Planning and Infrastructure Bill

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was introduced to Parliament on 11th March with the aim of delivering the 1.5m new homes the government have proposed.

The bill is launched alongside other planning reform, including the National Planning Policy Framework, and attempts to speed up the process of building and development and to take out some of the unnecessary bureaucracy and lead to an economic boost and building boom.

Angela Rayner commented “We’re creating the biggest building boom in a generation – as a major step forward in getting Britain building again and unleashing economic growth in every corner of the country, by lifting the bureaucratic burden which has been holding back developments for too long. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect billpayers.”

Some of the new key focuses of the bill are:

Planning committees

House building will be improved and made quicker by streamlining planning decisions by introducing a national scheme of delegation. This will determine which type of application should be dealt with by certain officers and which committee they should be sent to. The committees themselves will be reduced in size and implement mandatory training for each member.

Local councils will be able to set their own planning fees to allow them to cover the costs of the changes and training. Currently, the planning system runs a deficit of approximately £362 million per year.

Nature restoration funds

Nature restoration funds will be introduced to make sure that there are positives for both the economy and nature. The aim is to ensure that builders meet their environmental obligations faster and at on a bigger scale by pooling contributions for bigger environmental interventions.

The changes that are planning to be made will essentially remove the time and cost elements of the process and allow payments into the fund to build up whilst action is taken to meet the environmental requirements needed.

Development Corporations

Development Corporations will be strengthened in order to improve delivery of large scale developments, for example new towns and their associated infrastructure.

Clean energy

Priority will be given to clean energy projects in order to help achieve the goal of clean power by 2030. Wind and solar power will be prioritised for national grid connections.

Some of the other focus areas include:

• Compulsory purchase reform -  aiming to make purchasing transactions smoother and drive forward local regeneration efforts.

• Strategic planning reform – introduction of spatial development strategies.

• Nationally significant infrastructure projects – changes to be made to the Highways Act and Transport and Works Act.

• Bill discounts – people living within 500 metres of pylons will have electricity bills reduced up to £2,500 over 10 years.

Sources Govt introduces Planning & Infrastructure Bill - Place North West