• Legislation: planning

Legislation: planning

• Localism Bill
  • England
  • Wales
• The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010 (The DMPO): England only

Localism Bill

A White Paper proposing major structural changes to planning, the Localism Bill, was put before Parliament in Westminster on 13 December 2010.  The Bill sets out a series of proposals with the aim of shifting power away from Central Government and towards local communities.  Although the majority of proposals will apply to England only, some important proposed changes would apply in Wales.

England:

The proposals include, among others, reform to the existing planning system to make it more democratic, more effective and to ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally.

The reforms proposed to the existing planning system, which are likely to impact on how biodiversity is dealt with in the planning system, include: the abolition of Regional Strategies (which contains policies on biodiversity) in order that local communities have a greater opportunity to influence where new development is needed in the county; the introduction of neighbourhood development plans; and the replacement of the Infrastructure Planning Commission with a Major Infrastructure Planning Unit, which it is understood will be made up of a group of elected members.

The abolition of Regional Strategies has been a contentious issue for some and following a case at court and several subsequent judicial reviews, the current status of Regional Strategies is still not clear.

The Localism Bill has been scheduled for the 2010 – 2011 parliamentary session and it is understood that Royal Assent should be expected in late 2011.

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Wales:

Importantly, the Bill makes provisions for the determination of ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’ in Wales. It includes the abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Committee (IPC), including its Welsh Commissioners, transferring all staff and resources to the Secretary of State. It is understood that the UK Government intends to establish a Major Infrastructure Planning Unit (MIPU), which would form part of the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.

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The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010 (The DMPO)

England only

The order, which came in to force on the 1st October 2010, consolidates with amendments the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 (The GDPO).

The DMPO applies to all planning applications made in England and includes the use of a standard application form, known as 1APP, when applying for planning permission (except minerals) throughout England and specifies the information required to be submitted with the planning application in order for the planning application to be considered valid.

The information required to support a planning application is of two types: items on the national core list and items on the local list.  The items on the national core list are statutory, while the items on the local list are selected by the local authority based on recommendations provided by Central Government. Amongst the recommendations made by Central Government for the local list is the inclusion of a biodiversity survey and report. This means that where a local authority has included the requirement for a biodiversity survey and report in their local list, any planning application submitted without one could be considered invalid.

The recommendation makes specific reference to designated sites and protected species and the guidance given by Planning Policy Statement 9, PAS 2010 and the Association of Local Government Ecologists. However, the recommendation does not specifically mention habitats and species listed as priorities in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

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