GOVERNMENT SET TO PUBLISH NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
The government will publish the Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill tomorrow, the Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed.
The bill, which was one of 20 announced in the Queen’s Speech in May, will contain measures to further strengthen neighbourhood planning and make the compulsory purchase order process "clearer, fairer and faster".
According to a background briefing note published at the time, the bill "will reform planning and give local communities more power and control to shape their own area so that we build more houses and give everyone who works had the chance to buy their own home".
The briefing note said that the bill would "further strengthen neighbourhood planning and give even more power to local people". The new legislation would make the local government duty to support groups "more transparent" and improve the process for reviewing and updating plans, the note added.
Web link:
The briefing note also said that the bill would ensure that pre-commencement conditions are "only imposed by local planning authorities where they are absolutely necessary".
"The new legislation would tackle the overuse, and in some cases, misuse of certain planning conditions, and thereby ensure that development, including new housing, can get underway without unnecessary delay," the note said.
The bill would also make the compulsory purchase order process "clearer, fairer and faster for all those involved", the briefing note said.
"We would establish a clear, new statutory framework for agreeing compensation, based on the fundamental principle that compensation should be based on the market value of the land in the absence of the scheme underlying the compulsory purchase," according to the note.
The note also said that the new legislation would establish the National Infrastructure Commission "on a statutory basis".
ends.....