Any Given Sunday – No Rest For Planning Reform

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Sunday 15 December saw the latest updates on the government’s planning system reforms which will feed into the Planning and Infrastructure Bill – designed to deliver housing and infrastructure.

Changes to environmental rules will support the Labour Party’s commitment to build 1.5 million homes and advance 150 major infrastructure project decisions, while also helping halt and reverse the decline of species and natural habitats, it is claimed.

A new Nature Restoration Fund is expected to enable developers to meet their environmental obligations more quickly and with greater impact – accelerating the building of homes and improving the environment.

Currently developers may need to secure mitigation for environmental harm before being granted planning permission. This adds cost, delays and can entirely block the planning process.

Under these reforms, developers will instead be able to pay into the fund allowing building to proceed immediately. A delivery body, such as Natural England, will then take responsibility for securing positive environmental outcomes, for example, delivering a reduction in nutrient pollution affecting the water environment or securing habitats to increase the population of a protected species.

 

Plan for Change

Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner says: “Getting Britain building means stripping away unnecessary barriers to growth to deliver the homes that we so desperately need.

“For years, vital housing and infrastructure projects have been tied up in red tape leaving communities without the homes, infrastructure and jobs they need.

“Our Plan for Change will put an end to the status quo while restoring nature.  It’s win-win for development and our environment, including targeted reforms allowing us to use the economic benefits of growth to fund tangible and targeted action for nature’s recovery.”

Environment Secretary Steve Reed says: “We were elected on a mandate to get Britain building again and protect nature. But the status quo is blocking the building of homes and failing to protect the environment. These reforms will allow tens of thousands of homes to be built while protecting the natural environment we all depend on.”

 

Three steps

The proposals set out three steps the government will take to help developers get building while delivering their environmental obligations. This approach will mean developers don’t have to pay for individual site level assessments for the matters covered by the Nature Restoration Fund and will no longer have to deliver mitigation. A single payment will enable development to proceed. A delivery body will then take the actions needed to drive nature recovery at a strategic, not site-by-site, scale. 

Government will lead a single strategic assessment and delivery plan for an area – not an individual site – which will allow decisions to be made at an appropriate geographic scale. The current process is uncertain and costly, with assessments on issues such as nutrient neutrality requiring bespoke calculations and significant technical expertise at the level of each individual project. This also misses the opportunity to support the best outcomes for nature. A public delivery body will consider which actions are needed to address the environmental impact of development across an appropriate area and determine how much developers will pay into the Nature Restoration Fund. The delivery body will secure the actions funded by developers, removing the need for actions to be taken on a case-by-case basis.

Contributions will be secured from developers to fully fund nature recovery actions. This would enable developers to meet certain environmental obligations through a single payment into the Nature Restoration Fund – which would streamline the process and maximise the impact of money spent on nature by directing it to real world action instead of paperwork and process.

 

Working paper

The proposals are set out in a working paper, which seeks views from stakeholders including communities, housing and clean power developers, nature service providers and local authorities. Feedback from the working paper will inform the next stage of policy development. 

Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, says:   “is evident that we need to take urgent action to address the worsening decline of nature and we must also lean into the challenges posed by housing shortages.

“We will continue to work with the government to help deliver their plans – but the two key issues of today, nature and economic recovery, should not be pitted against one another, as we step up efforts to avoid losing what protected remnants of nature remain while also restoring some of what has gone.”

 

Picture: Sunday 15 December saw the latest updates on the government’s planning system reforms.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
16th December 2024

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