Planning policy framework

In July the Department for Communities and Local Government published a draft of its National Planning Policy Framework, following the announcement last year by Planning Minister, Greg Clark, that Government would consolidate planning policy and guidance into a new single framework. The draft document is now out for consultation, which closes in October.

The new framework attempts to embed sustainability within planning policy, with three main drivers - economic prosperity, social housing provision and environmental protection. Planning for a sustainable future will include the prudent use of natural resources and mitigation and adaptation to climate change, including moves towards a low-carbon economy.

Much of the draft document reiterates existing environmental policy, such as maintenance of the green belt. But its real purpose is to accommodate the idea of neighbourhood planning, as set out in the new Localism Bill, which also includes the right of local communities to protect their own special green spaces from development.

The guidance also states that planning permission should be refused for development that results in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats. A sustainability appraisal will need to form part of the plan preparation, but there is no guidance on how this would be achieved.

Leading bodies such as the National Trust, CPRE, the RTPI and the Town and Country Planning Association have already expressed their opinions, raising concerns that much of the document is vague and places economic growth ahead of protection or enhancement of the environment. The Ecology Consultancy agrees - the environment should not come at the end of a long list of other considerations.

The DCLG has said that “There is a strict test that all new growth must be sustainable”, but the only strict test we could find applied to the management of flood risk.

www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/1951811.pdf

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