Egan lays out criteria for fast-track sustainable developments

Sir John Egan's seminal report into delivering the government's Communities Plan will provide a definition of what constitutes a "sustainable community", Egan revealed at the Making Planning Deliver conference on Monday. This will clear the way for developments that meet the definition to be fast-tracked.

Egan, who overhauled the working practices of the construction industry in the late 1990s, outlined his "magnificent seven" components that can be used to define sustainable communities: housing and the built environment; the general environment; transport and connectivity; economy, social and cultural indices; community services and governance.

Egan said: "Unless we have a much better grasp of what we all mean when we talk about sustainable communities, we are never going to deliver [them]."

Egan wants government action on rapid planning permission within a year.

His ideas were warmly received by the government. Housing minister Keith Hill said: "We are extremely interested in the idea of fast-tracking. We'll be very interested to see the detail."

Egan was commissioned by deputy prime minister John Prescott in April 2003 to review the skills needed to deliver the Communities Plan. The full report will be published in February.