Rushcliffe’s MP Ruth Edwards has strongly welcomed further changes made to planning reforms in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which were announced by Housing Secretary Michael Gove yesterday.
These further reforms will protect areas from overdevelopment and place local communities at the heart of the planning system.
They will bring stronger protections to the Green Belt and the character of our villages and towns.
They will also end the blight of inappropriate development which has often seen houses built in the wrong places across our area.
In the last Local Plan, Rushcliffe had a housebuilding target of 9,000 homes, but we ended up having to build an extra 4,800 that were meant to be built in the City of Nottingham.
This was because a planning law called “the Duty to Cooperate” allowed councils to look to their neighbours to fill some of their housing numbers.
The Levelling Up Bill abolishes this duty but the changes announced yesterday go even further.
They recognise that some areas have historically overdelivered on housing but are not rewarded for doing so. In future, local planning authorities will be allowed to take historic housebuilding into account when preparing a new local plan, lowering the number of houses they need to plan for.
The headline new announcement is that housebuilding targets will also become advisory, a starting point, a guide that is not mandatory. It will be up to local authorities, working with their communities, to determine how many homes can actually be built, taking into account what should be protected in each area, be that Green Belt or national parks, the character of an area, or heritage assets.
Other changes include:
- Removing powers of the planning authority to override sensible local decisions.
- Introducing a duty for local councils to publish a design code to protect the character of an area.
- Allowing local authorities to refuse the planning applications of developers with slow build out rates or a reputation for land banking
- Providing £800 million to mayoral and local authorities to unlock urban brownfield sites for housing and develop greenfield land.
- Allowing local authorities to alter the proposed infrastructure levy, to encourage developers to prioritise brownfield sites.
Ruth said “I have always been supportive of the planning reforms that are proposed in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and am thrilled that the Government is taking these further because they directly address many of the issues we have here in Rushcliffe.
In 2021 we had 661% of the national average for new homes registered [add definition] and whilst we undeniably need to build new houses, we need to make sure that this development is proportionate and appropriate. In Rushcliffe, it hasn’t been in the past.”
Roger Upton, Rushcliffe Borough Council’s portfolio holder for Planning and Housing, said “Having worked on housing policy at the council for many years, it has been extremely frustrating to have to meet housing targets that had been dictated to us.
“I am pleased that these reforms will give us more control locally and allow us to consider what development is best for Rushcliffe.”
In a letter to MPs, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities made clear:
‘…These reforms will help to deliver enough of the right homes in the right places and will do that by promoting development that is beautiful, that comes with the right infrastructure, that is done democratically with local communities rather than to them, that protects and improves our environment, and that leaves us with better neighbourhoods than before…’
You can see a full breakdown of the changes announced here.
Notes to editors:
- Ruth has written to constituents outlining the reforms of the Levelling Up and Regeneration bill with access to a survey so they can give opinions and inform her work around this bill. You can access it here.
• 900 sign petition to stop 1,000 homes at greenbelt beauty spot in Nottinghamshire
