The 6th August is the anniversary of the publication by the government of its White Paper, Planning for the future. There is still no date as to when a final Whitepaper is to be published as a Bill for consideration by Parliament.
Planning for the Future has caused much comment and has been blamed in part for the defeat of the government candidate at the recent Amersham and Chesham By-election.
The House of Commons, Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has conducted a thorough review of the Whitepaper including gathering views from a wide section of the population.
They have now issued a report - The future of the planning system in England – which is a critique of Planning for the Future as it stands. As yet, no response has been received from the government.
Clive Betts MP chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee recently discussed the report and answered questions with a Civic Voice Webinar. The report is a unanimous report from all members fort the committee. Clive Betts highlighted that the White Paper was very housing focussed, with limited consideration of infrastructure. He said the committee was concerned at how the system linked up e.g. Design Codes where not properly defined in scope and applicability.
There is obviously a lot more to be included in the Whitepaper if it is to be a robust process and not just an expensive badly developed set of regulations that produces a planning Lawyer bonanza.
Below are links to the report from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee and also the Planning for the future Whitepaper.
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