Wilson Wraight Planning Launch Party – 13th October 2021

Following a successful first year we were delighted to be able to host a launch party for our Planning Consultancy service at the Farmers Club in Bury St Edmunds on the 13th October 2021.

 

It was great to be able to welcome so many guests, introduce the team and share our excitement of what the new service can offer our clients over a refreshing drink and a selection of canapes.

 

We would like to thank all those who were able to attend, you made the evening a resounding success!

 

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

 

 

Wilson Wraight Planning – Autumn Update

While the debate about the forthcoming Planning Bill rumbles on, a number of potentially radical alterations to the planning system have been introduced. Among these are the merging of many traditional town centre use classes into the single use class E, and the expansion of permitted development to cover conversions from class E to residential, upwards extensions and demolitions to create new housing.

 

The government’s policy allowing homes to be built on sites not allocated in a local plan under its new First Homes initiative, is arguably another radical alteration. Detailed in a written ministerial statement and explained further in planning practice guidance and the government’s response to its First Homes consultation, the policy has potentially significant repercussions.

 

First Homes are new build properties to be sold at a discount of at least 30 per cent to first-time buyers, the majority of which the government expects to be delivered via the planning obligations that developers undertake to mitigate the impacts of their schemes. The policy was brought into force at the end of June as a replacement to the previous ‘entry-level’ exception sites policy and offers a route to permission where sites have failed to gain support in the local plan. Unlike the entry-level exception sites policy, there is no upper limit to their size, and First Homes schemes can even include some market housing to assist viability.

 

According to housing minister Christopher Pincher’s May 24 2021 written ministerial statement, the First Homes exception site policy is designed to “maximise the number of First Homes made available to those keen to get on the housing ladder”, allowing a route to approval for unallocated sites. It replaces the previous policy intended to allow exception sites for discounted market housing for first-time buyers or renters, known as the ‘entry-level’ exception site policy. However, it does not replace the policy allowing for rural exception sites, which provide affordable rented housing in rural areas for people with local connections.

 

This policy could represent a significant opportunity, and unsurprisingly, a number of land promoters and developers have registered interest in the scheme, while some planning authorities and countryside campaigners have expressed concern it could result in unsustainable large developments.

 

However, many traditional housebuilders are likely to be put off by the fact the vast majority of homes on First Homes exception sites would have to be sold at a not insignificant discount.

 

Unfortunately, the main obstacle to the policy’s success is currently national policy as the exception sites element of it was directly contradicted in the July update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) even though it was published after the First Homes policy. This contained no reference to First Homes, instead referring not only to the previous “entry-level” exception sites policy that the First Homes policy is supposed to replace, but also omitting reference to the development size limits being abolished.

 

Further amendments to the NPPF are intended to resolve this contradiction in due course, but for the moment it remains unclear what an inspector would make of an appeal based on the ministerial statement.

 

A further stumbling block is the current lack of local policies to make clear how First Homes will be implemented by individual planning authorities. This is important, because the national First Homes policy gives councils significant leeway, allowing them (given appropriate evidence) to set larger minimum discounts than 30 per cent, introduce additional local eligibility criteria, control the amount of market housing permitted on such sites, and set rules on the size of exception site that is considered ‘proportionate’. These are all crucial points for potential applicants to understand when deciding whether to proceed with applications or whether to take land under Option on the basis of a viable strategy to progress such a scheme. At the moment you would have to work in a policy vacuum which is undesirable for landowners and promoters due to the inability to quantify risk.

 

As a consequence of this uncertainty, it is unlikely that there will be significant interest from mainstream developers at present, although this may be a more attractive proposition for affordable housing providers who are likely to encounter less competition in the marketplace for suitable sites.

 

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

Recent Success

Planning Approved
Consent for New Agricultural Building

Wilson Wraight Planning has secured planning consent for a new grain store at Beccles Heliport.  As the address implies, the building was located close to an active airfield which meant it was not possible to take advantage of Permitted Development rules for new agricultural buildings under 1,000 sqm.

 

The new grain store is required to reduce the amount of transporting and double handling which currently occurs. This will result in a significant reduction in heavy goods vehicle movements through several villages in the local area.

 

The application was approved by South Norfolk Council within the statutory determination period.

 

 

Will Biodiversity Net Gain result in a financial gain for farmers?

The Government has made it a key priority to build houses. In 2017, the Conservatives had a manifesto pledge to deliver 1 million homes by the end of 2020 and to deliver half a million more by the end of 2022. However, the Prime Minister has also promised to protect biodiversity and be “the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it and pass on to the next generation a natural environment protected and enhanced for the future”.

 

To balance these two priorities, which might be considered competing, the Government has created a new planning policy, known as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). BNG will require a 10% increase in biodiversity after development, compared to the baseline. It will require a careful assessment of habitats, the condition and distinctiveness of those habitats and measurement of the areas each one covers before and after development.

 

This policy sits within the forthcoming Environment Bill, which is still moving through Parliament. The draft Environment Bill would amend the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to include a provision to require net gain in biodiversity. While it is yet to be enshrined into law, there has been much implementation planning already, with an expected roll-out date of 2023.

 

Additionality

The basis of BNG rests on the concept of additionality. This differs from the “no new loss” principle from the past. Additionality means that there has to be a clear improvement to biodiversity. It would require an increase in biodiversity measured against Defra’s Biodiversity Metric. That would mean that the local planning authority would only approve a planning application if the ‘biodiversity value’ of the finished development is greater than the ‘pre-development biodiversity value’ by at least 10%.

 

However, that could be quite a simplistic and crude understanding of biodiversity and landscapes. Consequently, the goal of additionality will be balanced with the value of specific species and habitats. This means that it might be that protecting a rare grassland might be weighted to score higher than pure additionality. Furthermore, irreplaceable habitats will not be eligible to be considered under BNG so as to ensure their protection.

 

Biodiversity Credits

However, on many development sites, it might not be realistic to deliver the BNG on site. In that scenario, developers would be able to purchase Biodiversity Credits from the Government as opposed to delivering it themselves.

 

This is where farmers and land-managers come into the picture. There is a key role for farmers to play in delivering Biodiversity Credits. If interested in participating in the Biodiversity Credit scheme, a farmer would be able to register a parcel of their land to the scheme, including the baseline using Defra’s Biodiversity Metric. Once the farmer has committed to delivering biodiversity increase on their holding, Government would purchase the biodiversity credit from the farmer and then sell it onto the developer on the BNG marketplace.

 

There is uncertainty about the future price for each unit of biodiversity credit. The estimated cost varies from £12k-£50k. The figure should be clarified by 2022. Any land that is under a BNG agreement will be required to be maintained as such for a minimum of 30 years. After that 30-year period, landowners would be able to change the use of the land parcel, however the target habitat condition of the site would be the biodiversity baseline for any future development.

 

Offsite BNG

However, there is another route where farmers can benefit from the new scheme. While the developer has to deliver BNG, it does not have to be in the same location as the development. A developer could work with a specific landowner to have them deliver the BNG offsite and to offset the development. This would require an individual contract to agree terms.

 

Some of the easiest ways for farmers to deliver additionality would be;

• Planting an orchard on a small plot of land while maintaining grazing underneath the tree canopy.
• Creating a wildlife pond to allow wetland species to thrive. This could be quite small in size, provided it was designed well and would be prioritised in lowland England.
• Allowing native scrub and thicket to emerge through a natural process.

 

How Wilson Wraight Can Help

As BNG comes into law, we are here to help our clients to best benefit from the new scheme. There is a significant question over how developers who desire an offsite BNG partner will be connected with farmers who can deliver it. This is where Wilson Wraight can help and we can work to broker these relationships too, and act to connect developers with our clients.

 

Secondly, ahead of committing to a BNG project, it would first be valuable to identify potential land parcels that could be used for BNG. Our consultants are able to consider which areas of a holding would be most appropriate for BNG and, using our new WW Analytics tool, assess the profitability of BNG at a field-by-field level. We would recommend calculating the biodiversity baseline as soon as possible and can help by working with clients and Biodiversity Metric 3.0 assessors to calculate the baseline.

 

If you are interested in learning more about Biodiversity Net Gain and how it might benefit your business, please get in touch.

Rural Planning and Development Opportunities Update – May 2021

The recent national media speculation that a planning bill would be included in the government’s legislative programme over the next year was finally confirmed in the much anticipated Queen’s speech in May where Her Majesty announced that “Laws to modernise the planning system, so that more homes can be built, will be brought forward.”

 

The planning bill is intended to create a simpler, faster, and more modern planning system, ensuring homes and infrastructure can be delivered more quickly across England. This is big news for the sector which is expecting the bill to result in the biggest shake up of the planning system for 70 years.  According to the background briefing notes the bill is intended to “Transform our planning system from a slow document-based one to a more efficient and easier to use digital and map-based service, allowing more active public engagement in the development of their local area”.

 

The main elements of the bill as set out in this document will be:

• Changing local plans so they provide more certainty over the type, scale and design of development permitted on different categories of land.
• Significantly decreasing the time it takes for developments to go through the planning system.
• Replacing the existing developer contributions systems with a new more predictable and more transparent levy.
• Using post-Brexit freedoms to simplify and enhance the framework for environmental assessments for developments.

Ministers are expected to enact a radical shift in the way decisions are made on new developments by zoning land either for ‘growth’, where developers will be allowed to build homes and related infrastructure such as schools and hospitals without individual planning consents, or ‘protection’ where development will be restricted.

 

There is a concern amongst some planning professionals that rural areas are once again being left behind, whilst others are concerned that the proposed changes will result in a dramatic loosening of planning laws to create a housebuilding boom resulting in the destruction of large swathes of countryside.

 

Is there a danger the changes brought forward through the planning bill will result in many rural areas being washed over with protection policies as part of this new zoning approach? There is much more detail needed to understand the implications for rural areas, but in the meantime, Local Plan consultations are still going ahead. Local Authorities are required to prepare and maintain an up-to-date Local Plan which is designed to guide future development within their District. These consultations provide opportunities for landowners to put land forward for consideration as future housing or employment sites.

 

Not all land will be suitable and the main factors to consider include proximity to existing settlements, size of settlement, suitability of available access, flood risk, potential impact on nearby heritage assets, and presence of protected species. The promotion of land to Local Plan consultations can be a slow burn, which is something the planning bill is looking to address, but other recent changes to planning legislation have improved shorter term opportunities for development in rural areas.

 

Class Q in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (GDPO), for example, allows for development consisting of a change of use of an agricultural building to a use falling within Use Class C3 (dwelling houses). A further amendment to the Act increased the number of dwellings permitted from three to five.

 

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.

 

Class R of the GDPO also allows for a change of use from an agricultural building and land within its curtilage under PD rights, but this time to a ‘Flexible Use’ falling within various commercial Use Classes. These flexible uses include shops, financial and professional services, restaurants and cafes, offices, workshops, storage or distribution, hotels, leisure and community uses.

 

Another recent amendment to the GPDO has increased the maximum floor area of new agricultural buildings to 1,000 sqm on agricultural units of five hectares or more. The amendment also allowed for buildings on units of less than 5 hectares to be extended by up to 20%, to a maximum of 1,000 sqm. An additional benefit is that there is a substantial reduction in planning fees for applicants. For example, a 1,000 sqm building would incur a planning application fee of £3,696, whereas a prior notification for an agricultural building has a flat fee of £96.

 

These measures allow development in rural areas to come forward and can be a way of avoiding the often restrictive policies of local planning authorities and highly politicised planning committee decision making process. It will be interesting to see the detail of the planning bill and how it is interpreted by planning officers and members. Either way, there will continue to be a busy appeals process in operation.

 

A transcript of the speech in full can be viewed here

 

The background briefing note can be downloaded here

 

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

Canterbury City Council – Call for Sites 2021

Canterbury City Council is working on a new Local Plan which will direct development in the District until 2040. 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. A Strategic Land Availability Assessment (SLAA) will be produced later this year listing all sites and will be used to inform decisions on which sites should be included.

 

The draft Local Plan, including submitted sites, will be published for public consultation in 2022. Further details can be viewed on the link below:

 

https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/info/20014/planning_and_building/313/new_local_plan_2040/2

 

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

Wilson Wraight Spring Webinar

Are you making the most out of your resources?

 

With the introduction of the Environmental Land Management Scheme, alongside the additional services that we can now offer at Wilson Wraight we held our first ever webinar to showcase how you could be ‘sweating your assets’.

We are always challenging ourselves and our clients on whether resources are working as hard as they could be – not only from a business perspective for farms but for the environment as well. Over the past 6 months we have welcomed Dan Hewett to head up our new planning consultancy, and Honor Eldridge our environmental specialist to offer further expertise for our clients.

Identifying Opportunities

As a team we are here to help our clients analyse on-farm data to maximise all assets and identify opportunities. Whether it’s the development of existing buildings for non-agricultural use, or identifying opportunities for farming grants, including ELM and the Countryside Stewardship.

Our Spring Webinar, hosted by Wilson Wraight Partner Will Mitcham, is for anyone who wants to get more from their land and open the possibilities of even greater performance. Missed it? Don’t worry you can watch our webinar below and for more information please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team.

Planning Services

 

Head of Planning at Wilson Wraight, Dan Hewett, opens the session with planning opportunities. Dan’s expertise extends to identifying land with future development potential, overseeing the submission of planning applications and appeals and managing promotion strategies to development plans.

We talk about how you can identify opportunities on your farm for both existing and new buildings, as well as other opportunities you may not have considered. Including:

• Tourism
• Renewable Energy
• Class S permitted developments
• Biodiversity Net Gain
• Habitat Creation / Enhancement

 

WW Analytics

 

Are you making the most out of what you already have?

We hear from YAGRO Co-Founder Dan Jolly on the power of farm data in making informed decisions at field level.

A farmer’s son from Norfolk, Dan has always enjoyed understanding the decisions that determine farm business profitability. He co-founded YAGRO to build tools that help farms get value from their on-farm data, and drive farm performance. With the WW Analytics platform powered by YAGRO you can analyse field performance and manage each field as its own profit centre. Enabling you to make fully informed decisions for 2022 cropping with an average saving of £25 per Ha.

 

Environmental Assets

 

Wilson Wraight Environmental Consultant, Honor Eldridge, has been working as an agricultural consultant for leading sustainable farming organisations around the world for the last decade, specialising in climate sensitive farming and agri-environment policy. When it comes to sweating your environmental assets, Honor discusses ELM in more detail here, as well as other sustainable farming initiatives available.

Key areas to be aware of which could provide significant opportunities include:

• Biodiversity Net Gain
• Catchment Sensitive Farming
• Woodland creation and Carbon credits

 

Watch Webinar

Oxford to Cambridge Expressway Project Cancelled

Construction of the Oxford to Cambridge expressway has been cancelled as analysis shows the benefits the road would deliver are outweighed by its costs.

 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced on 18 March 2021 the cancellation of the Oxford-Cambridge (Ox-Cam) expressway, after analysis confirmed the proposed project was not cost-effective. Highways England had been developing potential options for a road link between Oxford and Milton Keynes. However, following close work with local partners since 2014, recent analysis shows that the benefits the road would deliver are outweighed by the costs associated with the project.

 

The Department for Transport (DfT) will now investigate the need for more targeted road interventions in the area, recognising the vital role that transport investment has to support sustainable growth in the region

 

The East West Rail scheme remains a firm commitment, with it seen as being key to not only improving connectivity but also bringing new jobs and opportunities to the area. In January, the government announced a £760 million funding commitment to deliver the next phase of East West Rail, which will create 1,500 skilled jobs and reinstate direct rail services between Bicester and Bletchley for the first time since 1968.

 

See link below to the Government’s full announcement from the Department for Transport and Highways England:

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/oxford-to-cambridge-expressway-project-cancelled-as-transport-secretary-looks-to-alternative-plans-for-improving-transport-in-the-region

 

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

Wilson Wraight welcomes Honor Eldridge to the team

We’re pleased to welcome Honor to the Wilson Wraight Planning team as our Environmental Specialist.

 

Honor has been working with clients to guide and shape agri-environmental policy over the past 10 years. Her relationships in Whitehall will help put Wilson Wraight at the forefront of potential future environmental policy developments. Given the rise of blended finance from public and private funding sources, she will also liaise with the private sector to identify and deliver commercial funding opportunities, including biodiversity net gain.

 

Her experience of working to influence environmental policy enables Wilson Wraight to provide clients with an in-house expert for projects requiring the negotiation of Biodiversity Net Gain Assessments with Local Authorities.

 

Planning for Sustainable Growth in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc

The Government has published a long awaited policy paper setting out the approach they intend to take to delivering the ambitious levels of growth planned for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. The paper includes the following:

– A timeline for developing the framework,
– How they will engage communities and work with local partners, and
– The high-level scope of the framework, including the approach it will take to planning for the environment, infrastructure, economic growth, and new homes and place-making.

 

There will be the following opportunities to comment on the proposals:

1. Vision – The Government intend to launch this process in early 2021, and will use comments from initial stakeholder engagement to produce a draft vision statement for public consultation in Summer 2021.
2. ‘Towards a Spatial Framework’ consultation – Building on the vision, the Government will develop policy and growth options for consultation. They intend to publish a consultation document in Spring 2022.
3. Draft Spatial Framework – A draft Spatial Framework will be published for consultation containing the Preferred Options. This is intended to be published in Autumn 2022, with the final Spatial Framework implemented shortly after.

We would be delighted to hear from you if you have land to put forward for consideration in the Local Authority areas identified on the boundary map opposite, or if you wish to make comments on its content.

 

The paper can be viewed in full on the link below:

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-for-sustainable-growth-in-the-oxford-cambridge-arc-spatial-framework

 

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