On 5 March 2009 the Government published a response to the Killian Pretty Review outlining plans to decrease the number of planning applications by up to 40%. Housing and Planning Minister Margaret Beckett announced the Government's proposals to review key elements of the planning process, with a view to boosting the economy in the current economic climate.
The Killian Pretty Review, which was published in November 2008, identified five main areas for improving the planning system:
Reducing the number of small scale developments that require full planning permission
Making the planning application process more efficient and effective for all involved
Improving the quality of information available to users of the planning application system
Improving local authority capacity and performance in the process streamlining the national planning policy framework
The Government's response includes plans to consult on a range of key issues with a report on progress this Summer that will address the findings of the Review.
The consultation will include proposals to extend permitted development rights to allow small scale developments by business and public services and simplify the planning process for selected small commercial developments.
Further consultation will be undertaken on streamlining the information requirements for applications, increasing flexibility for the notification on planning applications and addressing the approach to minor amendments. In addition, the Government have committed to producing action plans for a new approach to Development Management and national policy by the summer deadline that includes the potential to amalgamate PPG/PPSs and simplify those that are being drafted.
Government to amalgamate planning advice into 'prosperity' guidance
In their response to MP Matthew Taylor's 2008 Review of the ‘Rural Economy and Affordable Housing’, the Government has announced plans to consult on combining a number of planning policy documents related to economic development.
In an attempt to highlight the key role rural areas and communities can play in delivering economic prosperity, the Government has stated that it will consult on a new PPS aimed at facilitating sustainable economic development in urban and rural areas and town centres. The PPS will replace the following documents:
Planning Policy Guidance Note 4
Industrial, commercial development and small firms (PPG4, 1992)
Planning Policy Guidance Note 5
Simplified Planning Zones (PPG5, 1992)
Planning Policy Statement 6
Planning for town centres (PPS6, 2005)
Planning Policy Statement 7
Sustainable development in rural areas (PPS7, 2004) (as far as it relates to economic development)
Paragraph 53, 54 & Annex D of Planning Policy Guidance Note 13 Transport (PPG13, 2001)
Other plans set out in the Government's Response to the Taylor Review include:
- Allocating protected areas where shared ownership properties will be retained for future purchases;
- Recognition that live/work units and rural hubs have a key role to play in the rural economy;
- Outlining the importance of masterplanning by local authorities for planning the sustainable expansion of small or medium-sized settlements; and
- Creating a Working Groups to bring the industry together and explore possible ways to incentivise landowners to provide land for rural housing exception sites (i.e. sites on the edge of rural settlements where local planning authorities can allow small scale affordable housing as an exception subject to need.