Development rules set to be streamlined in 2012
NEW guidelines designed to streamline the development process will be published next Tuesday and come into effect immediately.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), developed by communities secretary Eric Pickles and planning minister Greg Clark, aims to boost the economy by introducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development.
George Osborne was triumphant over the decision to rip up 60 years of accumulated planning guidance, calling it “the biggest reduction in business red tape ever undertaken”.
“Global businesses have diverted specific investments that would have created hundreds of jobs in some of the most deprived communities in Britain to countries like Germany and the Netherlands, because they couldn’t get planning permission here,” Osborne said.
Opponents fear that the new rules will allow developers to build on green belt and other protected land.