The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) - 12 Months On

The National Planning Policy
Framework (NPPF)

Does the NPPF increase the chances of obtaining
planning approval?

Jonathan Braddick – RIBA Chartered Architect 2013

Planning – brief history:-

• Town and Country Planning Act 1947
• Green Belts 1955
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990

• Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
• Localism Act 2011

By Jonathan Braddick – RIBA Chartered Architect

Open Source Planning:-



Localism in the planning system



Power of neighbourhood groups to add to local plan
policies



Presumption in favour of sustainable


National Planning Policy Framework
(NPPF) – What is it?


The Framework replaces the current suite of
national Planning Policy Statements, Planning
Policy Guidance notes and some Circulars with a
single, streamlined document.



NPPF was published by the UK's Department of
Communities and Local Government in March
2012, consolidating over two dozen previously
issued documents called Planning Policy
Statements(PPS) and Planning Policy Guidance
Notes (PPG) for use in England.


Simplification/Localism:To be an accessible document which can be understood
and used by everybody who has an interest in shaping the
development of their area.

“by replacing around a thousand pages of national policy with
around fifty, written simply and clearly, we are allowing people
and communities back into planning” - Rt Hon Greg Clark MP Minister for
Planning development

65 page document, plus a 27 page Technical Guidance
document - still a large reduction from the previous guidance
of over 1,300 pages.


Implementation

...

Local planning authorities were given a 12 month
transition period to ensure their plans were compliant
with the new NPPF … !


The Golden Thread? ...

At the heart of the planning system is a presumption
in favour of sustainable development, which should
be seen as a golden thread running through both
plan making and decision taking. Local planning
authorities
should
plan
positively
for
new
development, and approve all individual proposals
wherever possible.


Key Concept:-

“All plans should be based upon and contain the
presumption in favour of sustainable development as
their starting point, with clear policies that will guide
how the presumption will be applied locally.”


Key Concept:-

In considering applications for planning permission ...
local planning authorities should apply the presumption
in favour of sustainable development and ...

... seek to find solutions to overcome any substantial
planning objections where practical and consistent
with the Framework.


What is „Sustainable‟ Development ...
“Sustainable development means development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs ...
... It is central to the economic, environmental and
social success of the country and is the core principle
underpinning planning.
Simply stated, the principle recognises the
importance of ensuring that all people should be
able to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better
quality of life, both now and in the future.”
NPPF - Paragraph 8


Core Planning Principles:

Plan-led



Creative



Drive economic development



Secure good design



Take account of character



Support transition to a low carbon future



Conserve and enhance the natural environment



Encourage use of brown-field land



Promote mixed use developments



Conserve heritage assets in a manner appropriate to their
significance.



Promote use of public transport



Support health, social and cultural facilities


Sustainable Development:Economic:- Building a strong competitive economy:•Falls to Local Authorities
•Duty to co-operate with neighbouring authorities
•Local Economic Partnerships (LEP)
•Avoid the long term protection of sites allocated for employment use.

- Ensuring the vitality of town centres
- Supporting a prosperous rural economy:• No economic tests for conversion of rural buildings

•Allows for replacement of existing buildings


Sustainable Development:Environmental:• climate change
• natural environment

• historic environment

Social:• housing
• design
• sustainable communities

• green belt


Environmental Tips for Design Teams:1.0
Involve a Sustainability Specialist early in the Planning &
Design Process (Old RIBA Stage C)…
Setting down sustainable principles, broad renewables
strategies and designing in sustainable features at the
masterplan stage will save substantial time and costs later in
the process.
As part of the design team, a sustainability advisor can help to
negotiate with local authority planners to help shape the
scheme to ensure sustainability goals may be achieved
without compromise to the scheme‟s viability.


Local Planning, Energy, CO2 and the NPPF. Obtain clear
direction from the Local Planning Authority on their
sustainable goals …
Many local Planning Authorities may be able to defer in part
or fully to their own pre-NPPF guidance on Sustainability under
Transitional Arrangements, some of which have very stringent
Renewable Energy and CO2 emissions policies.
For others, policy guidance isn‟t so clear. Gaining clear
direction is critical.


Challenge the Policy Norms.
Delivering sustainability and viability for a project will mean
regularly challenging the policy norms.
Dialogue with Local Authority Planners over Policy
compliance is critical as this will have an enormous impact
on the scheme and its viability. Absolute clarity from the
local Planning Authority on their sustainable goals will save
time and scheme costs.


Code for Sustainable Homes Pre Assessment Report

Breakdown & Weighting to Assessment Topics


Code for Sustainable Homes Pre Assessment Report


Predicted Energy Assessments:-


Promoting Sustainable Transport:-

“Transport policies have an important role to play in
facilitating sustainable development but also in
contributing to wider sustainability and health
objectives”.
• Smarter use of technologies can reduce the need to travel.
• Pro sustainable transport modes, real choice on mode of travel.
• Recognition that different policies & measures will be required in
different communities. Opportunities to maximise sustainable
transport solutions will vary from urban to rural areas.

http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/




Encourage solutions which support reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions & reduce congestion



Local authorities should work with neighbouring
authorities & transport providers to develop strategies
for the provision of viable infrastructure necessary to
support sustainable development, including large
scale facilities.


Promoting Sustainable Transport:All developments that generate significant amounts of
movement should be supported by a Transport Statement or
Transport Assessment. Plans and decisions should take account
of whether:



opportunities for sustainable transport modes have been
taken up depending on the nature and location of the site, to
reduce the need for major transport infrastructure;



safe and suitable access to the site can be achieved for all
people; and



improvements can be undertaken within the transport
network that cost effectively limit the significant impacts of
the development.





Plans and decisions should ensure developments that
generate significant movement are located where
the need to travel will be minimised and the use of
sustainable transport modes can be maximised.



However this needs to take account of policies set
out elsewhere in this Framework, particularly in rural
areas.


Promoting Sustainable Transport:Developments should be located and designed where
practical to:

accommodate the efficient delivery of goods & supplies;



give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements, & have
access to high quality public transport facilities;



minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or
pedestrians, where appropriate establishing home zones;



incorporate facilities for charging plug-in and other ultralow emission vehicles; and



consider the needs of people with disabilities by all modes
of transport.
All developments which generate significant amounts of
movement should be required to provide a Travel Plan.



“Development should only be prevented or refused on
transport grounds where the residual cumulative impacts
of development are severe”.
- NPPF Paragraph 32


Good Design:-

“Good design is indivisible from good planning and should
contribute positively to making places better for people. The
Government‟s objective for the planning system is to promote
good design that ensures attractive, usable and durable places.
This is a key element in achieving sustainable development.”
- NPPF Paragraph 114


Good Design:-

Very Strong emphasis in the NPPF on ‘good design’.



However, a local definition of good design



Includes function within definition of good design



Allows for & encourages Design Codes



Promotes Local Design Review


Design Review:- Regional


NEW (local) Devon & Somerset
Design Review Panels ...
• To provide an independent, impartial evaluation
process …
• … where a multi-disciplinary panel of built
environment experts assess the design of significant
proposals.

www.designreviewpanel.co.uk

Devon & Somerset Design Review
Panel ...
• exists
to
offer
constructive
comments
on
schemes, aiding their improvement, but not to
fundamentally redesign them.
• advises and empowers the decision makers on how to
improve design quality, so as to meet the needs of their
communities and customers.
• will support decision makers in resisting poorly designed
schemes.
• will support decision makers in approving well designed
schemes.


Design Review Panels ...
As well as being of benefit to applicants, the Design Review Panel
aims to help the project team in the following ways:-

• Provide designers with constructive, impartial advice from
fellow professionals.
• Support unconventional high quality design proposals.
• Examine the design of a project in the round.
• Support good design intentions and pin-point any weaknesses.
• Bring a fresh external viewpoint.
• Reduce the risk of an unexpected decision.
• Aid in provision of a more efficient service to clients


„Design Review: Principles &
Practice‟

New publication „Design
Review:
Principles
and
Practice’:-

Guide produced by CABE at
the Design Council, the
Landscape Institute, the RTPI
and the RIBA.


10 Principles of Good Design
Review

1. Independent

6. Proportionate

2. Expert

7. Timely

3. Multidisciplinary

8. Advisory

4. Accountable

9. Objective

5. Transparent

10. Understandable


Design Review Timing:Ideally, schemes will be submitted to the panel at the
pre-application stage of the planning process whilst the
design is still fluid …
…. this can help to identify design aspects that may be
improved. This in turn may help resolve design issues
before submission, saving time and expense.

The design review will be treated as a conversation
about work in progress, not a verdict on an outcome.


Promoting Healthy Communities



Strong promotion of community engagement



Includes support for community right to build


Demonstrating the 3 elements of
Sustainability – Economic, Social &
Environmental.

The NPPF definition of sustainability is set out in the
„Brundtland Commission Report‟. The definition is intended
to be “constructively ambiguous.”

An important conclusion is that sustainable development is
a process, not an end in itself.
Participation and genuine dialogue among stakeholders
are key prerequisites for sustainable development.


More Recent Developments:External review of government planning practice guidance:
report submitted by Lord Taylor of Goss Moor – December
2012


need for new guidance on areas that include
neighbourhood planning, the duty on local planning
authorities to co-operate and viability.



“The government urged to publish guidance on viability
that looks beyond up-front development costs and provides
for assessments to be made on a site-by-site basis, rather
than whole area testing.”
Statement by RIBA, the Town and Country Planning Association, BRE, the
Campaign to Protect Rural England and Friends of the Earth.


More Recent Developments:-



'One year on from the NPPF, it is essential that the
government assesses the impact of its reforms and
provides clear guidance to ensure that issues such as
financial viability are interpreted in the right way and
balance the longer-term social and environmental
needs of society, as well as up-front development
costs,' - Anna Scott-Marshall, RIBA Head of External Affairs.


So Does the NPPF Make it Easier to
Obtain Planning Approval ...?


Local plans, written by the authorities, remain the first point
of reference for planning decision-makers.



Only if authorities fail to put an up-to-date plan in place are
they likely to find their decisions regularly overturned by
inspectors, citing the NPPF's presumption in favour of
sustainable development.

"Pre NPPF inspectors would inevitably give full weight to
the development plan, even if it was dated,“
"There was still a huge risk in going to appeal. The
NPPF's introduction was a game changer".
- Anthony Aitken, head of planning at consultancy Colliers


Slightly more than half of English local authorities do
not have an adopted local plan.


Among English LPAs, 48 % had an adopted plan,



1% have had their plan found sound at examination
but not yet adopted,



13 % have submitted their plan for examination,



11 % have published their plan



27 % have no plan at all.

http://www.planningresource.co.uk/news/



Full coverage could be years away.



13 % of English authorities say that they will not have
an adopted plan in place for more than 18
months, and 26 per cent say they will not have one in
place in a year's time.



The timetable for full plan coverage will be further
delayed if authorities hit unexpected problems in
adopting local plans. It is reported that several
councils have recently struggled to get their plans
through inspection.
Think-tank the Local Government Information
Unit, in a study published 2013




The most vulnerable are local authorities with no plan
at all, or an emerging plan in its very early stages.



The NPPF attaches greater weight to an emerging
plan as its preparation advances

http://www.planningresource.co.uk/news/

In what ways might adopted plans be challenged for not
complying with the NPPF?



“Pre NPPF, [inspectors] would still give pre-eminence to
the development plan, even if you could prove a lack
of land supply, But [post-NPPF], if you are a local
authority that doesn't have a five year land
supply, there's now a big truck coming towards you".



He says that he is now telling clients to start preparing
applications for green-field expansion in areas where
authorities do not have the five year land supply in
place.
Anthony Aitken, head of planning at consultancy Colliers

Are there reasons why planning authorities might find it harder
than before to maintain a five year supply of housing?



Yes



LA‟s need to meet previous obligations to provide five year
supply of land for housing, plus a buffer of 5 % or, if they have
a track record of persistent under-delivery of housing, 20 %



Increased onus on demonstrating that allocated sites are
genuinely viable for development.



According to the Campaign to Protect Rural England, this is
testing local authorities that had included a lot of brown-field
land in their five year supply, because brown-field sites are
generally more expensive than green-field to build on.


Is there evidence of a growth in permissions for unplanned
development in the year since the NPPF was published?


Not yet enough data to paint a comprehensive picture BUT …



Analysis of appeals relating to large housing schemes (50 dwellings or
more) that took place in the nine months following the NPPF's
publication:


Showed that the number of homes that were refused permission
at appeal about a quarter of the total number in the schemes
that went to appeal.



Compared to around half in the nine months before the NPPF
came out.



The data suggests that more new homes that are part of big
schemes are winning permission at appeal than before.

Survey by Savilles


"The appetite of developers to go to appeal has certainly
increased post NPPF,"
- Charles Collins, associate director at Savills.


Analysis By The Campaign To Protect Rural England (CPRE) March 2013:

“CPRE has closely observed how the NPPF is being
implemented on the ground and what we have seen is
deeply disturbing.
Despite the rhetoric of localism, it now seems that local
communities are increasingly powerless to prevent
damaging development even in the most sensitive
locations”.
- CPRE Chief Executive Shaun Spiers


Thank You
Jonathan Braddick – RIBA Chartered Architect

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