Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Latest element of the Government Planning reforms

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill as its title implies covers a number of topics encompassing modifying existing Legislation as well as ne legislation.

The Bill propoes a significant series of changes to the planning system, as part of a desire to move England to a system that is more familiar on the continent with more emphasis on creating wider areas of Spatial/Zonal Plans agreed with local communities, and planning officer managing implementation against these Spatial and Zonal policies.

The Government have produced a useful guide to the Bill that is attached below.

The Local Plan Update

The direction of travel highlights the importance that the current Local Plan update needs to be of the highest quality and completeness.  The current plan based on a site based approach will need very heavy revsion.

The Bill Covers

1. Infrastructure: Changes to make faster decisions on key National Infrastructure.
2. Planning: Changes to Planning Committees that could be very significant.  It also reaquires the requirement to create Spatial Development Strategies across local boundaries, this ties in with the Local Government Reforms also underway.  
3. Development and Nature Recovery: changes to how Development and Mitigation related to Natural environment are to be managed.
4. Development Corporations: Strengthening powers for Development Corporations, this is in anticipation of the creation of New Town and Large Urban Extensions
5. Compulsory Purchase: Changes to allow Local Authorities to be more proactive using compulsory purchase to assemble land etc.

Downloads

Guide_to_the_Plannin...

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