On 6th March, the government issued a consultation on proposals to;
Introduce a new Accelerated Planning Service for major commercial applications with a decision time in 10 weeks and fee refunds if this is not met. All local planning authorities will be required to offer an Accelerated Planning Service for major commercial applications (applications for major commercial development which create 1,000 sqm or more of new or additional employment floorspace). The applicant would pay a higher planning fee to the local planning authority which, in exchange, will be required to determine these applications within 10 weeks (rather than the 13-week statutory time limit), with a guarantee that the fee would be refunded if the application is not determined within this timescale.
Change the use of extensions of time, including ending their use for householder applications and only allowing one extension of time for other developments, which links to a proposed new performance measure for local planning authority speed of decision-making against statutory time limits
Expand the current simplified written representations appeals process for householder and minor commercial appeals to more appeals
Implement section 73B for applications to vary planning permissions and the treatment of overlapping permissions. Practically, this means that a developer would be able to make an application for development which can be a variation of both the descriptor and conditions of an existing planning permission, providing the development was not substantially different from the existing development. This would provide greater flexibility than a section 73 application (restricted to the variation of conditions) and a section 93A application (limited to non-material changes to a permission)
The consultation closes on 1 May 2024.
Director Giles Moir commented; ‘In principle, I would welcome any proposals which speed up and simplify the planning service. Extensions of time are a useful tool and enable a move away from a quantitative assessment of a Council’s performance to a qualitative approach – reducing the ability to use extensions of time may result in reduced dialogue with Council’s. Widening the scope of what is considered as a minor change to a planning approval seems a necessary and welcome suggestion. We will look at the proposals and feed our comments / suggestions back to government.