黑洞社区

Housebuilding industry figures have welcomed the government鈥檚 decision to press ahead with a root and branch shake-up of the planning system as part of the forthcoming planning bill announced in today鈥檚 Queen鈥檚 Speech.

The bill, which is now expected to be brought before Parliament in the autumn, is being designed to enact planning reforms trailed in last summer鈥檚 , in which prime minister Boris Johnson said he wanted to 鈥渓evel the foundations鈥� of planning and create an entirely new system.

The controversial plans include proposals to scrap Section 106 agreements, push widespread design coding, and force councils to zone swathes of land for 鈥済rowth鈥�, 鈥減rotection鈥� or 鈥渞enewal鈥�. Land zoned for growth will benefit from automatic outline planning permission, with councils unable to turn down applications that accord with local rules.

The Queen confirmed the government鈥檚 determination to push ahead with the full package of reforms, despite a backlash from environmental groups and planners, and reservations expressed by some in the development industry, particularly over the plans to introduce a new Infrastructure Levy to replace the Section 106 system.

Yesterday  ministers believe the rise of home ownership was crucial in turning Labour 鈥渞ed wall鈥� seats blue, and that a further deregulation of planning is the best way to enable more people to buy their own homes.

The paper said the government was considering going even further than originally proposed by scrapping the 鈥渞enewal鈥� categorisation, making all land either zoned for 鈥済rowth鈥� or 鈥減rotection鈥�. That detail is still be to confirmed.

Andrew Whitaker, planning director at the Home Builders鈥� Federation, said the body had been long been lobbying for a system which prevented councillors from debating the principle of development on allocated sites. 鈥淲e will strongly support the concept behind the growth areas. We鈥檝e been saying councillors shouldn鈥檛 be discussing the principle of development on allocated sites for years.鈥�

However, Whitaker said he wasn鈥檛 expected a large amount of detail to emerge today, with the industry likely to have to wait longer to know what will be proposed on key issues such as infrastructure contributions.

The government has said , giving officials a mammoth job to review and assess responses before working up the detail.

Russell Pedley, director and co-founder at housing architect Assael, said the white paper proposals were a welcomed step to generate much-needed economic growth.

He said: 鈥淭he planning bill鈥檚 new spatial zoning and design codes are the most progressive [reforms] seen in years, which will help ensure the design and development of new-builds, are high-quality whilst also safeguarding the country鈥檚 protected areas.鈥�

Free market think tank the Institute for Economic Affairs urged the government to push ahead and not 鈥渃apitulate to nimby interests鈥�.

Its head of political economy Dr Kristian Niemietz said: 鈥淲e need a more rules-based system, where developers that play by the rules automatically get planning permission, without having to haggle with every troublemaker and every obstructionist over every plot.鈥�

However, countryside campaign group the CPRE said the government needed to think again on proposals to rid councils of their ability to determine individual applications in growth areas. Crispin Truman, chief executive of CPRE, the countryside charity, said: 鈥淭he government鈥檚 proposed changes to planning would effectively halve democratic input in planning under the guise of simplifying the system. By removing the right of local people to scrutinise individual developments, communities would be robbed of their right to shape the places in which they live.鈥�

Last December the government which determines local housing need in the face of a backbench Tory backlash. Plans were amended so that rather than spreading housing growth into rural areas, cities were asked to incorporate all the additional housing.

The draft building safety bill, which has been undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny since being published in July last year, was also included in today鈥檚 Queen鈥檚 Speech.

Other areas included were a renewed focus on vocational training for adults and confirmation of plans to build eight freeports across the country which the government has previously said will 鈥渂enefit from generous tax reliefs, simplified customs procedures and wider government support鈥�.