Consultation on National Planning Policy Framework - TrustNews Dec 11
It must be many years since there has been so much public debate and interest about planning policy as has taken place in the media over the last few months. It started to climb up the news agenda with the Government’s emphasis on localism and their declared wish for decisions and powers to be devolved to local authorities and local communities. This is now embodied in the Localism Act which was enacted in November and includes sections on planning, abolishing all regional planning policies and paving the way for the introduction of simplified national planning policies, which are contained in the draft NPPF. The various parts of the Act will come into effect on different dates.
The National Trust’s high profile criticism of the NPPF and effective lobbying of Government ministers including the Prime Minister ensured there was plenty of publicity and they were joined by many other bodies concerned with the protection and improvement of places, both towns and countryside. Civic Voice, the recently formed national body for civic societies of which this Trust is a founder member, submitted an impressive commentary on the shortcomings of the NPPF and has been active in lobbying ministers and MPs on the subject.
The one feature of the NPPF for which there is general approval is the inclusion in one document of all the national planning policies, replacing hundreds of pages of policies contained in many different documents. But in reducing all these to one document of just over 50 pages, many feel that too many gaps, uncertainties and ambiguities are created which will lead to disputes and development taking place in the wrong place and the loss of valued countryside.
The repeated emphasis throughout the NPPF on the importance of economic growth and development reveals a conflict between localism and the Government’s overriding objective of stimulating economic growth. In the 2011 Budget Statement the Government said, without any objective evidence in support, that the planning system was an obstacle to economic growth; this mistaken view has influenced the NPPF. Many of the responses to the consultation have refuted the Government’s view that planning is a significant impediment to development, so we can hope there may be changes to this aspect of the document.
The Trust, encouraged by Civic Voice, prepared its own submission on the NPPF, expressing concern about the shortcomings which are particularly relevant to Winchester including its distinctive landscape setting. We sent a copy to our MP, Steve Brine, and were pleased to see that he both acknowledged the Trust’s contribution and included some of the points we raised, in a speech he made in the recent debate in Parliament on the subject of the NPPF.
The Government is now considering all the responses and is expected to publish the final NPPF in the spring of 2012.
The Trust’s comments can be found on our website, www.cityofwinchestertrust.co.uk