Posted 16.09.15
Planning Minister Brandon Lewis launched a new group of experts to help streamline the local plan-making process. The 8-strong panel will consider how it can be simplified with the aim of slashing the amount of time it takes for local authorities to get them in place.
This will provide greater certainty to communities regarding plans for new homes and infrastructure in their area, while speeding up the planning process so developers can get on site quicker.
Members of the panel are:
Local Plans give communities more say in how their area will develop from the amount of housing they need to the infrastructure that has to be put in place to help them thrive.
The Government launched a radical reform of the planning system in 2012, reducing the amount of policy from more than 1,000 pages to just 52 and putting Local Plans at the heart of the system.
In total, 276 local authorities have published Local Plans to date with 216 adopted so far. However, that means more than a third of local planning authorities have yet to adopt plans.
