England planning news, February 2019

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England planning news, February 2019

01 Feb 2019
       

Contents

 
 
       
 

Headline news

 
 
01
 
 
 
02
   
 

Law and policy news

 
 
03
 
 
 
04
   
 
05
   
 

Other news

 
 
06
   
 
07
   
 
08
 
 
         
     
 

Headline news

 
     


Developer contributions reform: technical consultation

The Government has carried out a technical consultation on draft amendments to the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations. The Regulations would not apply in Wales, and so should they come into force the CIL Regulations will be different for England and Wales for the first time.

The key proposals are as follows:

  1. Removing the pooling restriction, thereby allowing authorities to collect contributions from more than five s106 obligations to fund a single infrastructure project. This would be achieved through the omission of Regulation 123, so it would also become easier for authorities to fund the same item of infrastructure through CIL and s106.

  2. In order to link CIL rates to the value of development rather than the cost of building infrastructure, CIL for residential development would be indexed to a three-year smoothed average of the annual local House Price Index (other time periods are being tested). Non-residential development would be indexed to the Consumer Price Index (no smoothing of the data).

  3. A charging authority must publish an Annual CIL rate summary on its website setting out its rates, the inflation index that applies to each rate, and what the indexed rate is for each rate.

  4. Contribution receiving authorities must produce an annual infrastructure funding statement which would (amongst other things) set out revenue and non-monetary contributions from CIL and s106 agreements, the value of CIL liability notices, the types of infrastructure that might be funded by CIL, and a three year forecast of CIL and s106 agreement receipts. It would replace the ‘Regulation 123 list’.

  5. Extending the abatement provisions so that phased planning permissions that were granted before CIL came into force in an area become able to balance CIL liabilities between different phases of the same development.

  6. Starter Homes will be included in the types of affordable housing that can benefit from social housing relief.

  7. Reduced penalty for failing to submit a Commencement Notice.

There are no provisions for a strategic infrastructure tariff, which could be brought forward through combined authority orders where necessary.

CIL Regulations require approval by both Houses of Parliament, and consequently it is not clear when this might take place and so when they might come into force; albeit the draft Regulations anticipate that it would be during 2019.

MHCLG, Developer contributions reform: technical consultation

High Streets Task Force

The High Streets Expert Panel has published a new report that sets out a series of recommendations for the new High Streets Task Force. The suggestion for a Task Force was put forward by the Panel ahead of last year’s budget, with the aim of providing expertise and hands-on support to local areas.

The recommendations build on evidence gathered during a series of workshops, undertaken by the Institute of Place Management, held in places where positive changes to local high streets and town centres had been achieved.

The report recommends that the Task Force should:

  • be a single voice for town centres;
  • provide places with access to the data to help them improve their town centres;
  • facilitate cross-sector networking and skills building;
  • share information and best practice stories;
  • provide access to expert help and support;
  • help to enable local ‘champions’ in driving forward their plans; and
  • help to streamline the planning process.

The report also suggested criteria for how the Government’s new Future High Streets Fund should be spent. Successful bids for the £675 million fund should demonstrate high level of community involvement, have a clear long-term vision, and show a commitment to partnership, collaboration and cross-sector leadership.

The fund will also help support the regeneration of heritage high streets, helping to restore historic buildings, and supporting communities to bring historic buildings back into economic use.

MHCLG, The High Street ReportMHCLG, £675 million fund to transform high streets and town centres opens to communities

 
     

 

Quote of the month

 
     
     
 
[The NPPF] makes clear that design policies should be grounded in an understanding and evaluation of each area's defining characteristics, including materials, while allowing a suitable degree of variety where justified. Updated guidance to support these policies will be published in due course
Housing Minister Kit Malthouse responding to a written question by Jacob Rees-Mogg
 
     

 

     
 

Law and policy news

 
     

 

The Conservation of Habitats and Species and Planning (Various Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018

The ‘Conservation of Habitats and Species and Planning (Various Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018’ came into force on 28 December 2018, amending the Habitats Regulations and other secondary legislation to reflect the clarification in case law (People Over Wind & Sweetman v Coillte Teoranta) that it is not appropriate to take account of mitigation measures at the screening stage of plans and projects.
Most of the assessment requirements in the Habitat Regulations have been extended to permission in principle, sites on a brownfield register, special development orders, local development orders, neighbourhood development orders, simplified planning zones, enterprise zones and cycle tracks.
Planning practice guidance regarding the amendments will be published ‘shortly’, according to the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum.

The Conservation of Habitats and Species and Planning (Various Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018Letter about Habitats Regulations Assessments (January 2019), MHCLG

A building under construction is not a retained building for CIL purposes

The High Court has agreed with the London Borough of Camden’s interpretation that a ‘retained part’ of a building that does not meet the ‘in-use’ test for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) purposes may only be deducted from the chargeable amount of CIL if it could have been carried on lawfully and permanently without planning permission as part of the new development on the day before the planning permission first permitted development. This interpretation reflects planning practice guidance and an explanatory note to the CIL (Amendment) Regulations 2014.
The developer submitted to the Court that the sole requirement of Reg 40(7)(ii) is that retained parts of a building (as defined at reg 40(11)) could be lawfully and permanently used for the same use as the chargeable development on 21 June 2017. This interpretation would mean that floorspace that benefited from an extant planning permission for six flats, that had been stripped out for a change of use to residential but never occupied as such, could be considered a ‘retained part’.
The judgment concluded that because the change of use permitted in 2011 had not yet taken place, and the first, second and third floors were a shell incapable of habitation, planning permission was necessary for the proposed development of three flats. Accordingly, it did not meet the test at 40(7) which required the present and intended uses to match on (in this case) 21 June 2017: “A potential use was not sufficient.” Giordano Ltd, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Camden

Pre-commencement conditions did not go to the ‘heart of the permission’

An application for judicial review of a decision to discharge or partially discharge aviation and archaeology related conditions attached to a planning permission for a wind turbine has been dismissed for reasons including that it would be irrational and an abuse of power for the Council to take enforcement action.
Mr Howell challenged the decision, two of his grounds being “that the Council wrongly discharged the conditions relating to aviation safety and archaeological work since they had been breached; [and] that as a consequence of their breach the planning permission has expired”.
The Ministry of Defence had been consulted prior to the submission of the application and “had no objection to the discharge of conditions 3 and 4 although the details were submitted late. In other words, it was acceptable for development to commence less than three months after submission of the requisite details. […] No significant harm to public safety would arise”. Furthermore, the “County Archaeologist had approved the Written Scheme of Investigation and recommended a partial discharge of the conditions”.

The judgment found that the aviation condition that had been breached because the details required were not approved more than three months prior to the commencement of development, as was required, “is not a condition precedent going to the heart of the permission […] and the failure to comply with it did not mean that the entire development was to be regarded as unlawful […] it would be irrational and an abuse of power for the Council to enforce against the developer for the late submission of the details. […] Notwithstanding the late lodging of details required by Condition 3, what has been done was effective to implement the permission which had not expired. The development was lawfully commenced; the breach did not render it unlawful”.
The same analysis and conclusions applied to the archaeology conditions.

R (On the Application Of Howell) v Stamford Renewable Power Ltd and others

 

     
 

Other news

 
     

 

Government publishes aviation green paper

On 17 December, the Department for Transport published its green paper ‘Aviation 2050: The future of UK aviation’.
The paper sets out the various challenges and opportunities for the sector, and the Government’s preference for sustainable growth. It states that demand up to 2030 can be met through the proposed new north-west runway at Heathrow, as set out in the 2018 Airports National Policy Statement, and by other airports making better use of their existing runways. Beyond this, capacity should be reviewed by the National Infrastructure Commission in future national infrastructure assessments.
The paper proposes that future decisions are reviewed against a new aviation policy framework, which would help to create consensus moving forward, for Government, the regulator, industry and other interested parties.
Policies within the framework would cover a comprehensive range of measures, including future growth, modernisation, efficiency, air quality, noise, and community engagement. It would apply to all airports and airlines within the UK, though the paper states that many policies would need to be tailored to the local circumstances.
“For example, there could be different policies applied depending on whether an airport was continuing to grow within existing planning approvals, was bringing forward a new planning application to make best use of existing runways, or in future was potentially seeking permission for a new runway”.
The consultation will last until 11 April. Following this, a final white paper is expected to be published by the middle of 2019.

Department for Transport, Aviation 2050 - the future of UK aviation

Amendments to water resource NSIP come in to force, and similar changes may come into force for energy storage

On 9 January, secondary legislation came into force which amends the criteria for which infrastructure projects relating to water resources are to be considered as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).
The Infrastructure Planning (Water Resources) (England) Order 2019, will introduce the changes to the thresholds and definitions within the Planning Act 2008, previously consulted on in November 2017 and again in April 2018.
A similar proposal has also been put forward for energy storage projects. On 14 January 2019, the Government published a consultation seeking views on proposals regarding the threshold amounts for such projects to be considered under as NSIPs. The consultation will close on 25 March 2019.

The Infrastructure Planning (Water Resources) (England) Order 2019BEIS, The treatment of electricity storage within the planning system

East Midlands ‘Manufacturing Zones’ announced

On 3 January, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire announced the location of the UK’s first manufacturing zones, located at four sites across the East Midlands. £500,000 of funding has also been made available to support the further development of plans.

The zones are located in Melton Mowbray, Leicester, Greater Lincolnshire, and The Northern Derbyshire.

MHCLG, James Brokenshire announces locations of UK’s first Manufacturing Zones in the East Midlands

     

 

The Lichfields perspective

 
     
     
     
 
The proposed amendments to the CIL Regulations are to be welcomed. The lifting of the ‘pooling restriction’ on s106 agreements would almost certainly improve the speed of decision-making, particularly for large sites and where delays would have otherwise arisen from devising complex methods of making planning contributions. ‘Double-dipping’ – paying for the same infrastructure through CIL and s106 agreements – is more likely to happen than under the existing Regulations, and the implications of this would need to be carefully considered on a case by case basis and in the context of scheme viability. It is essential that Regulations introducing any new measures such as Infrastructure Funding Statements and the change to the way indexation is carried out are sufficiently defined, in order to avoid unintended consequences or confusion.
Simon Coop, Planning Director
 
     
     

 

Disclaimer: This publication has been written in general terms and cannot be relied on to cover specific situations. We recommend that you obtain professional advice before acting or refraining from acting on any of the contents of this publication. Lichfields accepts no duty of care or liability for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of any material in this publication. Lichfields is the trading name of Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners Limited. Registered in England, no.2778116