‘building boom’ with projects ‘freed from unnecessary bureaucracy’.
The Bill forms part of the government’s pledge to deliver 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament.
Key measures include:
– Introduction of a national scheme of delegation that will set out which types of applications should be determined by officers and which should go to planning committees.
– Councils will be able to set their own planning fees to allow them to cover their costs.
– A nature restoration fund for builders to meet environmental obligations faster and at a greater scale by pooling contributions to fund larger environmental interventions.
– Changes to speed up Compulsory Purchase Orders for important developments.
– Development Corporations will be strengthened to make it easier to deliver large-scale developments, such as new towns.
– A system of ‘strategic planning’ will be introduced in England with spatial development strategies across multiple local planning authorities.
– Consultation requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will be streamlined and the national policies against which infrastructure applications are assessed.
– An overhaul of the process by which government decisions on major infrastructure projects can be challenged. Meritless cases will only have one – rather than three – attempts at legal challenge.
– Approved clean energy projects that help achieve clean power by 2030 are prioritised for grid connections. A ‘first ready, first connected’ system will be introduced.
We will analyse the fine print of the Bill to gain the full detail of the policies but broadly these measures are to be welcomed.
Clearly much will depend on amendments and the passage of the Bill through Parliament – and then how it is funded and implemented once it becomes law.
We will keep you updated about the Bill but please don’t hesitate to get in touch in the meantime to find out more.
