East of England Report–June 2016

“Any customer can have a car painted any colour he wants so long as it’s black” Henry Ford

The Housing and Planning Act 2016

Receiving Royal Assent in May, the Act aims to increase the output of new homes and the affordability of home ownership. ‘Starter homes’ are introduced as a new affordable housing category on new-build developments - offered at a discount to first time buyers. The right to buy has been extended to housing associations.

‘Planning permission in principle’ may be granted automatically, subject to the adoption of certain planning documents such as a development plan. Local authorities will now be obliged to compile and maintain registers of brownfield land. In an intriguing take on localism, some larger housing projects will be transferred over to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime – usually reserved for power stations, new motorways and alike.

Additionally the Secretary of State now has the power to get involved with neighbourhood planning. According to Planning Consultants Barton Willmore, the Act “introduces a raft of measures for the Secretary of State to intervene”. The new powers go so far as to enable him to step in“if he thinks an LPA is failing to do what it is necessary for them to do in connection with the preparation of a development plan document”. Worries over a ‘democratic deficit’ exist both in Westminster and Brussels.

The Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill

The purpose of the bill is to support the Government’s aim to deliver one million new homes, the infrastructure that the nation needs and to transform the way we plan for major infrastructure projects. points include:

  • Neighbourhood planning - local authorities obliged to provide more support
  • Planning conditions – curbs on ‘excessive’ pre-commencement planning conditions
  • National Infrastructure Commission established by statute to provide Government with expert, independent advice
  • Land Registry – to be sold off

A possible sale of the Land Registry has caused anguish in some quarters. The proposed sale has even been criticised by the British Property Foundation and the UK’s competition watchdog, the Competition & Markets Authority.

The Budget

  • Devolution to East Anglia

The Chancellor announced plans for a combined unitary authority comprising Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Peterborough councils. The new ‘Eastern Powerhouse’ was immediately slammed by Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, though Norfolk and Suffolk appear more receptive to the proposal.

The proposed devolution deal which would see £30million a year for 30 years alongside devolved powers over strategic planning and housing, including £175million for new homes and an elected mayor. It would provide powers to devise a spatial planning framework for East Anglia and a board to source surplus public land for development. Infrastructure and housing will be the focus.

Much of the argument revolves around ‘big’ versus ‘small’ devolution. In 2015 proposals were drawn up by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough for a combined bid and, separately, by Norfolk and Suffolk. Central Government has ordered all four to collaborate. The authorities involved are due to make a decision by June.

Plan making

  • Neighbourhood Planning (1) Haddenham

Changes to Government guidance and a landmark court case could check the use of neighbourhood plans to limit housing development - something the house-building lobby claim is a serious problem but for which the evidence is less certain.

The case involving Haddenham Parish Council, Buckinghamshire, Aylesbury Vale District Council and developer Lightwood Securities concerned land on the outskirts of the village where Lightwood had applied to build 280 homes. Just before the application was due to be heard a draft neighbourhood plan was submitted to the council earmarking the site for only 80 homes. The developer applied for judicial review. With days to go before the case Aylesbury Vale decided not to defend the case, leaving the parish council with no option but to cave in. Campaigners complain that this is another example of those with the deepest pockets winning.

  • Neighbourhood Planning (2) – now obliged to considerhousing need

In February changes were announced to National Planning Policy Guidance forcing neighbourhood plans to take into account wider housing needs.

  • Neighbourhood Planning (3): where a five-year land supply is missing

Under paragraph 49 of the NPPF housing policies within the development plan (which includes any neighbourhood plan) will not be up-to-date if the five-year supply is missing.

The presumption of sustainable development follows and planning consent should be granted unless such permission would cause sufficient harm so as to outweigh the benefits of granting consent.

In deciding what amounts to ‘sufficient harm’ planners will consider the NPPF. It states that where a development conflicts with a neighbourhood plan in force, permission should be refused (paragraphs 183-185).

a map of existing neighbourhood plans and suggests that there may be less enthusiasm for neighbourhood planning in the east of England than elsewhere in the country. Separately a report in Property Week highlighted evidence showing that neighbourhood plans tend to be disproportionately from the most affluent areas of the country and suggest that this may be because residents are more interested in preservation rather than meeting housing needs.

  • Bottom of FormProgress of Core Strategies

Planning has published a useful, interactive, map of Local Authorities’ progress in developing Core Strategies:

  • Call to give local authorities statutory duty to prepare local plans

According to the Local Plans Expert Group (LPEG) less than a third of local authorities have an up-to-date plan. They note that plans are also taking longer to develop with the average time from publishing to adoption increasing from 511 days in 2009 to 765 days in 2015. LPEG recommend that local authorities be given incentives and a statutory duty to develop a local plan.

Elsewhere in planning…….

  • MPs call for review of National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The Communities and Local Government Select Committee has called for a comprehensive review of the NPPF following the Government’s recent consultation. Particular concerns to be addressed include the application of the five-year land supply rule in the context of larger housing developments – projects that can take longer to deliver - and the definition of brownfield land.

  • RTPI release study mapping planning permissions for housing

Published in March, the report by Bilfinger GVA on behalf of the RTPI examined 12 city regions, including Cambridge, and mapped over 165,000 new homes between 2012 and 2015. It revealed a number of striking points; for example that only 13% of the new houses were within easy walking distance of a station. The report aims to monitor the effectiveness of the recent changes to planning (particularly the NPPF) – monitoring which the RTPI argue has been lacking.

  • Challenge to stadium in Cambridge green-belt fails

Cambridge City Football Club’s plans to develop a new 3,000 capacity stadium seven miles outside Cambridge, at Sawston, were secured when a High Court challenge was overruled in March. The challenge claimed that the local council had failed to explain why it had granted approval for the stadium in the green belt.

  • Brownfield Registers – the pilots

The Government has announced the 73 councils across England that will trial brownfield registers. The scheme aims to highlight derelict and underused land for new homes via an up-to-date and publicly available register. It follows George Osborne’s pledge in the Autumn Statement to build one million more homes and to get planning permission in place on 90% of all brownfield sites. The registers will eventually become mandatory and each council will feel positively flush with £10,000 innew government funding. Pilot areas in the east of England include South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Thurrock.

  • Norfolk housing development given go-ahead despite of concerns over impact on SSSI woodland

Gladman Developments have been granted permission for 180 homes despite concerns over the impact of the development on Wayland Wood SSSI. The Planning Inspector decided that the increased recreational use of Wayland Wood would not be substantial enough to justify rejecting the proposal.

  • ‘Modern welfare facilities’ allowed for Essex travellers site in green belt

An appeal has been granted for a proposal to build kitchen, laundry and bathroom facilities at a gypsy site at Woodford Green.

  • Centre for Policy Studies: All the bricks are in place for a surge in new housebuilding…

According to the Centre for Policy Studies’ new report conditions a ripe for the nation to witness a surge in house building. As usual the green belt comes in for criticism and the authors argue that it must and will be trimmed to allow development. It notes that many local authorities support new developments and will be encouraged to do so by Government requirements. More speculatively the report suggests that ‘Nimbyism appears to be in fast decline as more and more people realise the needfor more housing”.

  • Population forecast increase

The Office for National Statistics has published its 2014-based Population Projections and accompanying Sub-National Population Projections. They show a bigger and more ageing population that the 1212 projections, with particular growth in London, the south east and east. Assumed net migration accounts for 51% of the projected increase over the next 25 years with the population forecast to increase by almost 10 million over the next 25 years. These projections will form the basis of the forthcoming household projections and will inform the preparation of local plans.

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)

  • South East LEP (SELEP)

SELEP has appointed a new managing director, Adam Bryan, and he will be “economic champion for Kent, East Sussex, Essex, Medway, Southend andThurrock”. SELEP are pushing the delivery of the Lower Thames Crossing.

  • South East Midlands LEP (SEMLEP)

SEMLEP and the neighbouring Northamptonshire LEP are working together to bid for cash from the Local Growth Fund. To date SEMLEP have spent money received from the Local Growth Fund on infrastructure projects including dualling a stretch of the A421, improving access to Luton Airport and Central Bedfordshire’s Woodside Link which, it states, created 5,150 new homes.

  • Hertfordshire LEP

The Hertfordshire LEP has been adding its voice to calls for improvements to the West Anglia Main Line between London and Cambridge. It noted with approval that the Budget included funding to help develop Crossrail 2 linking commuters in Broxbourne to London and Surrey. The intention is to have the first train running in 2033.

  • Greater Cambridgeshire Greater Peterborough LEP (GCGP)

The Cambridge Compass Enterprise Zone officially became live on the auspicious date of 1 April. Embracing places as far flung as Ely, Northstowe and Haverhill it brings benefits particularly in terms of business rates. GCGP is actively involved in the Government’s proposals for devolution announced in the Budget.

Energy

  • Solar farm for go-ahead in Norfolk

Kings Lynn and West Norfolk council have given provisional approval for a new 5MW solar farm covering some 10 hectares at Syderstone.

It includes consent for associated infrastructure “for a temporary period of 27 years”.

  • Clark refuses Essex solar farm over green belt impact

Greg Clark has refused proposals for a solar farm next to the M25 in Essex on the grounds that the development would amount to inappropriate development in the green belt.

  • National Infrastructure Planning

The East Anglia THREE Offshore Wind Farm has been accepted for examination. The project with an approximate capacity of 1200 MW is located almost 80 km off the coast from Lowestoft. The Preliminary Meeting will be held on 28 June 2016. In May the Secretary of State for Transport granted development consent for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme.

Transport

  • East West Rail

The preferred corridor for the central section of the new railway line between Oxford and Cambridge is via Sandy, Bedfordshire. The route was selected ahead of a number of alternatives, including joining up with the existing line at Hitchin. It was noted that the corridor route was purposefully vague. So, it may be that the line will pass through existing stations or take an entirely new route. Network Rail confirmed that this could mean that the line would pass through the Cambourne and Bourn Airfield where major housing growth is planned. It could also fit in with the ambition of a new station in south Cambridge to serve Addenbrooke’s.

  • Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NNDR)

Costing £178 million, work on the NNDR began in late 2015 and the road is due to open in early 2018. Some 630 acres of farmland and 25 acres of woodland have been earmarked as required for the new route. Eager to stay up with the news, Norfolk County Council have said that all steel reinforcement used in the NNDR will be British.

  • Luton Airport: expanding the expansion?

Luton Airport is quickly approaching capacity – 10 years earlier than predicted. In 2014 expansion was approved to allow a near doubling of passenger numbers to 18 million per year. It had been forecast that the 18 million figure would only be reached by 2026-28. With this year’s figures at 15 million it could reach the new figure by 2020 if not before. Campaigners against the expansion point out that the owner – Luton Borough Council – has every incentive to back continued growth as it receives £2.86 for every passenger. Previously the Borough Council had been in discussion to increase capacity to 30 million passengers per year.

  • Lower Thames Crossing

Highways England ran a consultation earlier this year to help assess options for a new Lower Thames road crossing. Highways England have recommended that a new dual carriageway be constructed east of Gravesend and Tilbury forming a new link connecting the M2/A2 with the A13 and M25 between junctions 29 and 30. Essex County Council is supporting Highways England’ recommendation which it argues“would create an additional 25,000 new jobs and lead to the construction of an extra 21,000 homes”.

Rural matters

  • Biodiversity offsetting – in hibernation

With impressive speed, only two and a half years after it closed, the Government has now published its conclusions on the consultation on biodiversity offsetting. According to the British Ecological Society there appears to be little enthusiasm for offsetting from DEFRA and no concrete actions are proposed as a result of the consultation. The pilots (which include Norwich) were inconclusive, with no offsets actually in place at the end of the trial period. It would seem that this proposal, championed by the previous administration, is unlikely to be going anywhere soon.

  • Wild Anglia LNP

Kate Anderson, of the Town and Country Planning Association, argues for new garden cities as the means to deliver new housing – particularly in light of the challenges posed by climate change. Anglia make clear that they have a particular role in contributing to, or ‘steering’ economic growth in terms of development and infrastructure.

  • Bedfordshire LNP

The Bedfordshire LNP similarly intend to become involved in planning and development and operate a sub-group for ‘”supporting the strategic influence of theLNP in planning in Bedfordshire”. As with other LNPs (such as Hertfordshire) the board includes a number of local authority members.

  • Norfolk tree ‘Betty’ could help defect ash dieback

Scientists in Norfolk have identified a tree, nicknamed Betty,that shows tolerance to ash dieback. Growing in Ashwellthorpe woodland – where the disease has so far killed half the ash trees – Betty stands untouched by the fungal disease. Researchers have yet to find out whether super-tolerant Betty produces super-tolerant offspring. Ash dieback has killed 90% of Denmark’s ash trees.

The information and views set out in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of CPRE. Neither CPRE nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

June 2016

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EE Report June 2016