| Winckworth Sherwood |
Issue 25 Planning Ahead |
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bb133eleftPlanning Ahead Issue 25 - January 2010
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| Publicity for Planning Applications |
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In July 2009, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) consulted on three potential amendments to the way planning applications are publicised at present. A summary of responses to the consultation was published on 21 December 2009 and confirms the following:
The new publicity requirements are expected to be finalised in Spring 2010. The summary of responses are available from the CLG website.
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/publicityplanningapplications |
| Limiting Grounds for Planning Appeals |
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The earlier decision of the High Court in the case of R (on the application of Martin Perrett) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and anor [2009] EWCA Civ 1365 has been upheld by the Court of Appeal which confirmed that when a direction is made for a planning appeal to be re-heard, the Secretary of State (SoS) is not obliged to consider de novo all the grounds raised at the original appeal.
The facts in brief are that the SoS had made an error of law when dismissing one of the grounds raised in an appeal against a number of planning enforcement notices. The High Court directed that the SoS should re-determine the appeal and the SoS decided that the second appeal should be restricted to the appeal ground in respect of which it had erred in law. The appellant wanted both grounds for appeal to be re-opened at the second appeal and applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the SoS's approach. The High Court's decision that the SoS was not under an obligation to consider anew all the grounds of the original appeal was upheld by the Court of Appeal. This decision is positive news for planning practitioners concerned by the length of the planning appeal process. |
| Garden Grabbing |
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The Housing and Planning Minister, John Healey, has called on Councils to use their powers to ban or limit the practice of "garden grabbing" following a six month review of the practice where developers build homes in back gardens. The review by Kingston University, Garden developments: understanding the issues – An investigation into residential development on gardens in England, was commissioned in 2009 to assess the nature and extent of the issue. The report concluded that "garden grabbing" is not a national problem but is often a result of councils' failure to have policies in place. Mr Healey has instructed the Chief Planning Officer to write to planners outlining how councils can address the issue of garden grabbing through local plans which will give them greater discretion to refuse inappropriate development. The report is available from the CLG website.
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/gardendevelopments |
| Feedback |
PLANNING AHEAD
Issue 25 January 2010
HCA Delivery Partner Panel
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme
British Property Federation Guide to Planning Performance Agreements
Publicity for Planning Applications
Limiting Grounds for Planning Appeals
Garden Grabbing
HCA Delivery Partner Panel
The Housing and Communities Agency (HCA), which is the national housing and regeneration delivery agency for England, has announced its delivery partner panel for housing projects.
The panel is aimed at streamlining development on publicly owned land and consists of house builders, contractors and development consortia. The panel is divided into three clusters; northern, central and southern and will operate until 2013 as a "one-stop-shop" to enable the HCA to procure:
• construction services;
• commercial, cost and construction management services;
• design and technical services;
• finance and funding advice;
• land assembly and planning advice;
• project management services; and
• sales and marketing services.
To procure through the panel, it will be necessary for public agencies to sign up to a letter of agreement with the HCA and set up a framework agreement between themselves and other panel members. The panel will also be available for use by other public bodies such as Local Authorities, Regional Development Agencies and other public agencies to deliver new homes through initiatives such as Local Authority New Build and Public Land Initiative.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme
On 21 January 2010, OPSI published a User Guide for the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme. It provides a step by step guide to the scheme that will start operating in April 2010. It explains what the scheme is, to whom it applies and how it will work. All organisations that had at least one half hourly electricity meter settled on the half hourly market in 2008 will be required to do something under CRC. The scheme is a cap and trade scheme and the government estimates that around 20,000 organisations will have to participate with around 5000 having to purchase allowances equivalent to their CO2 emissions each year.
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/crc/user_guidance/user_guidance.aspx
British Property Federation Guide to Planning Performance Agreements
The British Property Federation (BPF) has published a guide on Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs). PPAs are a project management tool developed by the Government to help local planning authorities (LPAs) and developers (and possibly other key players such as statutory consultees) to manage the planning process within an agreed time-frame. The BPF guide sets out some of the advantages of using a PPA:
• enables an improved understanding of a project's needs;
• sets an achievable timetable relevant for the size and complexity of the planning application with defined key milestones;
• minimizes the risks and costs of appeal;
• facilitates the identification of problems; and
• provides a mechanism for parties to collaborate
Publicity for Planning Applications
In July 2009, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) consulted on three potential amendments to the way planning applications are publicised at present. A summary of responses to the consultation was published on 21 December 2009 and confirms the following:
• the statutory requirement to publicise certain applications in newspapers will be retained;
• the statutory period for publicising site notices for listed building and conservation area consents will be increased to 21 days in line with the notice periods required for planning applications; and
• there will be a new requirement to publish information about planning decisions on LPA websites.
The new publicity requirements are expected to be finalised in Spring 2010. The summary of responses are available from the CLG website.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/publicityplanningapplications
Limiting Grounds for Planning Appeals
The earlier decision of the High Court in the case of R (on the application of Martin Perrett) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and anor [2009] EWCA Civ 1365 has been upheld by the Court of Appeal which confirmed that when a direction is made for a planning appeal to be re-heard, the Secretary of State (SoS) is not obliged to consider de novo all the grounds raised at the original appeal.
The facts in brief are that the SoS had made an error of law when dismissing one of the grounds raised in an appeal against a number of planning enforcement notices. The High Court directed that the SoS should re-determine the appeal and the SoS decided that the second appeal should be restricted to the appeal ground in respect of which it had erred in law. The appellant wanted both grounds for appeal to be re-opened at the second appeal and applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the SoS's approach. The High Court's decision that the SoS was not under an obligation to consider anew all the grounds of the original appeal was upheld by the Court of Appeal. This decision is positive news for planning practitioners concerned by the length of the planning appeal process.
Garden Grabbing
The Housing and Planning Minister, John Healey, has called on Councils to use their powers to ban or limit the practice of "garden grabbing" following a six month review of the practice where developers build homes in back gardens. The review by Kingston University, Garden developments: understanding the issues – An investigation into residential development on gardens in England, was commissioned in 2009 to assess the nature and extent of the issue. The report concluded that "garden grabbing" is not a national problem but is often a result of councils' failure to have policies in place. Mr Healey has instructed the Chief Planning Officer to write to planners outlining how councils can address the issue of garden grabbing through local plans which will give them greater discretion to refuse inappropriate development. The report is available from the CLG website.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/gardendevelopments
Sara Hanrahan - Partner
Tel: 020 7593 5144
Nicola Raistrick - Partner
Tel: 020 7593 0275
Richard Bull - Solicitor
Tel: 020 7593 5074
Anjana Ghosh - Solicitor
aghosh@wslaw.co.uk
Tel: 020 7593 5088