Planning and housing minister Brandon Lewis has insisted that measures in the housing and planning bill which change the planning regime for travellers and gypsies did not remove the duty on local authorities to assess their housing needs and make provision for sites.
His clarification came during the committee stage of the legislation in the Commons this week. It followed comments from Labour back-bencher Grahame M Morris MP who had quoted Catriona Riddell, the strategic planning convenor for the Planning Officers Society. She had intimated that the new regime risked misinterpretation and could provide local authorities which were reluctant to plan for travellers “an excuse not to do it”.
Lewis said he supported the duty on local authorities to make provision for travellers and gypsies. “I want to reinforce and make clear the fact that this clause does not remove the requirement to assess the specific accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers.
“Local housing authorities will still need to consider their protected characteristics and cultural links to caravan dwelling. Local housing authorities will continue to decide how best to undertake their duties to assess the needs of all their residents and those who resort in their area. This will be in accordance with the legal obligations in the Equality Act 2010 and, as was rightly outlined, human rights considerations.”
He added: “We wish to assist local authorities in meeting their duties and will therefore be happy to consider incorporating any necessary elements of the current ‘Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessments Guidance’ in wider planning guidance, to which local authorities must have regard.”
View the parliamentary transcript
Roger Milne
Planners must ensure they refer to the correct legislation when considering applications affecting heritage sites, the Local Government Ombudsman has stressed.
The watchdog has highlighted this requirement following a complaint about Northampton Borough Council whose planning officers recommended councillors grant planning permission for a café extension in a conservation area, within a short distance of a Grade 1 listed building.
The planning officer involved in determining the application consulted with the council’s conservation officer, who said any works to the café would impact upon the setting of the listed building and upon the character and appearance of the conservation area.
But the planning officer omitted the conservation officer’s recommendation in his report to members and recommended approval of the application. The Ombudsman noted that the officer also failed to base his recommendation on the most relevant legislation, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 which imposes a duty to pay special attention on both preserving the building or its setting, and also preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of a conservation area.
During the Ombudsman investigation it became apparent the council had not consulted with Historic England (then English Heritage). The watchdog also uncovered correspondence from Historic England which showed this was not the first occasion the council had not consulted properly with them on planning applications affecting historic assets.
The Ombudsman upheld the complaint after ruling that the council’s failure to have regard to a material planning consideration (that of the setting of the listed building and conservation area) was fault. It also found the council’s failure to consult with Historic England was fault, and there was fault in the way the council validated the application contrary to its own planning policy.
To remedy the complaint the LGO recommended that the council apologises to the complainant, introduces conservation training for all its planning officers and undertakes an immediate review of its procedures for dealing with planning applications which affect heritage assets.
The council has accepted the watchdog’s report and apologised to the complainant. In a statement it said it had begun to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations. “On this occasion the service we provide clearly fell short of what people have a right to expect and we apologise.”
Roger Milne
The Government should not back the building of a third runway at Heathrow until a number of key environmental conditions can be met, MPs have urged.
That’s the view of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee which this week published a report insisting that if the administration opts for expansion at Heathrow it must be able to reconcile this with meeting legal air pollution limits.
The all-party group of MPs also said that ministers would have to be in a position to commit to covering the costs of surface transport improvements, introducing a night flight ban and be able to show that an expanded Heathrow would be less noisy than a two-runway Heathrow.
A decision is due later this month on the independent Airport Commission’s recommendation for a bigger Heathrow.
Committee, Huw Irranca-Davies MP said: “To defer dealing with the environmental impact of a third runway would be irresponsible and could lead to legal challenges as a result of the potential damage to public health from increased air pollution and noise.
“If the Government decides to accept the Commission’s recommendation for a third runway in principle, we will seek assurances from the Secretary of State for Transport that environmental conditions will be met before it is given final approval.”
Roger Milne
Islington Council in north London has welcomed confirmation from the Government that the value of land should reflect planning requirements.
It comes amid growing concern that developers and landowners are manipulating the development viability process to build fewer affordable homes.
Islington and other London councils have found that developers sometimes disregard planning policies about building affordable homes when bidding for land. They later claim they cannot afford to build affordable homes because they have paid so much for the land.
However, in a recent letter to Islington Council the Government Legal Department said it is the Secretary of State’s “unambiguous policy position” that “land or site value… should reflect policy requirements”.
Councillor James Murray, the council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “Londoners desperately need more affordable housing, and we need to make sure developers are making a fair contribution.
“However we, and many other types of council across London, are concerned that developers are using the viability process to argue they can’t afford to provide much or any affordable housing because they paid too much for land.
“We are therefore pleased to have a clear confirmation from the Government’s legal department that the value of land should reflect policy requirements, which of course includes affordable housing.”
Roger Milne
Clark intervenes over Lancashire shale gas appeals
Communities Secretary Greg Clark has recovered four related appeals by energy company Cuadrilla over proposals to drill for shale gas and carry out seismic monitoring in Lancashire originally refused by the county council. The proposals involve sites near Little Plumpton and Roseacre and Wharle, all near Preston.
In his recovery letter Clark said he would determine the appeals because the projects were “proposals for exploring and developing shale gas which amount to proposals for development of major importance having more than local significance and proposals which raise important or novel issues of development control, and/or legal difficulties”.
In a statement the local authority voiced concern at Clark’s move. “The county council went to great lengths to thoroughly consider these applications and councillors made their decisions based on a huge amount of evidence both for and against each application.
“When the appeals were lodged it already meant that the decisions would be taken out of the hands of elected representatives here in Lancashire.
“The difference now is that, rather than being determined by an impartial planning inspector, they will be determined by a minister in a Government which has already made its views on shale gas very clear.”
Green belt issues see off solar farms and an anaerobic digester
Proposals for two major solar power projects in southern England have received short shrift from Communities Secretary Greg Clark following recovered appeals. In both cases the inspectors had recommended the schemes earmarked for green belt locations should be blocked.
The largest scheme involved a 32.5-hectare solar park at Mynthurst Farm at Leigh in Surrey. Mole Valley District Council has refused permission.
Clark concluded that the scheme represented inappropriate development in the green belt and would pose significant harm to the landscape and visual amenity of the area.
The other scheme was for a 22-3-hectare solar park proposed for land to the south of the village of Five Oak Green near Tonbridge, Kent which had been refused by Tunbridge Wells District Council.
Once again the SoS agreed the scheme would be inappropriate development in the green belt, would harm the landscape and visual amenity of the area and, in this particular case, result in the loss of 8.5-hectares of versatile farmland.
In a separate but related development Clark has also refused plans for an aerobic digestion plant at Ramsbottom in Greater Manchester refused by Bury Metropolitan Borough Council.
Once again the site was in green belt and had been recommended for refusal by the inspector who held the recovered appeal. Clark acknowledged there were some environmental benefits including green energy, but agreed that green belt and potential odour problems outweighed them.
View the decision letter for Fletcher Bank Quarry, Ramsbottom
View the decision letter for Mynthurst Farm, Mynthurst, Leigh, Surrey
NLP report gives thumbs up for Infrastructure planning regime
The planning regime introduced for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) has achieved its intended objectives, according to a report from planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP).
Over two thirds of the 45 NSIPs that have had development consent order (DCO) applications determined have navigated the process within 39 months, with projects taking on average 37 months (or just over three years), from the initial submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Request through to the receipt of a decision.
The statutory timescales that guide the process once a DCO application has been submitted are being met, providing a greater sense of certainty and confidence that a decision will be made within the defined periods.
However the NLP analysis highlights wide variations in the pre-application stage where overall timescales are undefined.
The research shows that the time incurred at this stage can range from anywhere between seven months to four and half years in the most extreme cases.
New home registrations static
New home registrations over the last three months remain at a similar level to the same period a year ago, according to the latest NHBC figures.
In total, 37,582 new homes (30,046 private sector; 7,536 public sector) were registered between August and October compared to 37,707 (29,784 private sector; 7,923 public sector) in 2014.
In total 36,219 new homes were registered in the third quarter compared to 36,955 a year ago. The private sector is static at minus one per cent (28,527; 28,906 in 2014), with the public sector down by four per cent (7,692; 8,049 in 2014).
In October 16,434 new homes (12,965 private sector; 3,469 public sector) were registered, an increase of 17 per cent on the same month last year (13,997 – 11,188 private sector; 2,809 public sector).
One reason for the substantial volumes seen during October is that builders registered new homes in time to take advantage of the lower rate of Insurance Premium Tax which increased by three and a half per cent on 1 November.
Cannock retail project approved
Cannock Chase Council District Council has approved a designer outlet village in Cannock proposed by development partners U+I (formerly Development Securities) and Rioja Developments.
The Mill Green proposal consists of 130 designer outlet retail units, restaurants, a play area and a visitor centre and at 23,758 square metres would be the biggest development of its kind in the West Midlands region.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will now decide whether to intervene and call-in the £110m project.
View more information on the proposal
York BID
Traders have voted in favour of turning the centre of York into a Business Improvement District (BID). Almost 900 firms will contribute to an annual budget of more than £800,000 for projects to improve the city centre over the next five years. Firms will pay an extra levy of one per cent on top of business rates to fund the initiatives.
Go-ahead for Slough town centre revamp
Plans to revamp the centre of Slough and build new flats have been approved after years of debate. The scheme involves partial demolition, extension and refurbishment of both The Queensmere and The Observatory shopping centres in Slough’s High Street along with the construction of five new residential towers providing 675 flats.
Four of the residential blocks will be located on top of the shopping centres while the fifth will be a stand-alone tower.
View the application information – Application number P/06684/015
New energy and transport Infrastructure proposals
Plans to connect the A75 in Scotland directly to Cumbria across the Solway estuary have been unveiled, part of a wider scheme to build bridges down the west coast of Britain on top of a series of tidal barrages.
The proposals would see a crossing built from the Stewartry to Workington, carrying road traffic from the A75 directly to Cumbria.
The barrage is part of a wider scheme from Manchester-based development company North West Energy Squared which would see five similar structures built along the west coast of Britain.
Meanwhile a study into the feasibility of constructing a major road and rail tunnel through the Peak District to improve transport links between Sheffield and Manchester has concluded that the project was feasible, would cut journey-times significantly but would be the most ambitious highways scheme since the construction of the first UK motorways fifty years ago.
The report, prepared by consultants working for Highways England, noted that the engineering and delivery of the proposed tunnel would represent “a national first”. The road tunnel section(s) would be the longest in Europe. Further work on the scheme is being undertaken for the Department for Transport and Transport for the North.
View more information about North West Energy Squared
View more information about the Trans-Pennine tunnel
Belfast concern over regeneration powers decision
Belfast City Council has called for an urgent meeting with Northern Ireland’s social development minister Mervyn Storey following his announcement of indefinite delay over the transfer of regeneration powers to local authorities in the Province.
It is the second time there has been a delay the original transfer was delayed from 1 April 2015 to 1 April 2016 and the council is concerned that this time it is indefinite, with no clarity whether the powers will ever be handed over to local authorities.
Brighton bike move
A bike hire scheme for Brighton & Hove is set to go ahead following full funding approval from the Coast to Capital (C2C) Local Transport Body.
The news came two days after the city council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee voted to support the scheme which will be similar to the so-called ‘Boris Bikes’ in London.
The south coast service will provide some 430 bikes which will be available from a minimum of 50 docking points across the city.
London round-up
- Developers of all major sites in Southwark must deliver 35 per cent affordable housing or publish a viability assessment setting out why they cannot achieve this, the south London council has announced in a draft supplementary planning document.
- Meanwhile the council has agreed terms with British Land for a £2bn regeneration project in Canada Water. The regeneration project covers 18-hectares and the site is made up of the former Harmsworth Quays print works, Surrey Quays shopping centre and Mast Leisure centre. The agreement includes terms that enable the delivery of thousands of new homes and a new town centre.
- Mayor Boris Johnson has appointed volume house builder Berkeley Homes to construct 3,500 new dwellings on a 10-hectare former east London industrial site in Newham.
- Chelsea FC has submitted a planning application to rebuild Stamford Bridge into a 60,000-seat stadium. The Barclays Premier League champions have consulted over the redevelopment of their west London home, which currently has a capacity of 41,600.
- The French Government has failed in a judicial review challenge to the validity of two certificates of lawfulness issued by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea for works to the basement of a property next door to its embassy in London.
New Building Regs proposed
The Department for Communities and Local Government has begun consulting on a proposed new Part R of the Building Regulations which will ensure all new buildings and major renovations have the ducts and distribution channels to enable connection to super-fast broadband.
Revised Bristol Arena proposals submitted
Revised proposals for the £92m Bristol Arena have been submitted to the city council. The 12,000-capacity multi-use venue is earmarked to be constructed on the old diesel depot behind Bristol Temple Meads railway station.
Faringdon town green proposal backed
Humpty Hill, a popular open space in Faringdon, Oxforshire has been designated a town green by the county council following a campaign by residents who objected to plans by developer Gladman to build around 100 new homes there.
View the news story on BBC.co.uk
Green light for ‘Fawlty Towers’ hotel conversion
The hotel that inspired the cult TV series Fawlty Towers is to be knocked down and replaced with retirement flats.
View the news story on BBC.co.uk
York street wins top accolade
Bishopthorpe Road in York has beaten hundreds of high streets across the country to be crowned Britain’s best. It was judged the Winner of Winners in the Great British High Street Awards 2015 surpassing over 200 other contenders.
Roger Milne
The Planning Portal team is at the ArchitEx 2015 conference today and tomorrow, a free-to-attend two-day exhibition and networking reception for the UK architecture and building design industry.
Joining me on the stand (number E4) are our head of corporate development Stuart Mockford and account manager John Danahay.
We’re also joined by Tom Robinson from our parent company TerraQuest.
Come along to the stand and find out more about our plans for 2016 including an integrated planning and building control application service and a brand new website.
If you’re at the event please drop by and say ‘hello’.
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review unveiled this week (25 November) committed the Government to a new target for affordable housing starts (400,000 units by 2021) and further reforms to the planning system which included a proposal to allow previously developed brownfield sites in the green belt to be developed in the same way as other brownfield land.
The administration also announced 18 new Enterprise Zones and extended eight zones, promised to spend £2bn to protect 300,000 homes from flooding and £1m to help bankroll activities surrounding Hull‘s status as UK City of Culture in 2017.
Other planning reforms signaled will involve establishing a new delivery test on local authorities to ensure “delivery against the number of homes set out in local plans”.
The Statement also promised measures to accelerate the release of public land for housing and ensure the release of unused and previously undeveloped commercial, retail, and industrial land for ‘Starter Homes’.
Planning policy will also be amended to support small sites. Small and medium-sized builder activity will be helped by the extension of the £1bn Builders’ Finance Fund to 2020-21, and by the halving of the length of the planning guarantee for minor developments.
A sum of £2.3bn is being made available in loans to help regenerate large council estates and invest in infrastructure needed for major housing developments. The Government has committed to £310m to deliver the first new garden city in nearly 100 years, at Ebbsfleet in Kent.
The statement said the Government will consult on reforms to the New Homes Bonus, including means of sharpening the incentive to reward communities for additional homes and reducing the length of payments from six years to four years.
The Review and Statement provides £475m over the next five years to fund large local transport projects, enabling local areas to bid for funding for projects that would be too expensive for them to pay for by themselves, such as the Lowestoft Third River Crossing and the North Devon Link Road.
In addition the Government has promised £300m over the next five years for a new Transport Development Fund. This could include providing development funding for projects such as Crossrail 2 and proposals emerging from the Northern Transport Strategy.
View the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 key announcements
Roger Milne
Ministers have announced an independent review of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). This will “assess the extent to which CIL does or can provide an effective mechanism for funding infrastructure, as well as recommend changes that would improve its operation in support of the Government’s wider housing and growth objectives”.
The Department for Communities and Local Government said the exercise, to be led by Liz Peace, former chief executive of the British Property Federation, would assess whether CIL is meeting its objectives of providing a faster, fairer, more certain and transparent means of funding infrastructure via developer contributions.
The review will look at the relationship between CIL and s106 agreements and consider how reliefs and exemptions operate and whether the neighbourhood element of CIL is helping to increase community support for development. Also under scrutiny will be the impact of CIL on development viability.
Communities Secretary Greg Clark said: “This independent review will examine how we can improve the CIL to ensure it best benefits local communities whilst delivering the houses the country needs.”
The review group includes representatives from developers, the Planning Advisory Service, a planning consultancy and local authorities. The review team is due to prepare a report plus recommendations by the end of March 2016.
Roger Milne
New research from Knight Frank and planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore has identified local authority areas where economic and planning data, combined with regional knowledge, suggest good fundamentals for residential development in the short to medium term.
Factors taken into account include forecast economic and employment growth, as well as future housing supply and demand. Sales to stock ratios, social environment, infrastructure and affordability were also measured.
Local planning knowledge was then added, examining which planning authorities had a five-year land supply and where a local plan was in place, as well as looking at policy support for housing and economic growth.
This, along with input from Knight Frank land agents, resulted in a list of areas where the fundamentals suggested development opportunities.
Key findings highlighted that:
- Manchester and Leeds are expected to be among the councils which will experience the strongest rates of household growth over the next ten years
- In the Midlands, Warwick scores highly on “liveability”, and also has strong employment growth forecasts, while robust household growth is projected in Leicester
- Brentwood is one of the hotspots with the strongest forecasts for future employment increases, as well as showing one of the largest imbalances between pipeline supply and household growth over the next five years
- South Cambridgeshire also has a particularly strong forecast for employment growth and has been rated highest in an independent survey of rural locations across the UK
- Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset local authorities have a local plan and a five-year housing supply, and the determination to step up development
- Guildford and Reigate & Banstead in Surrey are well positioned to take advantage of the housing need generated by the capital.
Iain Painting, Senior Planning Partner, Barton Wilmore, said: “Our shortlist of development opportunities is aligned with an increased emphasis on urbanisation, focusing on many of England’s key cities both in and well beyond the South East.
“Opportunities exist where local authorities are struggling to source a five-year land supply through the local plan system, such as York, but also where councils have a positive appetite for growth, supported by policy, such as Leeds and Bath.”
Roger Milne
MPs on the influential Commons Public Accounts Committee have raised serious concerns about rail investment in the UK in a report just published. This highlighted severe planning and budgeting failures in Network Rail’s current five-year investment programme.
In particular it points to “staggering and unacceptable” cost increases in the project to electrify the Great Western Main Line from London to Cardiff, which is now expected to cost up to £1.2bn more than the £1.6bn estimated a year ago.
The all-party committee said there was still “far too much uncertainty” on costs and eventual delivery dates for the electrification of both the Trans Pennine route and the Midland Main Line and warned more projects could be delayed in order to balance Network Rail’s budget.
In the light of its findings, the committee has called for a fundamental review of the rail regulator’s role and effectiveness in planning rail infrastructure.
It has also urged the Government to publish a revised and re-costed programme of electrification improvements, including the rationale for prioritising different schemes, following a review by Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy.
Committee chair Meg Hillier MP insisted: “Network Rail has lost its grip on managing large infrastructure projects.”
Roger Milne
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