Weaknesses in the current draft of the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) could render Government’s intention to simplify planning guidance and make sustainable development the purpose of the planning system unachievable, engineers have said today.
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) says that while it supports Government’s overall aims to reform the planning system, over-simplifying the national planning policy at a time where many local authorities do not have a local plan to fall back on could be detrimental to the delivery of important ‘larger than local’ infrastructure.
In its response to the Department for Communities of Local Government (DCLG) consultation, closing today, ICE raised concerns that areas of the policy that relate to infrastructure, particularly the transport planning policy, are undermined by the use of vague phrases such as ‘where practical’. It expressed particular concern that valuable gains achieved in coastal defense and management under current planning guidance could be lost due to the excessive reduction of content in this area.
Chair of the ICE localism panel Geoff French said:
“It’s essential that we make the planning system more ‘user-friendly’ to ensure over-complicated applications and processing delays do not deter investors as they have done in the past. However we must not over-simplify such important guidance which must deal effectively with nationally and locally significant infrastructure projects.
“The elements of good practice in the Framework that promote sustainable development, especially regarding transport planning, are at times undermined by wording that make the guidance optional rather than compulsory. There is little point in having national guidance if at every turn there is a ‘get out clause’. We would like to see this strengthened to ensure environmental concerns are clearly prioritised at the same level as short-term economic growth.”
ICE says the ‘looseness’ of the policy is especially concerning in light of the absence of local plans in many districts. In particular, the recommendation that planning authorities “grant permission where the plan is absent, silent, indeterminate or where relevant policies are out of date” leaves the policy open to exploitation by developers.
French continued:
The draft as it stands does not adequately address the absence of local planning policy - it leaves Government guidance too open to local interpretation. It is essential that applications are subject to proper scrutiny based on the principles of the national framework. It will also be very important that the transitional arrangements which seek to fill the void in the short-term are robust and incentivise the swift production of new local plans.”
Finally, ICE remains concerned that the Government’s approach to ensuring ‘larger than local’ infrastructure is properly planned for and delivered may still not be sufficient to overcome incentives for local areas to prioritise very local plans without full regard for how developments might impact on neighbouring localities (see notes).
See the full ICE NPPF response here www.ice.org.uk/NPPFconsultation
Contact: Emily Beadon, ICE Media Relations Manager, 020 7665 2261 or 07917215055 emily.beadon@ice.org.uk
ICE has previously called for strengthening and clarity of the Duty to Cooperate clause, which is intended to facilitate cooperation between planning authorities, and an amended Clause was produced at Report stage. For more detail access the ICE’s Localism Bill briefing here:
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) was founded in 1818 to ensure professionalism in civil engineering. It represents 80,000 qualified and student civil engineers in the UK and across the globe. The ICE has long worked with the government of the day to help it to achieve its objectives, and has worked with industry to ensure that construction and civil engineering remain major contributors to the UK economy and UK exports.