The UK Government is set to make changes to the planning system and it has been confirmed that these will be in line with the Conservative Green Paper ‘Open Source Planning‘ released prior to the election.
The Coalition’s new “Programme for Government” believes it is time for a shift of power from Westminster to local authorities giving new powers to local councils, neighbourhoods and individuals.
The Programme confirms the previous Tory goals of reviewing local government finance, abolishing regional spatial strategies and the Infrastructure Planning Commission and promoting ‘Home on the Farm’ schemes that encourage farmers to convert existing buildings in the middle of nowhere into affordable housing for people who have no cars.
On energy and climate change the Coalition will support an increase in the EU emission reduction target to 30% by 2020. The renewable energy target increase agreed in negotiations between the two parties is subject to the advice of the Climate Change Committee. Feed in tariffs for electricity are to be introduced at the same time as keeping the banded renewables obligation certificate.
Public sector investment is committed to carbon capture and storage (CCS) for four coal fired power stations and smart grid is to be rolled out.
A budget and Queens speech is expected imminently.
Planners and housebuilders have already responded with concerns about the changes. Planning Magazine reported this week that the RTPI strongly believes that there needs to be a level of planning between the local and national to avoid a policy vacuum at the sub-national level. The RTPI wants to work positively with the government but says that their plans for the planning system are still ‘unclear’.
