By Richard Johnstone
24 May 2011
The call comes as the government consults on the National Planning Policy Framework to replace current planning guidance.
A submission from the NPPF Practitioners Advisory Group, backed by the LGA, proposes reducing the 2,500 of pages of planning law for local authorities to a 54-page ‘statement of planning principles’.
The group calls for local authorities to be ‘proactive in driving and supporting the development that this country needs’. Councils should make ‘every effort to identify and meet the housing, business, and other development needs of their areas, and respond positively to wider opportunities for growth’.
The paper states that local authorities should ‘set out a clear strategy for allocating sufficient land which is suitable for development in their area, taking account of the needs of the residential and business community’.
It also says there is a need for planning applications to ‘front load’ the necessary consultation early in the process, and local authorities should strongly encourage the pre-application involvement of interested parties, including the community and local businesses. Such early involvement has ‘significant potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning system for all parties’, the group said.
Clyde Loakes, vice chair of the LGA’s environment board, said that the submission ‘lays down the gauntlet to government’ to cut the planning guidance, particularly for housing.
‘With the dire shortage of homes available for people unable to get on the housing ladder, it is vital that we get Britain building again. This has to be done in a way which balances different local priorities, interests and needs, and benefits residents, local businesses and people in need of housing,’ he said.
‘Councils want a streamlined and informed planning system which ensures communities get the quantity, type and quality of housing they need, and ensures new developments are well-planned and sustainable for the future.’
The LGA umbrella body, the Local Government Group, has also announced it will help local authorities deal with the planning reforms in the Localism Bill.
They include giving local communities the power to grant planning permission for new homes and businesses under neighborhood plans, which local authorities will be required to support.
Through its Planning Advisory Service, the LG Group has said it will help share innovative and successful examples of involving residents in the planning process.
24 May 2011
Councils should be freed from many of the confines of planning legislation to allow local people to shape their future, the Local Government Association has said.
The LGA claims that the proposed reform of the planning system, including the move towards localism, is a chance to free local authorities from ‘thousands of pages’ of rules.The call comes as the government consults on the National Planning Policy Framework to replace current planning guidance.
A submission from the NPPF Practitioners Advisory Group, backed by the LGA, proposes reducing the 2,500 of pages of planning law for local authorities to a 54-page ‘statement of planning principles’.
The group calls for local authorities to be ‘proactive in driving and supporting the development that this country needs’. Councils should make ‘every effort to identify and meet the housing, business, and other development needs of their areas, and respond positively to wider opportunities for growth’.
The paper states that local authorities should ‘set out a clear strategy for allocating sufficient land which is suitable for development in their area, taking account of the needs of the residential and business community’.
It also says there is a need for planning applications to ‘front load’ the necessary consultation early in the process, and local authorities should strongly encourage the pre-application involvement of interested parties, including the community and local businesses. Such early involvement has ‘significant potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning system for all parties’, the group said.
Clyde Loakes, vice chair of the LGA’s environment board, said that the submission ‘lays down the gauntlet to government’ to cut the planning guidance, particularly for housing.
‘With the dire shortage of homes available for people unable to get on the housing ladder, it is vital that we get Britain building again. This has to be done in a way which balances different local priorities, interests and needs, and benefits residents, local businesses and people in need of housing,’ he said.
‘Councils want a streamlined and informed planning system which ensures communities get the quantity, type and quality of housing they need, and ensures new developments are well-planned and sustainable for the future.’
The LGA umbrella body, the Local Government Group, has also announced it will help local authorities deal with the planning reforms in the Localism Bill.
They include giving local communities the power to grant planning permission for new homes and businesses under neighborhood plans, which local authorities will be required to support.
Through its Planning Advisory Service, the LG Group has said it will help share innovative and successful examples of involving residents in the planning process.
