Current Developments
Malton, North Yorkshire
Livestock Market redevelopment, Malton, North Yorkshire
view developmentMaresfield, East Sussex
Development of 170 homes in Maresfield, West Sussex, by david Wilson Homesview developmentWest Herts College
Dacorum campusview developmentWest Herts College
Watford Campusview developmentLower Feltham
Feltham developmentview development Government legislative programme
Proposed bills reforming planning
Two bills have been included in the Queen's Speech which will directly impact upon planning:
Public bodies (reform) bill
As set out in yesterday’s statement by the Treasury, the government will reduce the number of quangos, with the aim of saving £1bn a year.
Decentralisation and localism bill
This legislation aims to devolve some of the powers of government, and give individuals the power to instigate referendums on local matters and to veto excessive council tax increases. Home Information Packs will be abolished.
Update: December 9, 2010
The Decentralisation and Localism Bill will be published in the House on Monday, December 13.
Update: December 6, 2010
Further details of the forthcoming bill were revealled today by the Secretary of State. The new bill will shift power from Whitehall and town halls to the people, and neighbourhoods will become the building blocks of the new society.
Radical new planning reforms were announced today to hand powers down from Whitehall bureaucrats and down from Town Hall officials to communities so local people shape the character of the very neighbourhood in which they live.
In what are being labelled the building blocks of the Big Society, bold changes are being revealed to galvanise local democracy and help build new homes and plan new development with local support, and reward - not punish - those who want to grow and enhance their neighbourhood.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Planning Minister Greg Clark today outlined proposals to decentralise and streamline the planning system, ahead of the publication of the Localism Bill.
Neighbourhood groups to shape where they live: Communities will be able to come together to decide what their area should look like, where new shops, offices or homes should go and what green spaces should be protected. Parish councils and new neighbourhood forums of local people - rather than town hall officials - will lead the way in shaping their community. If local people then vote in favour of new 'Neighbourhood Plans' in local referendums, councils will have to adopt them.
Direct democracy: This new stimulus will be one of the greatest incentives to get people and communities to come together to take control of planning. The new powers will also allow communities to give planning approval to chosen sites on local land. This will mean that urgent development can go ahead quickly once the plan is adopted, short-circuiting lengthy planning applications and making the system more democratic and efficient.
Local benefits from local development: At the heart of the new approach will be a package of powerful incentives, such as the New Homes Bonus, that will encourage the right kind of local development and financially reward those councils and communities that deliver new homes and businesses to their area. Reforms to the Community Infrastructure Levy will also see a meaningful proportion of the levy handed over to the local neighbourhoods where the development takes place.
Vanguards to lead the way: Ministers are calling on communities to get involved now. The Government would like to see about a dozen local areas come forward to act as vanguards that will trial Neighbourhood Plans in their area. This step will help ensure the experience of these 'Neighbourhood Vanguards' is taken into account before the legislation comes into force.
Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:
"For far too long local people have had too little say over a planning system that has imposed bureaucratic decisions by distant officials in Whitehall and the town hall. We need to change things so there is more people-planning and less politician-planning, so there is more direct democracy and less bureaucracy in the system. These reforms will become the building blocks of the Big Society."
Greg Clark, Minister for Planning and Decentralisation, added:
"Most people love where they live, yet the planning system has given them almost no say on how their neighbourhood develops. The Coalition Government will revolutionise the planning process by taking power away from officials and putting it into the hands of those who know most about their neighbourhood - local people themselves. This will be a huge opportunity for communities to exercise genuine influence over what their home town should look like in the future. It will create the freedom and the incentives for those places that want to grow, to do so, and to reap the benefits. It's a reason to say yes."
Tony Burton, Director of Civic Voice, said:
"Local communities care deeply about where they live and know it better than anyone. Neighbourhood plans will allow civic societies and other community groups to take the lead in setting out what people value, what development is needed and what can change for the better in their area. With the right support, and safeguards to ensure the community voice cannot be ignored, a new era of neighbourhood plans spreading rapidly across the country could transform the ability of people to shape their local area."
Update: November 22, 2010
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, today announced that the forthcoming 'Localism Bill' will include provisions for local authorities to vary their business rates as a means of encouraging firms to set up shop within a borough. Councils will not have their reductions subsidised from the centre, so they they will need to allow for any lost revenue in their budgets. iving councils this option may create the potential for further tax competition between local authorities.
The Bill was originally planned for this week, but is now expected later in the month, or in early December. The measures on business rates form part of a broader package of policies which the government says will increase localism. Referendums on directly elected Mayors will be held in the 12 largest cities outside London, with the possibility of a 'yes' vote being incentivised through greater powers for local government in those cities which vote yes. Local ballots will be permitted on any local issue. This may mean votes on topics such as the salaries of chief executives or whether there ought to be big rises in council tax.
The Bill will remove some of the targets currently imposed from central government and scrap both regional spatial strategies, the Infrastructure and the Audit Commission.
Local communities will also be able to challenge councils' control over local services, which may lead to bids by communities or private organisations to take them over. Critics of the Bill fear this may mean "private sector contractors will be given a green light to agitate to bid to run services and public facilities such as swimming baths, libraries, leisure centres and courts".
The Government also announced this week that local authorities in England will have greater powers to improve air quality in their boroughs. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland these matters are devolved, but in England councils will be able to set their own policies, though bearing in mind that the "need to maintain minimum environmental standards in air quality remains".
Update: November 21
Rumours are that the Bill will be published on November 24
Update: November 12
Peter Bill in the Evening Standard has said the bill will be published on November 20
