Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the (a) effect on and (b) additional costs incurred by (i) local planning authorities and (ii) qualifying bodies producing a Neighbourhood Development Plan of undertaking assessments of the implications for European Sites of those plans.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Officials from my Department are aware of the judgment and are continuing to monitor a range of implications. No formal assessment has been made of the likely costs of the ruling for Local Planning Authorities or Qualifying Bodies.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the requirements relating to Habitats Regulations Assessments and European Sites on the ability of qualifying bodies to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Officials from my Department are aware of the judgment and are continuing to monitor a range of implications.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will revise Planning Policy and Planning Guidance to enable decision-makers to refuse planning applications on grounds where (a) an applicant provides misleading and inaccurate information in a Statement of Community involvement submitted with a planning application and (b) an applicant proposing a major development who deliberately circumvents a local planning authorities' stated expectations of the pre-application consultation process.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government recognises that it is important that local planning authorities, communities and Planning Inspectors can rely on the information contained in planning applications, and applicants or those representing them are asked to confirm that the information provided is, to the best of their knowledge, truthful and accurate. There are no current plans to amend existing planning policy and guidance in this regard.
Local planning authorities are encouraged to provide pre-application advice to applicants. Pre-application engagement by prospective applicants offers significant potential to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning application system and improve the quality of planning applications and their likelihood of success. It is possible for an applicant to suggest changes to an application before the local planning authority has determined the proposal. It is equally possible after the consultation period for the local planning authority to ask the applicant if it would be possible to revise the application to overcome a possible objection. It is at the discretion of the local planning authority whether to accept such changes, to determine if the changes need to be re-consulted upon, or if the proposed changes are so significant as to materially alter the proposal such that a new application should be submitted.
An application for planning permission is not valid unless it is accompanied by a certificate which applicants must complete that provides certain details about the ownership of the application site and confirms that an appropriate notice has been served on any other owners (and agricultural tenants). It is an offence to complete a false or misleading certificate, either knowingly or recklessly, with a maximum fine of £5,000.
A person who makes a false or misleading statement in connection with a planning application, knowing that it was or might be untrue or misleading, with the intent to make a gain for himself may be prosecuted under the Fraud Act 2006.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2018 to Question 130573 and Questions 117485, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including the increase in the housing supply in the Braintree District in Braintree District Council's latest five year supply of housing publication, dated 31 March 2018 as contributing towards the grounds for refusing the respective planning applications currently under consideration.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The respective planning applications are still under consideration. The target date for determining the cases has been extended to 12 September 2018. This is to allow for consideration of new information which may be material to the determination of these applications and appeal.
The Secretary of State will take into account all relevant material considerations when reaching decisions on these cases.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2018 to Questions 130573 and Question 117485, if he will consider the progression of Hatfield Peverel's Neighbourhood Plan as contributing towards the grounds for refusing the respective planning applications he is currently considering.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The respective planning applications are still under consideration. The target date for determining the cases has been extended to 12 September 2018. This is to allow for consideration of new information which may be material to the determination of these applications and appeal.
The Secretary of State will take into account all relevant material considerations when reaching decisions on these cases.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on the garden community proposals for North Essex of the letter from Planning Inspector, Mr Roger Clews, dated 8 June 2018 addressed to Braintree District Council, Colchester Borough Council and Tendring District Council on the examination in public of the respective Councils' Local Plan proposals.
Answered by Dominic Raab
We welcome the planning inspector’s report on section 1 of joint local plan submitted by Colchester Borough and Tendring and Braintree District Councils for examination in public earlier this year. The proposals to create three new garden communities with new homes for up to 43,000 homes in North Essex are, by their nature, ambitious and long-term. The Planning Inspectorate has an important role to play in assessing those proposals and identifying areas that need further consideration. The inspector’s letter of 8 June 2018 sets out a number of such areas. It will be for the local authorities to decide on how to proceed.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will assess the effect on the garden community proposals for North Essex of the Government planning inspector's letter of 8 June 2018 to Braintree District, Colchester Borough and Tendring District Councils in relation to the examination in public of their Local Plan proposals.
Answered by Dominic Raab
We welcome the planning inspector’s report on section 1 of joint local plan submitted by Colchester Borough and Tendring and Braintree District Councils for examination in public earlier this year. The proposals to create three new garden communities with new homes for up to 43,000 homes in North Essex are, by their nature, ambitious and long-term. The Planning Inspectorate has an important role to play in assessing those proposals and identifying areas that need further consideration. The inspector’s letter of 8 June 2018 sets out a number of such areas. It will be for the local authorities to decide on how to proceed.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on communities in Braintree District of planning appeals for major developments that have been approved on sites that are outside the settlement boundaries contained in Braintree District Council's Local Plan.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The relevant policies are contained within the Braintree District Local Development Framework Core Strategy 2011, the Braintree Local Plan Review and the National Planning Policy Framework. These contain policies concerning development outside of settlement boundaries in order to protect the character of the countryside. The Secretary of State will pay due regard to these as a part of the decision making process.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward more legislative proposals to (a) protect local communities from the effect of off-Local Plan developments and (b) facilitate development sites to be developed in accordance with a (i) Local Plan; and (ii) Neighbourhood Plan.
Answered by Dominic Raab
An up-to-date Local Plan prepared in consultation with local people, and a robust five-year housing land supply, are the best protections for communities against speculative development.
The revised draft National Planning Policy Framework was clear that where a planning application conflicts with an up-to-date development plan (including any neighbourhood plans that have been brought into force) permission should not usually be granted.
We have ensured greater protection for neighbourhood plans where the local planning authority lack a five year supply of housing sites and their plan is not considered up to date. These protections were introduced through a Written Ministerial Statement in November 2016 and were included in the draft Framework.
We have also introduced new requirements for Local Plans to be reviewed every five years, to ensure they remain up to date and fit for purpose.
The draft revised Framework also offers local authorities the opportunity to have their five-year housing land supply agreed on an annual basis and fixed for a one-year period. This is intended to offer greater certainty to local authorities and communities on the housing land position and therefore reduce the risk of speculative applications being granted on appeal.
To ensure Local Plans provide enough sites to give a realistic prospect of achieving supply on the ground, they must demonstrate those sites are deliverable and provide a 20 per cent buffer in their supply where there has been significant under-delivery in the past.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the guidance he plans to publish in respect of the draft New Town Acts 1981 (Local Authority Oversight) Regulations 2018 will set out processes to facilitate (a) risk sharing with the private sector and (b) capital investment from the private sector in garden communities.
Answered by Dominic Raab
We consider the private sector to be a crucial partner in the delivery of new settlements, including any new towns that may be created using the New Towns Act 1981 (Local Authority Oversight) Regulations 2018. As part of process to designate a new town and create a locally-led new town development corporation, applying local authorities will need to provide a sustainable financial strategy to Government, including setting out how they will leverage in private sector investment. This will be considered by the Secretary of State when deciding whether designation of the new town is expedient in the national interest.
The guidance to accompany the New Towns Act 1981 (Local Authority Oversight) Regulations 2018, which will be published shortly, will also provide details on the involvement of private sector representatives in the governance of locally-led new town development corporations, and participation by local communities.