Streamlined planning application process to come into effect on 25th June 2013
After gaining overwhelming support during a three-month consultation period, a decision has finally been made by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) regarding the new streamlined planning process, which will come into force on 25th June. The process will reduce the number of applications that require a Design and Access Statement (DAS) whilst also removing the requirement for councils to provide a summary of reasons for approval on decision notices.
The new system will speed up the planning process by cutting out unnecessary paperwork, bureaucracy and duplication, the ultimate goal being to create a quicker process for providing new homes, helping to regenerate urban areas and boosting local town centres.
Under the new ruling, only major developments (as defined in Article 2 of the Development Management Procedure Order), and some applications in designated areas and related to listed buildings consent will require a DAS. Lower thresholds will also apply in designated conservation areas and World Heritage Sites. In these locations, a DAS will be required with any applications for the provision of one or more dwellings, or a building or buildings where the floor space created by the development is 100 square metres or more.
In addition, the new rules will remove some of the currently required DAS content, including the requirement to explain the specific design principles that have been applied to elements such as ‘amount’, ‘layout’, ‘scale’, ‘landscaping’ and ‘appearance’. Despite this however, the DCLG have insisted that the changes would not affect an applicant’s ability to explain or justify their design and neither would they alter a Local Authority’s obligation to apply its design and access policies when determining applications.
The consultation also voted in favour of removing the 2003 requirements for Local Authorities to provide a written summary of reasons on decision notices when granting planning permission. They concluded that such decision notices “add little to the transparency or quality of the decision-making process, despite contributing to the administrative burdens on the Local Planning authority”.
The validation of planning applications is also being changed with the DCLG bringing forward alterations to the system of local lists. No longer will Councils be able to request documents just because they are on their local lists of applications. Instead, the new system will help applicants establish the information the Local Authority requires to validate planning applications. Where the Local Authority requests information from its local list, both the applicant and the Local Authority must give full consideration to whether the information in question is really necessary.
These changes appear to have created a positive response as we look for a streamlined planning system to help kick start the economy. However it is important that Local Authorities don’t lose track of what constitutes good design. The DCLG have said that “Reducing the number of applications that require a DAS would remove statutory burdens on applicants, but it is not considered that this would be at the expense of good design and accessibility."
At Iceni, whilst we support any proposal set by the DCLG that aims to simplify the planning process through the removal of unnecessary bureaucracy, we would question whether in practice this process would significantly reduce the amount of paperwork required as the ruling will only relate to the small number of applications that fall below the threshold. All other applications, including the majority of applications that Iceni work on, would still require a DAS.