Clark hints at planning compromise

Decentralisation minister Greg Clark appeared to pave the way for concessions over the wording of the National Planning Framework in a seminar organised by the British Property Federation yesterday.

In particular Clark referred to the proposed watering down of the “brownfield first” development presumption in the current planning system, as an area where ministers could be persuaded to look again.

He also accepted that some parts of the draft NPPF were not worded clearly, saying that was inevitable given the task of reducing over 3,000 pages of guidance to just over 50, and saying the government would consider a clearer definition of “sustainable development”.

Clark said: “It was never my intention, and it certainly was not the government’s intention, to depart from the obviously desirable situation in which derelict land should be brought back into use. That is always the intention.

“If not mentioning brownfield at all leads people to conclude there is a different intention, then without pre-empting the consultation, that is something that I am hearing being said. If people think there is some desire not to prioritise the re-use of derelict land then that is something I think the consultation will clearly address.”

Talking of the definition of sustainable development, Clark said: “People have suggested that it could be clearer there so we will respond to that. If people responding to the consultation think that various aspects should be more clearly expressed then we are very happy to do so.”

Clark’s comments follow the intervention of prime minister David Cameron, who earlier in the week wrote to Dame Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust, pledging protection of the countryside and a dialogue over the reforms.

Reynolds told the Guardian newspaper: “What Clark said suggests we are now in proper consultation mode. Some of what was said earlier by Osborne, Pickles and Clark did not feel like a consultation. We can now move forward in a positive spirit.”

Friends of the Earth’s planning campaigner, Naomi Luhde-Thompson, said: “We’re pleased Clark recognises that parts of his planning proposals aren’t very clear. It’s what we’ve been telling him since they were published.”