The National Planning Policy Framework

Minister announces the new planning policy.

Last Tuesday the Rt. Hon Greg Clark MP, Minister of State for Decentralisation and Planning, gave a speech announcing the publication of the government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Clark stated that the new 50 page NPPF, reduced from over a thousand pages of previous planning, incorporates “the intrinsic value and beauty of the countryside” whilst encouraging “growth to allow employers to create the jobs our constituents need.” The reforms to planning policy have three fundamental objectives. Firstly, to put unprecedented power in the hands of communities to shape the places in which they live. Secondly, to better support jobs and growth for future generations and finally to ensure our countryside, towns and cities are preserved for future generations.

The “presumption in favour of sustainable development” still stands, however following previous criticism the term “sustainable development” has now been redefined. The revised NPPF now states that the term will be defined against the five principles of the 2005 UK Sustainable Development Strategy: living within the planet’s environmental limits; ensuring a strong, healthy and just society; achieving a sustainable economy; promoting good governance; and using sound science responsibly.

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