Councils will be given time to update local plans before the controversial planning reforms become compulsory

Greg Clark has confirmed that there will be a delay in making the government’s controversial planning reforms compulsory for local authorities, after housing minister Grant Shapps said that councils would be given time to adapt to the changes.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference, Clark confirmed Shapps’ comments, reported by Building on Monday, that councils would be given more time to update local plans before they became subject to the controversial “presumption in favour of development” clause.

Clark said: “It is clear that transition arrangements will be very important, given that the purpose is to get councils working to a local plan. It is not the intention of the government to end up in a position where local authorities are in any way disadvantaged.”

He said that the government would have more to say on the transition ‘in due course’, and did not comment on the length of any grace period.

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