Neighbourhood Planning Bill Launched

The Neighbourhood Planning Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech in May, has now been launched in Parliament.

The government hopes that the Bill will strengthen the neighbourhood planning process ‘by simplifying how plans can be revised as local circumstances change and ensure that plans come into force sooner once approved by local people’. To achieve this, new measures include the introduction of a ‘proportionate process’ for modifying neighbourhood development orders and plans which have already been approved, and a clause to allow for changes to the boundaries of neighbourhood areas.

Other measures aim to ensure that pre-commencement planning conditions, which require developers to take action before work can start on site, are only used when strictly necessary. Under the new measures, pre-commencement conditions can only be used by local planning authorities where they have the written agreement of the developer.

The Bill also includes a clause that will require local planning authorities to record prior approval applications for residential conversions on their planning registers to allow the government to monitor the number of new homes allowed through permitted development.

A technical consultation on the implementation of the provisions in the Bill has been launched and will run until 19 October 2016. A separate consultation has also been launched on ‘Improving the use of planning conditions’, which closes on 2 November 2016.

If you have any queries regarding the Bill or the associated consultations, please feel free to contact one of the Firstplan team.