New landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill – Matthew Evans discusses in the press
The Government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill, officially introduced to Parliament on 11 March, is a landmark moment for the future of planning in the UK.
Designed to help facilitate the new homes and key infrastructure targets for a ‘building boom’, and giving confidence to builders and investors, the industry is welcoming this significant reform.
The Bill includes changes such as:
- A new national scheme of delegation, to divide applications between officers and committees
- Allowing builders to combine resources into Nature restoration funds, to facilitate larger environmental projects
- Compulsory purchase reform for delivering public benefits
- Reform of Development corporation to aid large-scale works such as new towns
- Spatial development strategies, to identify sustainable areas to build
- Streamlining nationally significant infrastructure project consultation requirements
- Prioritising grid connections for approved clean energy projects, for them to achieve clean power by 2030.
Whilst concerns have been raised on fully resourcing these measures, Matthew Evans, Counsel in our Planning team, has spoken to i News, EG, Building and New Civil Engineer on how positive these changes are for Planning.
“It is encouraging to see that the Government is sticking to its timelines on bringing forward planning reform. For too long the planning system has functioned inefficiently to the real detriment of new homes delivery and economic growth.
“The government’s creative thinking about how to free up planning officer time to determine more applications by moving to a system where delegated decisions are made by default, is a move in the right direction and aligns with its emphasis on a plan led system. Other steps to speed up the decision-making process, including reducing the number and scope of statutory consultees are positive. These reforms should reduce uncertainty in the system and enable schemes to progress to delivery more quickly.
“Larger than local planning is much needed to remove the political heat at a local level and unlock land for employment and logistics, as well as new homes. Insular boundary led thinking has restricted the delivery of vital infrastructure and regional spatial strategies should remedy this. Resourcing, as always, is a significant challenge and local authorities will need hundreds of more planners to really turn up the dial on decision making.”
Read the full articles here in i News, EG, Building, New Civil Engineer, Green Street News, Property Week and Planning.
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