Power to the People

After some delay, the Government has finally published the Localism Bill in time for Christmas. It heralds a shift of planning power to local people, with radical ideas about neighbourhood planning.

It's long, and horrifically complex if you're not a lawyer. We're still wading through the detail, but here's a quick and dirty assessment of how it adds up against the six things we'll be looking out for.

• A statement that sustainable development, delivered within environmental limits, is the purpose of planning: not there; it will probably be defined in the National Planning Framework
• A statutory basis for the National Planning Framework: not there either
• New arrangements for strategic planning across local authority boundaries: a proposed 'duty to cooperate' is unlikely to be effective
• Local plans should provide a fair and transparent approach to community participation: there's lots about new neighbourhood plans, and we're still trying to work out the detail on this one
• A limited public (third party) right of appeal: not there
• Robust criteria for a new local greenspace designation: not there, but we understand this will be the subject of a separate consultation

So, plenty to play for! A reminder that you can see here our Vision for the Future of Planning.

We are expecting the Government to make an announcement soon about proposals for a National Planning Framework for England. As we said before, this could be welcome news, provided it’s robustly assessed and has the natural environment at its heart.

If you’re affected by the planning system, let us know what you think.