Planning Reform

The Government is pursuing a wide range of planning reforms which they argue will give local communities more say in local decision making. These include the Localism Act and the proposed National Planning Policy Framework.

The Localism Act is a wide ranging act but it includes a number of important provisions, such as setting up Neighbourhood Plans. You can read our full national briefing here.

Although the new elements of the Localism Act have been the subject of much debate it is important to stress that the Local Plan would remain central to all planning decisions and across the region we are working to influence the many emerging local plans which will determine housing levels, sites for industrial and retail development, the location of waste and minerals activity, as well as key transport schemes.

The Act also includes provision to abolish Regional Spatial Strategies. However, this has been delayed due to the requirement for a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the impacts of abolition. You can read our response to the SEA for the West Midlands here.  We are not opposed to the removal of RSSs which became dominated by the imposition of high housing allocations but we are concerned that the system that replaces them does not lose some of the RSS policies we supported, such as the prioritisation of urban regeneration.

The new National Planning Policy Framework has been published. It was the subject of a lengthy consultation to which CPRE has responded at all levels. It has slimmed down the current planning guidance notes and we are still concerned that it will not adequately protect the countryside. It is perhaps the most important of all the reforms because it underpins all planning and the development of local plans.

You can find more information about how you can become involved in planning at a local level at link.

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