Localism Act 2011
On 15 November the Localism Bill received Royal Assent
The Localism Act has wide ranging measures aimed at taking power away from Central Government so that local communities, through their directly elected local representatives, have more say in the provision of local services.
The Act therefore represents a significant change in direction as to how the planning system in England operates compared to the hitherto centralist approach under the previous Labour Government.
The Act has the following key planning implications for property developers, investors and occupiers:
Abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies
The removal of the primary legislation which sets the basis for Regional Strategies - and hence the imposed housing targets set by the Regional Spatial Strategy upon individual Local Planning Authorities.
Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: Abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission
The Act replaces the Infrastructure Planning Commission with a democratically accountable system that seeks to provide a fast-track process for major infrastructure projects.
A Major Infrastructure Planning Unit is therefore to be established within the Planning Inspectorate to now determine major infrastructure projects - as established by the 2008 Planning Act - like windfarms and nuclear power stations. Ministers will ultimately take decisions on applications within the same statutory timeframe as the current regime.
National Planning Policy Statements
The Act also streamlines national planning policy guidance by a series of new National Policy Statements. These are to be approved by Parliament - but only the House of Commons - and therefore is hoped to minimise the risk of successful judicial review. A draft of the national Planning Policy Framework was published in July for consultation until October – cutting national planning guidance from 1,000 to 50 pages. This new guidance is anticipated to be in place in the spring of 2012.
Community Infrastructure Levy
The Coalition Government decided to retain (previously to be abolished) the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). CIL allows local authorities to set charges which developers must pay when bringing forward new development in order to contribute to new infrastructure. The Act Bill now also enables for some CIL funds to be passed to neighbourhoods where the development has taken place.
Inspectors Reports not binding upon the Authority
In the examination of a Local Development Document the Inspector's recommendations to amend the development plan document are no longer binding on the authority.
Neighbourhood Planning
This is a key component of the Act introduces a new tier of spatial planning concept - namely neighbourhood planning.
The Act introduces the right for communities to shape their local areas by creating "Neighbourhood Planning Authority" (NPA). The NPA could be based on existing parishes - or a group of parishes or by an organisation designated by the Local Planning Authority as a "Neighbourhood Forum. " The neighbourhood forum, once designated, will take effect for 5 years.
Neighbourhoods can also establish general policies that will steer decisions on traditional planning applications. NPA's can therefore prepare their own "Neighbourhood Development Plan" - NDP - which will form part of the statutory development plan and therefore development will need to accord with the NDP's policies unless other material considerations indicate otherwise.
Neighbourhood plans are still required to be consistent with national planning policy and to conform to the strategic elements of local authority development plan documents plans - such as the Local Planning Authorities core strategy. The Localism Act makes provision to ensure that neighbourhood plans do not override these wider ranging plans, including the proposed changes national planning policy guidance.
NPA's will also have the ability to have "Neighbourhood Development Orders" (NDO's) where planning permission will be granted for development which is specified by the Order applicable to a specific site. The site where NDO's are in force are therefore likely to be identified in the NDP. For more complex cases NDO's will be able to grant outline permission so that the right to develop would be established and only the details would need to be approved.
These measures are part of the Coalition Government agenda to fundamentally change the English Planning system so that local communities are incentivised to approve sustainable development - such as retaining a proportion of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and the Government's complimentary measures - such New Homes Bonus (where the Government will match the council tax raised from new homes for the first six years.
The Act also introduces a "Community Right to Build Order" (CRBO) where local communities have the power to take forward development in their area without the need to apply for planning permission, subject to meeting certain safeguards.
Requirement for pre-application consultation
The Act introduces a new requirement for prospective developers to consult local communities before submitting planning applications for very large developments. This is intended to give local people a real chance to comment on proposed developments which may have an impact on them, and to collaborate on issues such as design at an early stage, when they still have a real change to influence proposals before they are finalised.
Constraints on the conduct of councillors determining planning applications are to be relaxed by new laws on predetermination.
London Planning
The Act introduces the following changes to Planning within London:
- The devolution of executive powers over housing investment from the Homes and Communities Agency to the Greater London Authority so it can be fully aligned with the Mayor's own funding pot and the London Housing Strategy;
- The abolition of the London Development Agency.
- New powers for the Mayor of London to create Mayoral Development Corporations to focus regeneration where it's needed most, such as to help secure East London's Olympic legacy, in partnership with London Boroughs;
- Boroughs will be given control over more of the major local planning decisions that affect their local communities. The Mayor will only consider the largest planning applications in future;
Commentary
The measures in the Localism Act is a change in Government philosophy of how the planning system should operate within England. The Coalition Government's Localism Act significantly shifts planning policy and the planning decision making from previously unelected central and/or regional government organisations to locally elected councillors and also now to elected representatives on neighbourhood committees.
Planning in England will therefore move from the previously target driven planning decision making process to a system to a new planning system which seeks to incentivise communities to want to have - and not oppose - development in the area.
Many local neighbourhoods will seek take up the opportunity to prepare their own neighbourhood plans. However, they might not yet be able to do so if the “core strategy is not in place and many core strategies are being put on hold until the outcome of the National Planning Policy Framework is issued.
In short, we are entering into even more uncertainty for the development industry as to which development will or not be acceptable given that the policies of the development plan are not in place in the majority of England and National Guidance is still being drafted.
We will produce an assessment of the implications of these changes introduced by the Localism Act in due course in a separate planning bulletin. However, in the interim, please contact your usual CgMs contact or either Erica Mortimer or Mike Straw.
