In a letter issued to chief planning officers in England today, the Government has set out a new planning policy statement on Green Belt protection and intentional unauthorised development which comes in to immediate effect.
This statement sets out changes to national planning policy to make intentional unauthorised development a material consideration, and also to provide stronger protection for the Green Belt.
The government is concerned about the harm that is caused where the development of land has been undertaken in advance of obtaining planning permission, highlighting that, in such cases, there is no opportunity to appropriately limit or mitigate the harm that has already taken place. Such cases can involve local planning authorities having to take expensive and time consuming enforcement action.
For these reasons, the Government’s statement introduces a planning policy to make intentional unauthorised development a material consideration that would be weighed in the determination of planning applications and appeals. This policy applies to all new planning applications and appeals received from 31 August 2015.
In addition, the government has cancelled the following documents:
- Guide to effective use of enforcement powers – Part 1 (2006)
- Guide to effective use of enforcement powers – Part 2 (2007)
- Designing Gypsy and Traveller Sites – Good Practice Guide (2008)
Should you require any further information on this subject and how it may effect your project then please do not hesitate to contact us.