Minor alterations to houses and huge infrastructure projects will disappear from local authority planners’ workload if recommendations in the government’s new planning White Paper are adopted.

Planning for a Sustainable Future, published on 21 May, suggests a number of reforms which the Government says will improve the efficiency of the planning process.

In a bid to prevent situations like the Heathrow Terminal Five planning inquiry, which ran for more than seven years, the White Paper proposes the creation of a commission of experts to take decisions on major projects. These decisions will be informed by national policy statements about what infrastructure the country needs in the next 10 to 25 years.

At the other end of the scale, domestic applications such as loft extensions or installation of solar panels, will not require planning permission.

As the paper’s title suggests, sustainability will become an increasingly important factor in planning decisions. The government has pledged to produce a clearer national planning policy focused on sustainable development. The paper also includes proposals to improve the plan-making system, which was reformed in 2004.

Industry bodies such as the Construction Confederation and the National House-Building Council have welcomed the White Paper. However, Friends of the Earth warned that the government’s plans for infrastructure projects would force through controversial schemes such as nuclear power stations and airport expansions without local communities being allowed a proper voice.

A report into the Northern Irish planning process launched by the province’s Construction Employers Federation (CEF) has called for a fundamental review. CEF managing director John Armstrong warned that housebuilding targets were unlikely to be met without major changes.

Taking advantage of the newly-installed Assembly, the CEF hopes to encourage economic growth in Northern Ireland by overhauling the unique centralised planning system under which all decisions are put out to appropriate consultees.

In his introduction to the report, Armstrong describes the current system as, ‘complex, cumbersome and slow’. He told CM that its suggested changes have the backing of the province’s business community: ‘The impression from industry is that all applications – whether big or small – are treated the same. We need fast-tracking for the significant applications.’

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

Read all 220 pages of the White Paper at www.communities.gov.uk

See our main planning special report on page 15