Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in reaching their decision on support for garden villages, what assessment they made of (1) the Planning Practice Guidance which states that local authorities should have regard to airfield connectivity, and (2) the Aviation Policy Framework.

Surrey Heath Borough Council’s expression of interest for Fairoaks Garden Village was assessed using the criteria set out in out in the Government prospectus “Locally-Led Garden Villages, Towns and Cities” published (attached) March 2016. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508205/Locally-led_garden_villages__towns_and_cities.pdf

The National Planning Policy Framework is a material consideration in planning decisions and the Framework’s policies for delivering sustainable development must be considered as a whole. Where relevant, this would include the policy for airports and airfields (that are not subject to a separate national policy statement), which expects local planning authorities to take account of their growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. Planning guidance supporting the Framework makes clear local authorities should consider the interconnectivity between airfields of different sizes and that they should have regard to the Aviation Policy Framework.