Story taken from www.rudi.net
A default answer of 'yes' to development should be removed from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) says the Communities and Local Government Committee in its review of the draft framework.
The phrase 'significantly and demonstrably' must also be removed from the presumption that all planning applications should be approved unless the adverse effects ‘significantly and demonstrably’ outweigh the benefits, say the MPs because it adds a further barrier to the achievement of truly sustainable development.
Launching the report of an inquiry that examines the draft NPPF, Clive Betts, Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee said: 'The way the framework is drafted currently gives the impression that greater emphasis should be given in planning decisions to economic growth. This undermines the equally important environmental and social elements of the planning system. As currently drafted the 'default yes' to development also carries the risk of the planning system being used to implement unsustainable development.
The document omits any reference to 'brownfield development first'. We welcome the Government's openness to reinstating the familiar and well understood term 'brownfield development' in the NPPF. For similar reasons the NPPF should be revised to reflect the ‘Town Centre First’ policy.'
The committee warns that, as currently drafted, the NPPF defines the phrase 'sustainable development' inadequately and often conflates it with 'sustainable economic growth'.
'We take reassurance from the fact that Ministers have accepted that a cogent case has been made for expanding and strengthening the definition of sustainable development within the NPPF. To assist the minister we offer a more inclusive definition of sustainable development,' adds Betts. (The text is at paragraph 67 of the report.)
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The Telegraph have also published a viewpoint on the NPPF, you can view this by clicking here: www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/hands-off-our-land/8992633/Hands-Off-Our-Land-The-Governments-planning-reforms-could-damage-our-heritage-says-Loyd-Grossman.html
