The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has called for an improvement on fundamentally important NPPF topics before future consultation with the public, experts, and practitioners
In a letter to Minister of State for Housing Rachel Maclean MP, Victoria Hills outlined how proposals for climate change, green belts, environmental protection, housing, transport, economic growth, and plan-making policy should be improved before future consultations.
The letter comes a week after the RTPI’s consultation response to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which warned that immediate changes to national policy would allow the government to progress with planning reform at the expense of levelling up communities.
If implemented, the RTPI believes that residents in too few areas will feel supported by a plan-led system.
Whilst the RTPI agrees that a policy change is needed to strengthen the planning system, the proposed changes to the NPPF risk giving councils fewer tools to deliver needed changes.
Changes to the NPPF will reduce the number of homes and infrastructure across England
Victoria Hills, chief executive of the RTPI, commented: “England’s planning system is struggling to deliver and adapt during the recently increased reform process. RTPI members across the public and private sectors tell us that open and early engagement with the profession and clear direction about the changing expectations of local planning authorities will help to significantly reduce the delays we are seeing to plans and projects.
“They have also expressed deep dismay that future national policy decisions have been shared but not consulted on. We believe that these policies can be improved with planners’ input. We will continue a dialogue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Housing Minister as Government’s planning reform agenda progresses, ensuring the voices of our members are being heard.”
‘Changes will leave communities and businesses with few guarantees that their needs will be considered’
Richard Blyth, head of policy and research, added: “It is reasonable to favour local consent for plans and projects over abstract targets. But in the absence of effective checks and balances, these changes would leave communities and businesses with few guarantees that their needs will be considered, and less certainty that land will be made available where necessary to make places sustainable.”
