All change on planning scene
Planning as we know it is due an almighty overhaul.
There's too much in the White Paper to consider here, and it may take some time for the text in the planning White Paper to become reality, but we are seeing our clients considering their options, and budget, before the detail and the devils come to light through re-consultation and amendments.
Interestingly, the paper proposes that development in certain zones could automatically have ‘permission in principle’ and otherwise applies infrastructure levies and advocates ‘beautiful and sustainable places’ through design, whatever that means.
It has been reported that the recently drafted local plan review for Shropshire could be postponed in light of the overhaul, which might change the planning strategy for some.
Other amendments see new use classes come in to play from September 1, where opportunities for on-farm shops or rural offices, for example, to shift to ‘commercial, business and service uses’ could exist. New permitted development rights could offer opportunities for business use premises built before 1990 to be demolished and replaced with a new residential building – but obviously this would not be without a host of conditions and criteria to be met.
Angela Cantrill is a rural chartered surveyor and planning consultant with Moule & Co
