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Good news I feel with yesterday’s announcement that the Government’s Red Tape challenge is now to look at planning. Planning minister Nick Boles said “Unnecessary technical regulations that are no longer needed will be removed”. That sounds like a clear pledge. This follows the welcome simplification of design and access statements and the reduction in […] David Cameron today launched an attack on judicial review and excessive procedural requirements. He bemoans excessive EU legislation, saying “Consultations, impact assessments, audits, reviews, stakeholder management, securing professional buy-in, complying with EU procurement rules, assessing sector feedback this is not how we became one of the most powerful, prosperous nations on earth”. Now I have […] I promised to comment further on aspects of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill. The first part I want to look at is the parts on affordable housing. They allow for the variation of affordable housing requirements if the development is “not economically viable”. The provisions allow for more than one application to be made and […] The Growth and Infrastructure Bill was introduced in Parliament yesterday. It is effectively a new planning bill making the changes some of which have been trailed already this autumn). It is relatively short, at 28 sections. I will blog on individual provisions at greater length in due course, but to note now: 1 It allows […] I have posted and written on a number of occasions about the deficiencies and legal difficulties caused by the current wording of s.106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. So it is particularly encouraging to see that they are being taken up in Wales. The Welsh Government recently commissioned an independent advisory group […] DCLG has come out with two initiatives on planning obligations in the past week or so. It is consulting on allowing early amendment of pre April 2010 section 106 agreements negotiated in happier economic times and is holding a workshop to support its national research on value and impact of planning obligations. These two initiatives […] I was struck by a question posted on a planning Q&A site the other day from a parish council seeking help over unpaid money under a s.106 agreement. The problem seems to be that the payment was due at occupation of the first tranche of affordable housing. It has been occupied but the payment not […] Commissioner Paul Hudson of the IPC The IPC issued its decision on Rookery South last week, two days ahead of the deadline. This is the very first project to go to the IPC. It is for a 65MW energy from waste plant at Stewartby, Bedfordshire. I had the privilege of representing the host […] |
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