The government has apparently dropped its plans to give local communities the right to appeal all planning permissions, Building reported.
As expected, the government’s delayed Localism and Decentralisation Bill proposes the abolition of the regional tier of the planning system, including house-building targets, and new powers for neighbourhoods to decide on future development plans for their area, including a “right to build” where 50% of local people support it.
But to the relief of developers, the Tory party’s pre-election pledges to give “third-party rights of appeal” to people living near planned developments, and to limit the rights of developers to appeal refusals, do not appear in the text of the bill.
Claire Fallows from law firm Hogan Lovells told Building that the industry was “keeping its fingers crossed” that the omission of planning appeal reform was not just temporary. “It is a huge relief not to see the inclusion of third party rights of appeal or the curtailing of the general right of appeal [by developers],” she said.
However, Construction News reported that developers fear the legislation will saddle small projects with vast consultation costs. “Neighbourhoods” – a term yet to be defined – are to be placed in charge of what gets built in their area, raising concerns that small projects will require the type of consultation seen with major regeneration schemes.
One house-builder said: “We already consult when we are looking to build a development but this will just make it much more expensive. This is going to require us to engage with the most micro groups in a way we never have before and there is no guarantee they are representative of community views.”
Peter Weatherhead, director of development at global real estate services firm DTZ, told the magazine that local communities might lack the skills to develop viable neighbourhood plans.
He added: “In all likelihood, the new system will give rise to local planning decisions being dominated by a few sharp-elbowed, middle-class residents with time on their hands, whose views are not necessarily representative of the rest of the community.
The Bill also failed to include the widely trailed “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, which had been promoted by ministers as a way to counter nimbyism.
Its other provisions include the handing over of some government powers to local authorities and elected mayors, and a shake-up of social housing allocation. In a “big society” policy, communities are also to be awarded greater rights to buy and run council-owned assets.
