Blog: 9 September 2022 - Shoosmiths, Corporate Partner

Where are we with planning reform?

In his foreword to the Planning White Paper the former Prime Minister characterised its proposals as “……not simply painting over the damp patches, but levelling the foundations and building, from the ground up, a whole new planning system for England.”

Clearly a lot has happened since August 2020 which has meant that the prospects of the next administration starting from scratch with the planning system appear remote. However, based on what has been said in the leadership hustings it is difficult to be clear just what the direction of travel might be. Messages have been decidedly mixed. For example, in contrast to the approach she advocated in her 2019 Tory leadership bid when she suggested building a million homes on the green belt near railway stations, and around cities, Liz Truss has suggested a way forward based on a more ‘brownfield first’ approach. She has championed the designation of opportunity zones with relaxed planning requirements and tax incentives to encourage developers to build on brownfield land in those areas.

Proposals for opportunity zones also reflect an enthusiasm for deregulation in planning. In this context Liz Truss has suggested that nutrient neutrality (which means that planning permission for housing in certain areas can only be granted if it will result in no nutrient pollution impact on protected watercourses), is an example of “Brussels red tape” and an unjustified brake on housing delivery. This appears to signal a change in approach to recent proposals to tackle nutrient neutrality to be set out in amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) These would make it a legal duty for water companies to reduce the outflow of phosphorus and nitrogen into 27 affected watercourses by 2030. Pending this, interim measures will be relied on to achieve nutrient neutrality including the continuation of the mitigation schemes currently being operated at local authority level together with a nutrient credits scheme established by Natural England.

Based on other pronouncements, it appears that discretionary decision making at local level will still have a part to play in a Truss administration. She has indicated that she would move away from “top-down, Whitehall-inspired Stalinist housing targets," to policies based on local consent.  

Until his departure from government, Michael Gove was the driving force behind the levelling up proposals articulated in the February 2022 White Paper and which are reflected in LURB. Whether the newly appointed housing secretary, Simon Clarke, will share the same enthusiasm for levelling up in general, or the approach set out in LURB in particular, remains to be seen.

So, it looks like local planning authorities will continue to operate amid considerable uncertainty whilst the new administration settles in, formulates its approach to planning and contemplates any necessary adjustments to LURB and national planning policy.

Bob Pritchard

Legal Director at Shoosmiths