While its positive authorities are looking to prioritise new developments, planning experts said the system needs upgrading before anything progresses.
Yesterday, Wednesday 29th January, chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled government plans about how to restore England’s economy. The overarching theme largely focused on delivering new developments and infrastructure projects.
Now that industry-experts have had time to sleep on the new plans, which can be read about here, it’s fair to say they have quite a lot to say about them.
James Cogan, Director of Boyer
‘In an effort to ‘kickstart economic growth’ the chancellor has announced that the government will go ‘further and faster’ in supporting key infrastructure projects across the UK. Although many of these projects are to be financed via private sector funding, the Chancellor announced that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (expected in Spring) will pave the way for faster planning decisions and reduced risk of lengthy and costly legal challenges.
The Government’s support for infrastructure investment and delivery should be supported, with many of the schemes that were announced today likely designed to unlock housing delivery and support economic growth. These include the government hopes that improved rail and road connectivity between Oxford and Cambridge will create ‘Europe’s Silicon Valley’ and support the delivery of new towns along the route, such as at Tempsford where East-West Rail will connect with the East Coast Mainline.
‘While the Government has thrown its weight behind the delivery of key infrastructure projects across the country and intends to use new powers to be introduced in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to speed up the delivery of new infrastructure, the risks remains that the delivery of the new homes, offices and factories that the Government hopes will pop up alongside the new infrastructure will continue to be held up by local opposition and overstretched local planning authorities.
‘We must therefore hope that the government’s recent reforms to the planning system, and those further reforms to be brought forward through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, not only focus on speeding up the delivery of showpiece infrastructure projects, but also speeds up the delivery of those new homes, offices and factories that the government expects the infrastructure will serve.’
Antony Duthie, Regional Director of Lanpro
‘The Government’s prevailing commitment to planning reform and growth is welcomed.
‘However, will streamlining rules be enough within the context of wider economic policies – interest rates, the availability of finance, the impact of inflation on building materials all undermining market confidence deliver the Government’s aspirations to accelerate development? All are inherently interlinked. They cannot be viewed in isolation if the government is to make headway in delivering the 1.5m new homes and major infrastructure projects within this parliament.
‘The encouraging news is the initiatives to ease blockages in the planning system and identify more land for development – for example, prioritising housing around transport hubs and proposals for zoning.
‘The proposals for zoning introduce more potential to expedite housing delivery than the changes outlined in the recently published NPPF – because zoning can mitigate the potential delay brought about by changes to local government structures and the need for Local Plans to be updated to accommodate increased targets.
‘One has to be mindful of course of the latent discord between the positive messages from Westminster and MPs’ work in their constituencies. Local residents will invariably be reluctant to accept change their ‘back yard’ if they haven’t felt part of the process.’
Colin Brown, Head of Planning & Development at Carter Jonas
‘We welcome the proposed streamlining of the planning system to ensure that plans are prepared more promptly, and we also support the notion of development situated close to commuter transport hubs.
‘There are numerous interventions needed to try and achieve anywhere near the level of housing and economic growth aspired to by the Government, but the narrative remains positive. We do however need a clear vision about how this development will be planned at a sub-regional scale and the need for strategic planning remains strong.
‘There is also the continuing ‘elephant in the room’ in relation to resourcing which impacts local authorities in particular, and one cannot just flick a switch to assure delivery. There will instead be a need to use multiple levers to speed the process up so that delivery on the ground can be secured.’
Alison Ogley, Planning Law Partner
‘The continued commitment from the Chancellor in support of major infrastructure projects is to be welcomed. It will be imperative now to ensure that DEFRA and Steve Read are able to swiftly progress with the proposed amendments to the environmental impact assessment which have been awaited for some time, dating back to the previous Government.
‘The Chancellor clearly understands the pressing and critical demand for investment in the UK’s infrastructure and, should the Governments proposals for reform to the national infrastructure planning system be quickly progressed, this will support the realisation of these ambitions.
‘It is useful that the Government appears to understand that development and environmental protections are capable of being mutually consistent. However, much more work is required to ensure that the planning system is geared towards achieving these objectives rather than the present position where increased litigation based on environmental issues is used to delay and frustrate development often inadvertently holding back schemes which could in fact deliver environmental improvements.’
Penny Simpson, Environmental Law partner
‘Rachel Reeves’ “further and faster” commitment to legislative changes to support development and economic growth is welcomed. Freeths law firm is involved in a number of high-profile cases, including National Significant Infrastructure, where there is a desperate need to unlock significant consenting and delivery problems.
‘This can and should happen hand in hand with maintaining environment standards. The Government’s announcement today of a strategic system by which offshore windfarm developers can provide environmental compensation measures is an example of a creative solution which should be investigated for potential application on a wider basis.
‘In making changes the Government should embrace, utilise and protect the incredible work of many natural capital entrepreneurs who already provide ready-made solutions for developers whilst also serving to protect the environment and restore nature – these people are ahead of the game, having already contributed to faster development and nature recovery through the UK’s existing and thriving natural capital economy.’
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