Planning portal What's that coming over the hill, is it the Growth & Infrastructure Bill?

摘要

The government is in planning reform mode and recently we have seen initiatives to promote house building through such ideas as encouragement of new garden cities, the relaxation of the green belt, sanctions against poorly performing planning authorities and the relaxation of both application validation requirements and permitted development rights (including the proposed office-to-residential change of use initiative). Behind all this activity is an as yet unresolved contradiction between the growth and localism agendas. The government has no alternative but to encourage development but finds itself saddled by the localism agenda it trumpeted pre-election and later through the Localism Act. Many believed localism would be but a cloak to clothe Nimbyism, and so it has proved to be.