Union4 Planning’s Post

Yesterday’s Kings Speech highlighted that ‘Ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing.’ The driver for this will be a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill ensuring that the planning system is an enabler of growth and enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built. The new Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to achieve this including by: - Speeding up and streamlining the planning process to build more homes of all tenures but does not expressly mention the return of mandatory house-building targets; - Improving local planning decision making by modernising planning committees; - Increasing local planning authorities’ capacity, to improve performance and decision making, providing a more predictable service to developers and investors through boosting capacity and speeding up decision-making; - Enabling relevant new and improved national policy statements which provide opportunity to be updated every five years; - Using development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled, unlocking a win-win outcome for the economy and for nature; and - Further reforming compulsory purchase compensation rules to ensure that compensation paid to landowners is fair but not excessive. It is important to highlight that the Kings Speech also included an English Devolution Bill which will establish a new framework for English devolution, moving power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best including enhanced powers over strategic planning.

The Kings Speech 2024 Light on detail as is customary, we await the NPPF amendment consultation later this month. But we have broad indications as to what will follow in the legislative programme, in the accompanying notes. The press release accompanying the speech says as follows: “Getting Britain to build more housing and infrastructure, including through planning reform, will also be central to the Government’s plans to strengthen economic growth. The Bill will speed up and streamline the planning process to build more homes of all tenures and accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects. By enabling democractic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built - the major brakes on the planning system will be addressed to support sustainable growth.” (Powerful word that, “how”.) It’s going to be a busy Parliamentary session with up to 40 Bills to be promoted - with eye-catching headlines including Great British Energy (to be HQ’d in Scotland) the state ownership of the railways and powering up the regions through an English Devolution Bill. From a constitutional perspective, a public commitment to reform the House of Lords and to introduce a duty of candour for those in public office. Background notes to the speech here, including the Planning and Infrastructure Bill: https://lnkd.in/edXb3dt6 #kingsspeech2024 #planningreform #NPPF

The Government came to power saying it was going to go all-out for economic growth and get Britain building again. Why then, when it was due for decision yesterday, has the Government now kicked the Lower Thames Crossing planning determination to mid-next year? Even more worryingly, the Ministerial Statement announcing it refers to the need to consider 'decisions made as part of the spending review'. If this government cancels even more infrastructure projects than the last, we are in a very dark place. This is no way to achieve economic growth. The longest planning application in history just got even longer. https://lnkd.in/eEPQgbmf

Seeing planning and infrastructure in the news is still surprising but welcome for those of us in this often overlooked field. For decades, we haven't delivered enough of the economic and social infrastructure needed for a fair, efficient, and sustainable society. The government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to address these complex issues. See more:

Seeing planning and infrastructure in the news is still surprising but welcome for those of us in this often overlooked field. For decades, we haven't delivered enough of the economic and social infrastructure needed for a fair, efficient, and sustainable society. The government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to address these complex issues. See more:

Amidst all the excitement over the Government's consultation on revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework from a housing targets and Green/Grey Belt perspective, it's also worth noting the proposed amendments to Section 9, where 'vision-based' transport planning is proposed to be firmly embedded in national policy. This follows on from Department for Transport Circular 01/2022, as adopted by National Highways, but should mean that those Local Highway Authorities that have been slow to adopt these principles will now be expected to follow suit. Is the era of 'predict and provide' finally over?!

You can learn more about the latest provisions for green buildings with USGBC's updated guidance. #USGBCAdvocacy https://lnkd.in/gk5xrys6 

DHA Planning Group will be keeping their eyes peeled on The King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament tomorrow with #housebuilding and #planningreform expected to be at the centre of the speech as the #Labour Government bids to boost #housinggrowth.   #PrimeMinister #SirKeirStarmer has said “Our work is urgent. There is no time to waste. We are hitting the ground running by bringing forward the laws we will need to rebuild our country for the long-term – and our ambitious, fully costed agenda is the downpayment on that change. From energy, to planning, to unbreakable fiscal rules, my government is serious about delivering the stability that is going to turbocharge growth that will create wealth in every corner of the UK. The task of national renewal will not be easy, and this is just the downpayment on our plans for the next five years, but the legislation set out at the King’s Speech will build on the momentum of our first days in office and make a difference to the lives of working people".   Unblocking planning restrictions for new homes, as well as major #infrastructure projects, is seen as a key measure to boost business spending and foreign investment to create jobs.  According to various articles, the speech is expected to outline a package of more than 35 Bills, which will focus on growing the economy through turbocharging building of houses and infrastructure, better transport, more jobs and securing clean energy.   Come back tomorrow for DHA Planning Group's summary of the key planning and housebuilding takeaways. #KingsSpeech #newgovernment #planningreforms #changesafoot #housebuilding #infrastructure #turbocharging #UKinvestiment

The King’s Speech referred to a significant number of bills including a suite of bills relating to energy reforms, housing market regulation and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which seek to deliver sustainable development. Samantha Amphlett, senior associate in our Real Estate group, explains more about the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Swipe to learn more!

Any day now, the eagerly awaited updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation will be published adding some much-needed colour to how the government plans to help Britain build.     James Smith and Nick Stafford, from our Town and Country Planning team outline what changes they would like to see to encourage development and provide more certainty in the planning process. Read the full article here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e-mnj3mk   Giles Brockbank | Guy Wakefield    #NPPF #TownPlanning #CountryPlanning #HelpBritainBuild #BuiltEnvironment