Housing Minster Brandon Lewis has set up a panel to consider how the process of local plan preparation can be simplified with the aim of speeding up the time that it takes local authorities to produce an up-to-date local plan.
The Minister’s latest announcement follows his commitment outlined in July this year that local authorities will have until “early 2017” to produce a local plan, following which they risk Government intervention. Brandon Lewis stated that “while many have seized this opportunity, it’s fair to say the process of getting Local Plans in place can sometimes be lengthy and complicated”. Nationally, this is evidenced by the fact that more than one third of local planning authorities have yet to adopt a local plan.
The objective of the panel’s work will be to provide recommendations as to how the system can be streamlined to provide greater certainty to communities regarding plans for new homes and infrastructure in their area, and to allow developers to get on site quicker.
If you need any help or advice in respect of how best to engage in the preparation of local plan(s) in your area then please contact us now for further information and advice.