In late September the Government published a working paper seeking views on proposed policy reform to strengthen the likelihood of obtaining consent for development on urban brownfield land. The paper follows hot on the heels on proposed updates to the National Planning Policy Framework to bolster the 'brownfield' first approach and provide a new 'greybelt' definition for brownfield sites within the Green Belt which should be released for development.
Proposals
This working paper sets out ways in which national and/or local policy might be amended to further strengthen the position for brownfield development and to provide criteria as to the scale and form of a development which would presumed to be acceptable. This would expedite their approval and effectively create a "brownfield passport". The stated aim is to remove some of the associated risk, cost and uncertainty faced by developers of brownfield sites.
In summary, the proposals are as follows:
Principle of development
- Use national policy to enhance the existing position in the NPPF by specifying that brownfield land development is acceptable unless certain specified exclusions apply.
Scale of development
- Amend national policy to set minimum expectations for appropriate scales of development in certain types of location, e.g. through setting acceptable density ranges.
- Alternatively, amend national policy to encourage parameters for scale of development to be set through local development plans.
Form of development
- Use local or national design guides and codes to identify and clarify types of development that should be regarded as acceptable in particular locations.
Area-wide permissions
- Encourage local planning authorities to make use of Local Development Orders to establish zones in which particular types of development have planning permission without the need for an application.
- The working paper is not a formal consultation but invites responses to determine whether to take the proposals forward. At present, there is no formal deadline for responses and confirmation of next steps is still awaited.
Commentary
This brownfield passport working paper is a clear indication of the government's plans to reform the planning system and "Get Britain building again" in order to drive economic growth and investment. However, it remains to be seen whether the proposed changes will be enough to deliver on the government's manifesto pledges. In fact, early indications are looking less than positive; the thinktank Centre for Cities released a report on 3 December predicting that the government's planning reform strategy will not be sufficient to meet its housebuilding targets and more needs to be done to speed up the planning.
In the meantime, the outcome of the NPPF consultation and the response to the brownfield passport policy paper is keenly awaited.