English planning shake-up will protect countryside, says minister
Critics can get behind new planning rules, says Eric Pickles
(about 3 hours later)
The government says that new planning guidelines for England will protect the countryside, boost jobs and "help build the homes the next generation needs".
Business and conservationists should be able to "unite behind" revised planning rules for England, say ministers.
Planning Minister Greg Clark told MPs the old, complex system "sorely needed" reform, as it had "ground ever slower".
But he said changes had been made to the draft plans and promised to boost town centres - rather than out-of-town shopping - and create "garden cities".
They say a "presumption in favour of sustainable development" should be a key theme in planning decisions.
Friends of the Earth has warned of "a building free-for-all".
Conservation groups welcomed some of the changes but said they would wait to see how they worked in practice.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told the BBC ministers had listened to concerns and had "strengthened" proposals "around the basic principles of sustainable development" - making a good case for the economy, the environment and social policy.
The draft version of the new guidelines reduced the existing 1,300-page document to 52 pages, and the final booklet is just 50 pages long.
'Golden thread'
Among the amendments, it promises to:
He added: "I think this is something that, whether you are in business or whether you are in a green group, you should be able to get behind."
Help councils which "wish to bring into being a new generation of garden cities"
Allow communities to specify where renewable energy sources such as wind farms should, and should not, be located
Allow councils to provide the parking in town centres to "help them compete with out-of-town shopping centres and supermarkets"
Draft proposals, published last year, were opposed by groups including the National Trust, Campaign to Protect Rural England and Friends of the Earth, amid criticism that they amounted to a "developers' charter".
In a statement to MPs, Mr Clark said that under old "top-down" targets, communities had begun to see planning as something that was "done to them, rather than by them".
The new framework includes specific references to encouraging development on brownfield sites - a phrase that had been missing from the draft version - to "offer reassurance".
Meanwhile, he said, the average age of first-time homebuyers was "approaching 40" and rents were rising - meaning that families were spending more on housing than on their children.
It also offers "five guiding principles" of sustainable development, listed as: living within the planet's means; ensuring a strong, healthy and just society; achieving a sustainable economy; promoting good governance; and using sound science responsibly.
'Keystone'
The framework says the presumption towards sustainable development should be "seen as a golden thread running through both plan-making and decision-taking".
Mr Clark said he had accepted, in whole or in part, 30 of 35 recommendations made by the Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee - including a reference to local plans, drawn up by councils, remaining "the keystone of the planning edifice".
But the government said policies such as those protecting the Green Belt, sites of special scientific interest, national parks and other areas could not "be overridden by the presumption".
And he said a controversial reference to a "presumption in favour of sustainable development" made clear that that should work through, not against, local plans - and should take into account "social and environmental, as well as economic objectives".
'Sorely needed'
The final version made clear that existing policies such as those protecting the Green Belt, sites of special scientific interest, national parks and other areas "cannot be overridden by the presumption", and it would guarantee "robust protections for our natural and historic environment".
The framework also allowed councils to protect back gardens, while ensuring that "playing fields continued to benefit from the same protection that they do currently", planning minister Greg Clark said.
It also made "explicit" that councils' policies must encourage brownfield sites to be brought back into use - and allowed them to protect back gardens, while ensuring that "playing fields continued to benefit from the same protection that they do currently".
The government says planning reform is "sorely needed" as regulations have become too complex and are holding back economic growth. The new framework condenses 1,300 pages to fewer than 100.
He said the new framework "will help build the homes the next generation needs, it supports growth to allow employers to create the jobs our constituencies need, it protects what we hold dear, in our matchless countryside and in the fabric of our history".
The revised national planning policy framework will guide councils in both drawing up their "local plans", which set out their development policies. Planning inspectors must take it into account when judging applications.
Critics of last year's draft plans have argued that the "presumption in favour of sustainable development" amounted to a "developer's charter".
Councils without an existing local plan will start to use it immediately. Those which have a plan already will have a year to bring it into line with the framework.
The government has been criticised for being too vague about what amounts to "sustainable development" and for saying in the draft plans that the "default answer to development proposals" should be "yes" - unless it compromised "key sustainable development principles".
For Labour, shadow communities secretary Hilary Benn welcomed a "U-turn on playing fields and open spaces" but said there should be a national, not local, "brownfield-first" policy.
'Uncertainty and chaos'
'Uncertainty'
Labour's Hilary Benn said the government had made "a mess" of the process, which had done nothing to inspire confidence. Thousands of homes had planning permission but had not been built because of the failure of the government's economic policy, he told MPs.
He said the planning system should produce homes and jobs, as well as protecting green spaces, but the new plans "may end up doing neither".
He welcomed what he called a "U-turn on playing fields and open spaces" but said there should be a national, not local, "brownfield first" policy. He said a planning system should produce homes and jobs but should also protect green spaces, but the new plans "may end up doing neither".
"Far from giving us certainty, there is likely to be delay as developments are held up by appeals and by the courts having to rule on a new and untested approach," Mr Benn said, adding that this would lead to "uncertainty and chaos".
"Far from giving us certainty, there is likely to be delay as developments are held up by appeals and by the courts having to rule on a new and untested approach," Mr Benn said, adding that this would lead to "uncertainty and chaos".
Opponents of last year's draft plan included the National Trust, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and Friends of the Earth.
John Cridland, director-general of the CBI business group, said the government had "kept its nerve" in retaining the presumption in favour of sustainable development, which amounted "not growth at any cost but, equally, not a plan to oppose growth".
Ahead of Tuesday's publication, Friends of the Earth campaigns director Craig Bennett said: "A strong planning system is vital for building the clean economy promised by government, but there are mounting concerns that ministers will unleash a building free-for-all that will infuriate local communities and devastate our countryside."
Neil Sinden, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said that, "on the face of it, it looks as though the government has listened and responded to the huge public concern that was expressed". But he said the detail must be right to ensure that it could be used by local authorities to defend "the right kind of development in the right place at public inquiries".
He said the new regulations "must spell out what is meant by 'sustainable development' - to ensure the right buildings are built in the right place and in the best interests of local people and our environment".
National Trust director-general Dame Fiona Reynolds said changes to the framework would "improve the document and give it a better tone and balance", but added she would "watch to see how it works in practice".
The CPRE has also said it feared the planning changes would not deliver enough affordable homes - one of the key benefits supporters say they will provide.
But Simon Nunn, from the National Housing Federation, said the new regulations were a step in the right direction: "I don't think it's going to unleash a development free-for-all.
"There's a housing crisis in the country, we're only building half the homes that we need. Planning is part of the jigsaw and I think that a positive planning framework combined with the right investment framework will help us."
