A Technical Consultation on Planning has been issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The consultation document presents a number of proposals for how Government wants to improve the planning system, to make it more responsive, more straight forward and less confusing.
Changes proposed include:
- Neighbourhood Planning – to make it easier for residents and businesses to come together to produce Neighbourhood Plans and Neighbourhood Development Orders – by limiting the time a Local Planning Authority has to respond to an application for a Neighbourhood Plan and changing requirements for consultation;
- Reducing red tape and regulations – to support housing, high streets and growth – by expanding permitted development rights to enable new homes to be created from light industrial, warehouse and office buildings and buildings in other uses; to allow more dwelling extensions without the need to apply for planning permission; to allow greater flexibility to change shops to finance and professional service premises and vice versa; to allow retail units to expand without planning permission; and to provide more flexibility for leisure uses in the high street etc;
- Improving the use of planning conditions – to enable development to start more quickly – by deeming the discharge of certain conditions where a LPA does not make a timely decision on applications to discharge; and for LPAs to justify the use of pre-commencement conditions;
- Planning Application processes – to improve speed and responsiveness – by changing thresholds whereby statutory consultees are notified; and a change to ensure that rail infrastructure managers are consulted where development is proposed close to operational railway land;
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Thresholds – to reduce the number of projects ‘caught’ by EIA – by raising the thresholds whereby EIA screening requests are required; and
- Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning Regime – to enable the system to work more effectively – by increasing the flexibility within Development Consent Orders.
Comments on the proposed changes must be made to the DCLG before 26 September 2014.
