New planning laws ‘fail to tackle causes of shortfalls’
New planning laws unveiled by central government fail to adequately tackle the fundamental problem for housing shortfalls, according to a West Sussex campaigner.
Ministers said the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, unveiled in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month, would see local plans become easier to produce and gain stronger weight.
The government also promised stronger protections for the environment in local plans, empowering councils to make better use of brownfield land and protect greenbelt land.
In West Sussex the main issue has been ‘unrealistic’ planning targets mandated by central government using the standard methodology.
Roger Smith, a trustee at the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s Sussex branch, pointed out there was no mention of this in the bill, indicating this ‘hocus pocus formula, which generates excessive targets and takes no account of capacity or environmental impacts, will remain in use’.
He said: “National Development Management Policies will apparently override or replace local plan policies, which under the current system carry more weight than NPPF policies for decision takers, including the Planning Inspectorate at planning appeals.
“The Secretary of State may designate any area of England as an urban development area’ and ‘establish a development corporation for the area’.
"Will strategic site allocations in Sussex and the areas in which they occur be designated ‘urban development areas’?”
But Dr Smith’s strongest criticism of the bill is that it does not address the problem that housebuilders will not build more houses than can be sold at acceptable to them profit and in the even of diminishing sales reduce building rates.
He added: “Continued failure to bring developers and the building industry to heel will result in yet more short falls in housing delivery, for which the Government will continue to blame and sanction councils and communities.”
He also questioned whether the bill’s new laws would result in less scrutiny than is required by the current system.
He called on the county’s MPs to examine the proposed new planning laws in the detail and consider the consequences for West Sussex.
Andrew Griffith, Arundel and South Downs MP, said: “My opposition to the housing numbers for West Sussex is well known. This bill confirms that we have seen off changes to the ‘algorithm’ and no longer will residents in one district face extra homes from a next door council failing to hit its targets.
"Other welcome changes include residents being able to decide on design, developers having to pay upfront for infrastructure and councils having to make it easier to comment on planning applications. Ultimately, the answer is better use of brownfield sites than building on our precious unspoiled countryside. This bill will help to do that.”
On Friday, a demonstration was held outside Bognor Golf Club where Secretary of State Michael Gove was attending a Conservative fundraising dinner. Developers want to build 480 homes on the land.