So, we know you’re asking… “what’s the current UK government policy on planning reforms relating to housing, greenbelt, and NIMBYs?” Well, here’s a brief synopsis of what it all means and what we’re doing about it at ACEP HQ.
Planning Reforms
The UK government has introduced significant planning reforms aimed at addressing the housing crisis and promoting economic growth. These reforms include setting ambitious housing targets to deliver 1.5 million new homes, with a focus on building in high-growth areas and including the creation of a 21st Century cluster of new towns (well, sort of).
The government has committed to providing additional resources, including 1,400 new planning officers, to help councils approve plans more efficiently.
The government has also streamlined the planning system to reduce red tape and expedite the approval process for major infrastructure projects. And they have adopted a strong position on ‘NIMBYs’.
Housing policy reform
The new planning reforms mandate councils to meet specific housing targets, ensuring that local communities have a say in the development process. The government has introduced a new Standard Method for assessing housing needs, which takes into account factors such as population growth and housing affordability an reintroduced mandatory targets for local authorities.
New towns – sort of
Most of the recently announced New Town proposals are to extend existing towns or cities, alongside a smaller number of new standalone settlements. The aim is for each new town to have at least 10,000 homes, contributing towards Labour’s 1.5 million five-year housebuilding target.
Greenbelt policy
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) emphasises the importance of protecting Green Belt land to prevent urban sprawl and maintain the openness of these areas. However, the government has introduced measures to identify ‘grey belt’ land that can be developed to meet housing needs without compromising Green Belt protections. Any changes to Green Belt boundaries must be justified and supported by strategic policies.
Combined, these policies are likely to arose significant local interest and likely opposition, despite the clear pressing need for an improved planning process, more housing and economic development.
NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard)
The current government has taken a firm position on NIMBYism, ie those who oppose development in their local areas as part of its efforts to reform the planning system and boost economic growth. Recent reforms aim to streamline the planning process and reduce legal challenges that can delay major infrastructure projects. The government is also introducing measures to ensure that environmental obligations do not hinder development, such as creating a central fund for nature restoration.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves emphasised the need to overcome local opposition to housing developments, stating that “the answer cannot always be no.”
What does all this mean?
These policies reflect the government’s commitment to balancing the need for housing and infrastructure development with environmental protection and community involvement.
It’s a tough call, but clearly reform is necessary with significant delays to planning approvals including from more recent amendments including the requirement for ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ (aka BNG) which have tied up many applications over the last twelve months, from local community projects in public parks to housing developments.
Whilst opposing development is a democratic right, it’s important to balance all local views on issues. More than a decade of experience of using social media demonstrates this cannot be done through the prism of local online opinion – notwithstanding how these channels are now changing, for better or worse.
The wider role of community engagement is changing, along with the specific function of consultation. Reprioritising tools such as opinion research, focus groups and other social research methods alongside better targeting of communications to ensure harder to reach groups are involved – and heard – is essential.
Engaging local communities on the potential positive impacts and benefits of a scheme, especially major infrastructure projects, is key – and ‘reduced energy tariffs’ merely gloss over the significant opportunities that could be delivered if only time was taken to properly engage with community stakeholders.
What ACEP is doing about it
At ACEP we’re working on four fronts:-
- We’ve developed and launched a new training course, Planning and Development – Certificate of Competence and Quality. The next course date is 26 March in London, and you can sign up here
- Creating positive social impact is an important but overlooked and poorly understood aspect of planning, especially for major projects. ACEP is developing a programme to support organises wanting to navigate this, contact us for details.
- We will be debating these issues in more detail with invaluable input from insightful speakers at our inaugural conference on 2 October this year, kindly hosted by Pinsent Masons. You can sign up here
- Our open Consultation Standards are ready to adopt, check them out here