Localism Act and Planning Reform Workshop: Empowering Communities for Sustainable Development

1. Planning/ National Planning Policy Framework 9 July 2012 Workshop

2. Workshop will cover: • Overview of key changes to planning introduced by Localism Act and National Planning Policy Framework • The County Council’s approach to planning and the new planning system • Support to parish councils regarding neighbourhood planning and the new planning system

3. Localism Act and Planning • “The time has come to disperse power more widely in Britain today” The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Coalition Agreement, May 2010 • Series of measures with potential to achieve a substantial and lasting shift in power away from central government to local people

4. Localism Act and Planning Main measures of Localism Act relating to planning: • Reform to make the planning system clearer, more democratic and more effective; • Reform to ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally.

5. Localism Act and Planning Specific measures: • Abolition of regional strategies • Duty to co-operate • Neighbourhood planning • Community right to build • Requirement to consult before submission of certain planning applications • Strengthening enforcement rules • Reforming the community infrastructure levy • Reform the way local plans are made

6. Localism and planning reform: context • Localism Act (Nov 2011) • National Planning Policy Framework (March 2012) • Incentives and funding: • Community Infrastructure Levy • New Homes Bonus 6

7. Overview of changes • New planning system: • National Planning Policy Framework • Removal of Regional tier • Local Plans • Neighbourhood Plans Old planning system: • National PPSs and PPGs • East Midlands Regional Plan – LCC Section 4(4) role • Local Development Frameworks 7

8. National Planning Policy Framework • National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) seeks to provide a framework within which local people and their accountable councils can produce their own distinctive local and neighbourhood plans which reflect the needs and priorities of their communities • Presumption in favour of sustainable development, ‘golden thread’ running through both plan-making and decision- taking

9. Key aspects of NPPF • Building a strong, competitive economy, planning system should operate to encourage and not act as an impediment to sustainable growth • Ensuring the vitality of town centres, application of sequential test for town centre uses • Supporting a prosperous rural economy • Promoting sustainable transport • Supporting high quality communications infrastructure

10. Key aspects of NPPF(contd) • Delivering a wide choice of high quality homes • Identify and update annually five year housing land supply against housing requirements, with additional 5% to ensure choice and competition and 20% where there has been persistent under delivery of housing • Acknowledgement that supply of new homes can sometimes be best achieved through planning for larger scale development, such as new settlements or extensions to existing villages and towns that follow the principles of garden cities

11. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Requiring good design, great weight given to outstanding or innovative design • Promoting healthy communities, facilitating neighbourhood planning • Sufficient choice of school places, should take a proactive, positive and collaborative approach to meeting this requirement, and to development that will widen choice in education

12. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Local Green Space designation • Protecting Green Belt land • Meeting the challenge of climate change and flooding • Conserving and enhancing the natural environment • Conserving and enhancing the historic environment and • Facilitating the sustainable use of minerals

13. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Local plans must be prepared with the objective of contributing towards sustainable development • Local plans should: • include strategic priorities • plan positively for development and infrastructure required • preferably have a 15 year time horizon • be based on co-operation with neighbouring authorities, public, voluntary and private sector organisations etc (see paragraph 157 of NPPF for full bulleted list)

14. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Using a proportionate evidence base, for example: • Prepare a Strategic Housing Market Assessment which should identify the scale and mix of housing and range of tenures that the local population is likely to need (see paragraph 159 of NPPF for detail this should take account of) • Prepare a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment to establish realistic assumptions about the availability, suitability and the likely economic viability of land to meet the identified need for housing over the plan period

15. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Work with County and neighbouring authorities and with Local Enterprise Partnerships to prepare and maintain a robust evidence base to understand both existing business needs and likely changes in the market; • Work closely with the business community to understand their changing needs and identify and address barriers to investment, including a lack of housing, infrastructure or viability See paragraphs 161 to 177 of NPPF for other evidence required

16. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Planning strategically across local boundaries; public bodies have a duty to co-operate on planning issues that cross administrative boundaries, particularly those that relate to the strategic priorities in the local plan • Examining Local Plans: • Positively prepared • Justified • Effective • Consistent with national policy

17. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Neighbourhood plans should: • Develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and deliver the sustainable development they need to: • set planning policies through neighbourhood plans to determine decisions on planning applications; and • grant planning permission through Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders for specific development which complies with the order • Be in general conformity with the strategic policies of the Local Plan

18. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Neighbourhood plans and orders should not promote less development than set out in the Local Plan or undermine its strategic policies • Outside these strategic elements, neighbourhood plans will be able to shape and direct sustainable development in their area

19. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Decision-taking • Pre-application engagement and front loading • Determining applications • Planning system is plan-led • Where a Neighbourhood Development Order has been made a planning application is not required for development that is within the terms of the order. Where a planning application conflicts with a neighbourhood plan that has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally be granted

20. Key aspects of NPPF (contd) • Tailoring planning controls to local circumstances • Limit use of Article 4 directions • Planning conditions and obligations • Necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms; • Directly related to the development; and • Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development • Enforcement • Maintain public confidence in planning system

21. County Council’s approach to planning and the new planning system • Duty to co-operate: – informal arrangements currently in place • Good track record of co-operative work on evidence base for Local Development Frameworks • Increased LCC key service provider focus? • Highways Authority • Education • Flood management • Public Health

22. County Council and the new planning system • Support for neighbourhood planning • Currently exploring extent and type of support needed/ likely to be needed by communities • What ‘added value’ can the County Council bring to assist communities? • Distil into a protocol or guide? Neighbourhood planning case study later in workshop

23. County Council and the new planning system • Community Right to Build • New Homes Bonus • LCC New Homes Bonus £540,000 2011/12, £500,000 2012/13 towards the provision of rural affordable housing • Fill funding gap • Sapcote in Blaby District and Somerby in Melton Borough started on site • Five further schemes supported in 2012/2013

24. County Council and the new planning system • Community Infrastructure Levy • Joint work on evidence to inform charging schedules currently ongoing across Leicester and Leicestershire • Mid/late July update on progress so far • April 2014 key date

25. County Council and the new planning system • Local Green Space designation • County Council collected views on valuable green spaces through community forums in 2011 • Mapping tool used • Community forum reports and a County report produced • Provides evidence for district local planning authorities, parish councils and other organisations to use www.leics.gov.uk/greenspaces

26. Support to Parish Councils regarding neighbourhood planning and the new planning system • County Council has provided and continues to provides support to neighbourhood planning front runners in Leicestershire • Level of support has varied • Most involvement to date has been with the Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan (FVNP)

27. Aims ofneighbourhoodplanning • The Government is giving neighbourhoods greater ability to determine the shape of their places: • Empower communities • Neighbourhood led • Light-touch but robust • Flexible - inspire innovation and creativity • Pro-growth - exploring ways of enabling community supported development • Critical role for local plan in setting strategic context • New basis for partnership work with local authority

28. Process

29. A Neighbourhood Plan can: • be single issue or range of topics • propose more development than in Local Plan • take precedence over Local Plan on non-strategic issues

30. A Neighbourhood Plan cannot: • be in conflict with national policy or strategic policies in Local Plan • consider county matters, major infrastructure and waste • be used to block development • make policies beyond plan area

31. CLG Front Runners • Nationally over 230 Neighbourhood Development Plans / Orders underway (waves 1 to 5) • Mixture of parished & non-parished areas, business and residential • 5% annual take up predicted

32. Front runners in Leicestershire

33. Feb 2011 – CLG announced Front runner Programme Apr 2011 – Fosse Villages ‘first wave’ Dec 2011 – FVNP Project Manager May 2012 –FVNP Stakeholder event

34. Process moving forward • Parish profiles and other evidence • Getting the word out • Public consultation • Drafting the Plan • Consulting on the Plan • Submitting to BDC • Independent examination • Referendum • Adoption

35. Fosse Villages - Emerging Issues • Transport and HGV movements • Lack of infrastructure • Influencing the future development of settlements • Preserving the character of neighbourhoods • Protecting important green spaces • Providing local employment

36. Whatelse Fosse Villages are doing • Liaising more informally • Creating FVNP responses • Aware of cross boundary issues • Networking across country • Speaking at events and conferences

37. Role of county councils in neighbourhood planning • Responsibility primarily lies with district • No clearly defined role • Key service provider – transport, schools and libraries • Land holdings and other assets • Advise and support • Community and Ward councillor interest (especially in parished areas)

38. What is the County Council doing • Varied approaches across districts • Working in partnership with districts • Protocol or guide? • Parish Council Event • Role out a process of engaging with NP • Information sharing in a practical way

39. Neighbourhood planning and the new planning system • What support do you consider you need? • Are there particular aspects of neighbourhood planning and the new planning system where you consider further support will be needed? • Is the County Council the best placed organisation to help? • Other potential partners?

40. Contacts: Sophie Davies 0116 305 8163 Sophie.Davies@leics.gov.uk Sarah McCartney 0116 305 7023 Sarah.McCartney@leics.gov.uk Sharon Wiggins 0116 305 8234 Sharon.Wiggins@leics.gov.uk