Last October, I suggested in a radio interview that the draft National Planning Policy Framework should be put in a park bin. It was a rather cheeky reference to Oliver Letwin's error of judgement in disposing of constituency correspondence in a similar fashion. There was real anxiety that the original draft would undermine the UK Government's own ambitions to pass on the environment to the next generation in a better state.
The environment sector was united in their condemnation of the proposals and a public campaign (with the support of the Daily Telegraph) kept the issue alive politically for months.
But yesterday we had reason to celebrate.
To the surprise of many, in publishing the final National Planning Policy Framework, the Planning Minister, Greg Clark, graciously accepted many of the recommendations made by environmental groups and the Communities and Local Government Select Committee. While we are still ploughing through the detail, we believe that the NPPF as published yesterday has addressed most of the RSPB's concerns including our top three red lines.
1. The Government has adopted the definition of sustainable development as described in the 2005 Sustainable Development Strategy. Crucially, this incorproates the prinicple of living within environmental limits.
2. The incendiary phrase "the default answer to development is yes" has been removed. This essentially means that economic interests will not be given priority in the planning system. It also means that many of the positive elements of the guidance regarding nature conservation are no longer undermined. This includes the headline statement "the planning system should contribute to protecting the natural environment by... minimising impacts on biodiversity and providing net gains in biodiversity where possible, contributing to the Government’s commitment to halt the overall decline in biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures".
3. We believe (although our lawyers are doublechecking the text for us) that the protection afforded to Sites of Special Scientific Interest has been upheld. In the original draft our lawyers had concluded that protection of SSSIs had been undermined by essentially turning the precautionary principle on its head. The old system essentially advised local authorities to reject development that damages SSSIs unless the benefits of the development outweigh the negative impacts. Under the draft NPPF, local authorities would have been obliged to consent development "unless the adverse impacts of allowing the development would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits". We are delighted that the Minister listened to our concerns. The final document now says "when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should aim to conserve and enhance biodiversity by applying the following principles: proposed development on land within or outside a Site of Special Scientific Interest likely to have an adverse effect on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (either individually or in combination with other developments) should not normally be permitted. Where an adverse effect on the site’s notified special interest features is likely, an exception should only be made where the benefits of the development, at this site, clearly outweigh both the impacts that it is likely to have on the features of the site that make it of special scientific interest and any broader impacts on the national network of Sites of Special Scientific Interest."
So, the sun is still shining and the NPPF has been radically redrafted which means I can remain cheerful for the rest of the week.
One last thing - while I it is sobering to think how hard that many of us have had to fight to maintain existing protection to wildlife (through the red tape challenge, review of habitats regulations and now the NPPF), it is now clear to any minister that the public is not going to take lightly any proposal which potentially undermines the natural environment.
Are you reassured by the final National Planning Policy Framework? What lessons do you think the Government will now have learnt?
It would be great to hear your views.
Hi Martin. I haven't looked at it in detail yet but I am reassured by your analyses of the reviews in your blog posts, which I read every morning before work. Like a lot of people I expect, I read your entries more than I post comments, but despite the silence I am incredibly grateful for RSPB's hard work, expertise and influence on these extremely important issues. Congratulations on these real successes and thank you for your honest, personable and informative blog posts.