Institute responds to NPPF consultation

Yesterday, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s consultation, ‘National Planning Policy Framework’ ended. The document contained 17 chapters for stakeholders and the public to respond to, covering a range of topics such as ‘decision-making’ and ‘protecting the Green Belt.’

Over the past couple of weeks, the Institute has spent time working with it’s Associates to respond to the proposals.

We welcome the consultation and have a firm belief that the emphasis should be placed on planning as a participatory and democratic activity for all stakeholders and communities and specifically that early and effective stakeholder engagement is vital.

An overall observation is that developer consultations are in most circumstances still seen as a ‘nice to have’ rather than being legally required. In our view having a legal requirement for most schemes would add significant value to the planning system and we would welcome further views of our readership on this.

To read our full response to the document, please click here.