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National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) Update

A new updated version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published this week by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Some of the key changes are as follows:

  • Prioritising development on brownfield sites and densification of larger towns and cities. Michael Gove in announcing the updated Framework mentioned Cambridge as an area for continued growth stating that “It is going to set the standard for how we protect and preserve what makes a city special and also how we design and equip it for the century ahead.”
  • Increased status for Neighbourhood Plans in determining planning applications for housing providing they contain policies and allocations to meet an identified housing requirement.
  • Local planning authorities are not required to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years’ worth of housing for decision making purposes if certain criteria are met.
  • Continuous referencing to achieving or recognising ‘beautiful’ designs and the wider landscape.
  • Emphasis on upwards development in urban areas for residential and commercial premises where the development would be consistent with the existing height and form of the surrounding area. Including allowing ‘mansard roof extensions’ on suitable properties.
  • Further emphasis on new sites for large residential schemes to be put forward through allocated sites in new or updated local plans.
  • The new NPPF also clarifies that there is no expectation for Green Belt boundaries to be reviewed during local plan-making, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
  • General support for the development of smaller sites and new emphasis on community led development(s).

To discuss these changes or any planning related matters please contact our team of expert planning consultants.

 

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Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill receives Royal Assent

On 26th October 2023 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced that the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill had received Royal Assent and is now law.

 

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (referred to as The Act) includes substantial planning reforms as well as giving greater power to Local Council’s amongst other measures. The Act is at the heart of the Governments long term commitment of delivering one million homes over this Parliament and to ensure new development is built more beautifully, provides more local infrastructure (Schools, GP Surgeries and transport links), is shaped by local people’s democratic wishes, enhances the environment, and creates neighbourhoods where people want to live and work.

 

Planning measures in The Act aim to achieve the following:

  • Put local people at the heart of development – making it easier to put Local Plans in place and requiring design codes that set out where homes will be built and how they will look. It is hoped that these plans will deliver more homes in a way that works for communities.
  • Boost local services – requiring developers to deliver vital infrastructure. This is intended to put an end to “lifeless” edge-of-town developments with no community assets and ensure developers deliver the schools, doctor’s surgeries and public services communities need and expect. Further details on these measures will be set out shortly.
  • Encourage developers to get building – giving communities updates on the progress of development and giving councils the chance to consider slow build-out rates when deciding whether to approve planning applications from developers.

 

The Act sets out six over-arching goals:

 

  1. A Genuinely Plan Led System

The Act will introduce a set of National Development Management Policies. These will set generic policies applicable in most areas and sits alongside Local Plan Policies in decision-making, allowing Local Plans to focus on policies specifically relevant to their jurisdiction. Should there be a conflict between the National Development Management Policies and the Local Plan policies, the National Development Management Policies will take precedence.

 

  1. Delivering Infrastructure

The Act sets the framework for the introduction of a new Infrastructure Levy which largely replaces the current system of developer contributions (Community Infrastructure Levy and S106 obligations) as a charge on development for Infrastructure. The Community Infrastructure Levy was based of floor space, the Infrastructure Levy has shifted the focus and will be charged on the value of the property when it is sold.

 

  1. Creating Beautiful Places and Improving Environmental Outcomes

Local Authorities will be required to produce design requirements for planning permission for development to be granted. These can be included within the Local Plan or through a supplementary plan document.

 

  1. Regeneration

The Act empowers local leaders to regenerate towns and cities by a number of means, including making the temporary measures implemented during Covid for pavement licenses (allows cafes, pubs and restaurants to put furniture on the highway) permanent.

 

  1. Market Reform

Introduces a new process of ‘commencement notices’, which will be required when a scheme with planning permission starts on site and will contain a timescale for building-out the development. If development does not come forward in line with the timescale, planning permission can be revoked.

 

  1. Wider Improvements to Development Management Procedures
  • The period for taking enforcement action has changed; previously this varied depending on whether the works related to operational development (physical alterations to the land) or a change of use (4 and 10 years respectively). The Act introduces a single time period of 10 years.
  • Fees for retrospective planning applications will double.
  • Fines issued in relation to a breach of condition notice will increase.
  • Applicants will only have one opportunity to obtain retrospective planning permission.
  • Gives Councils the chance to consider an Applicants previous build-out rates when determining a planning application.

Whilst The Act is now law, we will have to wait for many of the provisions within the Act to emerge via secondary legislation and associated reforms in order to assess its overall impact on the planning system.

 

To discuss any planning related matters please contact Dan Hewett

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Agricultural Permitted Development Rights Consultation

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is currently consulting on a range of changes to the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) with one of the aims being to increase flexibility and remove barriers for converting agricultural buildings to commercial and residential uses.

 

The GPDO covers a range of permitted development rights, allowing development to take place without the need for full planning permission, or in some instances, requiring a more simplified prior approval application.

 

Schedule 2, Part 3, Class Q of the GPDO covers ‘Agricultural Buildings to Dwellinghouses’. The existing permitted development rights allow for the following;

  • Up to 3 larger homes, to be greater than 100 square metres and within an overall floorspace of 465 square metres; or
  • Up to 5 smaller homes each no greater than 100 square metres; or
  • Up to 5 homes comprising a mixture of larger and smaller homes, with neither exceeding the thresholds for each type of home.

The proposed changes to the regulations will increase this allowance enabling up to ten dwellings to be created with a maximum floor space of 1000 sqm.

 

The proposed changes will also introduce the ability for rear extensions to be considered within the prior approval process subject to certain criteria being met. Any created floorspace would be required to fall within the maximum floorspace threshold indicated above.

 

Article 2(3) land:

Class Q developments could also be considered acceptable on article 2(3) land for the first time. Article 2(3) land includes protected areas such as, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks, the Broads, and conservation areas.

 

Other proposed amendments include the following:

 

Agricultural buildings not solely within agricultural use

Agricultural buildings not solely within agricultural use will be considered suitable for conversion under the prior approval process. An example would be a previous agricultural building that has been used for storage.

 

Former agricultural buildings no longer part of an established agricultural unit

Buildings that were used for agricultural purposes but no longer form part of an established agricultural unit, would currently not meet the criteria for the Class Q prior approval process. The proposed amendment through this consultation would seek to allow for these redundant buildings to be brought back into use as dwellings. The building in question would be defined by its last known use and evidence on this use would be required to be demonstrated.

 

Allowing change of use of other rural outbuildings to residential

Existing Class Q permitted development rights only allow agricultural buildings to convert to residential use. The new amendment would provide more flexibility by allowing buildings in other rural uses, such as forestry or equestrian, to change use to residential.

 

Agricultural buildings to a flexible commercial use, through the Class R prior approval process

The existing permitted development rights allow for the change of use of a building from agricultural to a flexible commercial use under Class R, through the prior approval process. The proposed expansion of these rights would allow different types of building to be able to benefit from this process, and thus, create more opportunities for rural diversification.

 

Agricultural development on units of 5 hectares or more

Under the prior notification process covering agricultural and forestry developments, new buildings or extensions will be permitted up to 1500 sqm, an increase from the current 1000 sqm limit.

 

Agricultural development on units of less than 5 hectares

Under the prior notification process covering agricultural and forestry developments, buildings and extensions to buildings falling under Part 6 (Agricultural and Forestry developments) will be permitted to increase in floorspace by up to 25%, an increase from the current limit of 20%.

 

Comments on this consultation can be submitted through the link below to the online survey by the closing date of 25th September 2023.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/permitted-development-rights/consultation-on-additional-flexibilities-to-support-housing-delivery-the-agricultural-sector-businesses-high-streets-and-open-prisons-and-a-call-f

 

Subject to the outcome of the consultation, any changes would be brought forward via secondary legislation as an amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, as amended. No timescales have been confirmed as yet for when this could happen.

 

For further information on this and to discuss any related planning matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett

 

Wilson Wraight Planning Autumn Update

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Breckland Local Plan Full Update – Issues and Options Consultation

Breckland Council has published their Local Plan Issues and Options document for public consultation. This is a key part of the update of the Local Plan and is the first of several rounds of public consultation in the plan preparation process.

 

This consultation provides the opportunity for landowners and developers to submit sites for consideration to take future growth. It seeks views on a range of planning issues and proposed options for the future development of the district up to 2046. The Local Plan will set out the strategy for the amount, location, and design of new development. Further details can be viewed on the link below:

 

https://www.breckland.gov.uk/article/19942/Local-Plan-Full-Update

 

The deadline for submitting comments and/or sites is the 19 May 2023 and we would be delighted to hear from you if you have land to put forward for consideration.

 

For further information on this and to discuss any related planning matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett

 

 

 

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Government Launches Planning Reform Consultations

The Government has begun the consultation process for changes to key elements of the planning system in the form of The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: Reforms to National Planning Policy.  Alongside this, the Government has also published its long-awaited prospectus for revising the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for consultation.

 

Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the RTPI commented that “Today’s announcement of Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: Reforms to National Planning Policy consultation is a much anticipated and welcome opportunity for planners to inform how Government planning reforms intend to deliver levelling up in more detail. It includes proposals on immediate changes to planning policy, offers proposals for how the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill should be implemented and references potential longer-term changes to national planning policy. We welcome the fact Government appears to have understood uncertainty has been bad for the planning system and that a consultation like this for the public and our members is essential for a more stable system.”

 

The changes to the NPPF are unlikely to stop there as the government also promises a wider review of the NPPF, to follow Royal Assent of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The planning reforms consultation states that “The government will consult on the detail of these wider changes next year, reflecting responses to this consultation”.

 

Some of the key points are as follows:

  1. Councils would be able to take past over-delivery of housing into account when assessing housing need. The draft NPPF is intended to make clear that, if permissions that have been granted exceed the provision made in the existing plan, that surplus may be deducted from what needs to be provided in the new plan. Local planning authorities would also be allowed to include historic oversupply in their five-year housing land supply calculations.
  2. The test of ‘soundness’ for local plans is to be scaled back. The draft NPPF revisions say that plans will no longer be required to be ‘justified’, which will remove the need to test reasonable alternatives for delivering growth.
  3. Some authorities with emerging local plans will benefit from a reduced housing land supply requirement. For the purposes of decision-making, where emerging local plans have been submitted for examination or where they have been subject to a Regulation 18 or 19 consultation which included both a policies map and proposed allocations towards meeting housing need, those authorities will benefit from a reduced housing land supply requirement, the consultation says. This will be a requirement to demonstrate a four-year supply of land for housing, instead of the usual five.
  4. Authorities with an up-to-date local plan will no longer need to continually show a deliverable five-year housing land supply. In this case, “up-to-date” means where the housing requirement as set out in strategic policies is less than five years old, the document says.
  5. Councils would no longer have to provide five-year housing land supply buffers.
  6. Delivery will become a material consideration in planning applications. The document states that “This could mean that applications with trajectories that propose a slow delivery rate may be refused in certain circumstances”.
  7. Authorities will be required to start work on new plans by, at the latest, five years after adoption of their previous plan, and to adopt that new plan within 30 months.
  8. There is intended to be a consultation next year on how National Development Management Policies (NDMPs) are implemented. These policies will cover planning considerations that apply regularly in decision-making across England or significant parts of it.
  9. Make sure that food security considerations are factored into planning decisions that affect farm land.
  10. Protection against development that conflicts with neighbourhood plans is to be extended to older plans. The government is proposing that the protection should be extended to plans that are up to five years old.

The consultation’s focus is very much on quick changes to the NPPF following November’s backbench rebellions. The national policy review coming next year is expected to be far wider in its scope and will pick up various changes to legislation and national policy over the last few years, including use class E and First Homes.

 

The consultation documents can be viewed here.

 

For further information on this and to discuss any related planning matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett

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Babergh Mid Suffolk Joint Local Plan Update

Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils recently voted to approve an updated Joint Local Development Scheme 2022-2025 which will be brought into effect from 31st October 2022.

 

The Local Development Scheme sets out the Councils timetable for adopting new planning documents which will help guide development in the areas of Babergh District Council and Mid Suffolk District Council. The Councils have been working together on a Joint Local Plan, which was submitted to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in March 2021 for independent Examination.

 

In December 2021 as part of this Examination, the Inspectors undertaking the Examination wrote to the Councils setting out a proposed way forward for the Joint Local Plan in light of concerns around the process of identifying suitable sites to take future housing development. Inevitably this has led to considerable delay to the process and it was proposed that the Joint Local Plan be split into two parts to try to minimise disruption.

 

The Part 1 Plan will set out the vision and objectives for development in the two Districts. It will contain a set of strategic and local policies to guide development in the period to 2037.

 

The Part 2 Plan will focus on key matters including:

• An up-to-date settlement hierarchy;
• A spatial distribution of any housing allocations;
• Housing requirement figures for Neighbourhood Plan areas;
• Site allocations;
• Up-to-date settlement boundaries reflecting commitments and allocations;

 

An Issues and Options public consultation is expected to be held on the Part 2 Plan by summer 2023.

 

We would be delighted to hear from you if you have land to put forward for consideration or if you wish to make comments on the Councils preferred choices for development.

 

For further information on this and to discuss any related planning matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett

 

A copy of the Local Development Scheme can be viewed by following the link below:

 

https://baberghmidsuffolk.moderngov.co.uk/mgChooseDocPack.aspx?ID=3421

 

 

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Farm Diversification: Unlocking Opportunities Through the Planning System

For many farmers and farming businesses, making the best use of a farm’s assets to enhance farm income from sources other than conventional farm production makes sense. The majority of diversification projects will require some form of planning consent, be that through a full planning application or through the use of permitted development rights. As such, planning will be essential to most schemes.

 

The government recently introduced the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill to Parliament, with the bill including many changes to the planning system. One major change proposed is to limit the scope of local plans to “locally specific” matters, with “issues that apply in most areas” to be covered by a new suite of national policies.

 

A document accompanying the bill states that it will “require each local planning authority to prepare one local plan, with the content limited to locally specific matters such as allocating land for development, detailing required infrastructure and setting out principles of good design”.

 

It adds that “General policies on issues that apply in most areas will be set out nationally and contained in a suite of National Development Management Policies, which will have the same weight as Local Plans so that they are fully taken into account in decisions.”

 

This shift in power away from local authorities on non-local matters could benefit rural areas as policy support may be set out more clearly and positively for diversification projects in these National Development Management Policies.

 

Once the decision has been made to move ahead with some form of diversification, a review of the farm business is a logical first step which will highlight any potential opportunities, which may include:

  • Developing buildings – holiday lets, weddings, residential, workshops, office space
  • Adding value to farm produce – through on-farm processing and/or selling
  • Developing a new enterprise – for example, glamping, dog exercise areas, leisure and recreation activities
  • Energy generation – renewables or anaerobic digestion.
  • Habitat improvements – Biodiversity net gain.

 

It will also be important to be aware of any site-specific constraints, such as landscape designations (e.g. Green Belt, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty etc.), listed buildings, highways, flood risk and so on, and how these could impact on what can be achieved at the farm.

 

We are involved with a number of the projects outlined above. One area we are regularly appointed on involves existing buildings and the ever-controversial Class Q permitted development rights, which allow for the change of use and conversion of buildings from agriculture to residential by securing prior approval, rather than needing to apply for planning permission. It is now possible to provide up to five new dwellings on an ‘established agricultural unit’.

 

The maximum floor area for conversion was increased in 2018 from 450sqm to 865sqm, depending on how the dwellings are arranged. This significant permissible floor area provides a great opportunity for redundant buildings. We continue to hear that the Government is committed to providing new housing, but many rural housing developments would be contrary to planning policy. Therefore, Class Q is often the best chance of achieving a new home in a rural location. It is important to note that Class Q is not available for Listed Buildings or those buildings that fall within a Conservation Area, or other similarly protected sites.

 

Other stringent criteria must also be met, and applications will be assessed regarding transport, highways and noise impacts, contamination and flood risks. The building must be suitable for conversion to residential use without ‘rebuilding’, and structurally able to take the loading of the residential conversion.

 

Structural requirements have been debated at great length, with many Local Planning Authorities taking different approaches. However, some clarity was offered from the case of Hibbitt v Secretary of State [2016] and Government guidance, which ultimately confirms that if the extent of works required to change the use of the building amount to ‘rebuilding’ rather than ‘conversion’, then the proposal will fall outside the scope of Class Q. Overall, Class Q signals a supportive stance from the Government to landowners with redundant buildings. This is a positive step for rural areas and offers considerable opportunity to enhance income generation from rural buildings and to add value to existing assets.

 

A change of use application is the other route if the above criteria cannot be met. However, local authority planning policies tend to be less supportive and may require commercial uses to be explored first, often involving a marketing campaign to demonstrate a lack of demand from potential occupiers.

 

It is also important to highlight Class R permitted development rights, which allow for the change of use of buildings from agriculture to a flexible commercial use. The range of commercial uses available is wide and includes shops, financial and professional services, restaurants and cafes, offices, light industrial, storage and distribution, hotels, and assembly and leisure use.

 

Class R allows for the change of use of up to 500sqm per established agricultural unit.  Applications are assessed with regard to highways, noise, contamination and flood risk. There is no structural requirement, so Class R rights can be utilised on buildings that would not meet Class Q’s strict criteria.

 

There is so much scope to enhance value and income through the implementation of change of use permitted development rights, so Wilson Wraight’s advice would be to take stock of redundant buildings and unearth potentially untapped value.

 

Another area of diversification which Wilson Wraight are advising clients on is Biodiversity Net Gain. Developers who are unable to mitigate biodiversity net loss on site will either have to purchase biodiversity units locally or will be required to pay a cash tariff on their shortfall against net gain obligations set out in the forthcoming Environment Bill. This could provide an income stream for areas of land that perhaps aren’t performing as well as others and do not have the potential to benefit from the other opportunities outlined earlier.

 

For further information on this and to discuss any planning related matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett – dhewett@wilsonwraight.co.uk

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West Suffolk Local Plan – Live Consultation

West Suffolk Council is working on a new Local Plan which will direct development in the district until 2040. They are currently consulting on the Preferred Options (Regulation 18) version of the plan which provides the opportunity for landowners and developers to comment on submitted sites and to put forward new sites for consideration to take this future growth.

 

This preferred options consultation draft of the local plan is the second opportunity for communities and stakeholders to get involved with preparing the new plan. A Submission draft local plan is expected to be published in May 2023. The final draft will then be examined by an independent inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.

 

https://www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/planning/Planning_Policies/local_plans/west-suffolk-local-plan-review.cfm

 

The deadline for submitting sites is the 26th July 2022 and we would be delighted to hear from you if you have land to put forward for consideration or if you wish to make comments on the Council’s preferred choices for development.

 

For further information on this and to discuss any related planning matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett

 

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Breckland Local Plan – Call for Sites Consultation

Breckland District Council is working on a new Local Plan which will direct development in the District until 2036. This consultation provides the opportunity for landowners and developers to submit sites for consideration to take this future growth.

 

All sites put forward will undergo a technical assessment to check whether they are suitable and deliverable. Housing sites should be capable of accommodating five dwellings or more and / or have an area of 0.25 hectares or more. Sites for commercial development or other uses should be a minimum of 0.25 hectares or be able to accommodate 500 sqm.

 

An initial Issues and Option consultation on the new Local Plan, including submitted sites, will be published for public consultation later this year. Further details can be viewed on the link below:

 

https://www.breckland.gov.uk/local-plan-review

 

The deadline for submitting sites is the 20th May 2022 and we would be delighted to hear from you if you have land to put forward for consideration.

 

For further information on this and to discuss any related planning matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett

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Recent Successes

The Wilson Wraight Planning Consultancy team has celebrated a number of recent planning successes in the last few months as the service continues to grow its client base.

 

Examples of these successes include the following:

 

  • Planning permission granted for an extension to the sales area for a property occupied by national retailer B&M.
  • Permitted development rights allowed by Braintree District Council for a new agricultural building adjacent to a Listed Building and Scheduled Ancient Monument.
  • Planning permission granted for stables and ménage adjacent to Listed Buildings.
  • Permitted development rights allowed by Breckland District Council for a new agricultural building.
  • Permitted development rights allowed by Great Yarmouth Council for irrigation related works on an agricultural holding.

To discuss any planning related matters please contact our Head of Planning Dan Hewett

 

Planning permission

B&M Elevations