Cliff Notes
- The UK government plans to streamline the planning system to expedite house building, potentially removing certain bureaucratic requirements.
- Key consulting bodies such as Sports England and Theatres Trust may no longer be mandatory for planning approvals, aiming to reduce project waiting times.
- Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner emphasized the need for reforms that balance efficiency and quality in construction, while still meeting community standards and expectations.
- The proposed changes will limit the role of statutory consultees, focusing their input on essential areas like heritage, safety, and environmental protection, rather than allowing for broader concerns that may unnecessarily delay projects.
- The government aims to resolve operational issues, including delays from consultees, and set a limit of 21 days for local authorities to engage with relevant bodies, preventing extended hold-ups in decision-making.
Consultations for building set to be scrapped under proposed changes | Politics News
- The requirement for consulting bodies like Sports England, Theatres Trust, and Garden History Society may be eliminated to expedite the building process.
- Provisions are included to prevent development on open spaces, sports facilities, and recreational areas unless deemed surplus or replaced with equivalent facilities.
- Feedback from stakeholders like Sport England is anticipated to highlight the importance of preserving community spaces amid the reform efforts.
Parts of the planning system could be stripped away by the government in its attempts to speed up house building.
Consulting bodies like Sports England, the Theatres Trust and the Garden History Society will no longer be required for those looking to build under the new plans being considered by ministers.
It is hoped a reduction in statutory consultees will reduce the waiting times for projects.
Angela Rayner, who is both deputy prime minister and housing secretary, said: “We’ve put growth at the heart of our plans as a government, with our Plan for Change milestone to secure 1.5 million homes and unleash Britain’s potential to build.
“We need to reform the system to ensure it is sensible and balanced, and does not create unintended delays – putting a hold on people’s lives and harming our efforts to build the homes people desperately need.
“New developments must still meet our high expectations to create the homes, facilities and infrastructure that communities need.”
Consultees will not be completely excised from the planning process under the changes.
However, instead of it being mandatory to get the opinion of such bodies, their scope will be “narrowed to focus on heritage, safety and environmental protection”, according to the government.
The government says it has identified issues like consultees failing to engage “proactively”, taking too long to provide advice, re-opening issues that have already been dealt with, submitting automatic objections which they later withdraw, and submitting advice for “gold-plated” outcomes that are unrealistic and difficult to achieve.
More than 300 planning applications have been sent up to the secretary of state’s desk in the past three years because of disagreements.
