After a rather sudden date-drop from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Friday 14th of August, (and the team subsequently continually refreshing the page today!) the long-awaited revised NPPF was finally published. On a very quick initial read, comparing the consultation draft to the released NPPF, the proposal to broaden the definition of “Ancient or Veteran Tree” has been dropped and the published glossary keeps the existing “age, size and condition” wording unchanged; the definition for irreplaceable habitat has been extended; the presumption in favour of higher-density housing near well-connected stations is still in; the viability assessment route for Grey Belt Golden Rules (demonstrating compliance isn’t possible) is retained, limited to the same three circumstances as the draft; and protection on non-designated heritage assets has been somewhat weakened, with the test of the ‘harm must be outweighed by the benefits’ only applying to substantial or total loss. A whole raft of new definitions have also appeared including (but not limited to) Military Affordable Housing, Community Facilitates, Conservation / Conserve (for heritage policy), Contamination, Disabled People, Freight and Logistics, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, Medium Development, and Vision-led Approach. Watch this space for a more detailed analysis from us…
