CLA lobbying notches up significant successes in new planning policy statement

Lobbying by the CLA has led to major improvements of PPS4 (Planning Policy Statement 4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth), unveiled recently by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The CLA fought hard over several years to get its views represented in PPS4, a planning statement which was first recommended by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee member Kate Barker's Review of the Planning System almost four years ago.

CLA successes in PPS4, which was published by DCLG on 29 December 2009, include:

• The encouragement of the conversion and re-use of existing buildings, including historic buildings, in the countryside for economic development purposes, 
• Planning policy that at long last recognises that economic development takes place in rural areas, just as it does in urban areas,
• A definition of economic development that includes development that generates wealth or an economic output, and provides job opportunities in rural areas,
• Supporting small-scale sustainable economic development, including in remoter rural areas, and recognising that more remote locations may not be readily accessible by public transport,
• The Statement making it clear that PPS4 should be taken into account in regional spatial strategies and in the forthcoming integrated regional strategies (including planning policy and economic development), and by local planning authorities in their preparation of local development frameworks, and
• It being accepted that PPS4 is a "material consideration" which must be taken into account in decisions on planning applications for economic development proposals.

Details of PPS4's specific planning policies for rural areas are contained in Notes to Editors.

CLA President William Worsley said: "This is a great result for the CLA. We lobbied for several years on this new policy statement. The CLA's hard work has borne fruit.

"Overall, we are pleased with the impact our lobbying has had on the Statement."

Notes to editors

PPS4's specific planning policies for rural areas

The PPS contains three policies for rural areas:  Policy EC6: Planning for economic development in rural areas, Policy EC7: Planning for tourism in rural areas, Policy EC12: Determining planning applications for economic development in rural areas.

This is the progress made by CLA lobbying in each area:

EC6: Planning for economic development in rural areas

The CLA has succeeded in getting removed from this policy the rather illogical and undefined statement about the "robust protection of the countryside for its own sake". It has been replaced by a reworded statement that local planning authorities should ensure that the "countryside is protected for the sake of its intrinsic character and beauty, the diversity of its landscapes, heritage and wildlife, the wealth of its natural resources and to ensure that it may be enjoyed by all". This gives a slightly better indication to applicants and decision-takers of the need to protect the countryside from inappropriate development.

EC6 contains a statement about the mixed use of rural development sites i.e. employment, housing (including affordable housing) and services on the same site. The CLA has been asking that this become policy for five years because rural areas do not have much in the way of developable land so it makes sense that what land we have is used in the best way possible to meet the needs of rural communities – subject of course to scale, design, noise etc. This is good news.

EC6 requires planning authorities to set out policies: 

• to support the sustainable conversion and reuse of buildings for sustainable economic development,
• to set out permissible scale for replacement buildings, and
• to set out the criteria to be applied to planning applications for farm diversification and to support sustainable diversification for business purposes.

For equine enterprises local planning authorities are to provide policies for a range of recreational and leisure facilities and for training and breeding businesses, subject to sustainability criteria.

EC7: Planning for tourism in rural areas

This policy supports sustainable rural tourism and leisure developments which are of benefit to rural businesses, communities and visitors. It supports new buildings in the countryside, subject to scale, design and impact on the landscape, if they are required in conjunction with a particular countryside attraction and no other existing buildings are available for re-use.

Importantly, EC7 recognises that those areas that are statutorily designated will have scope for tourist and leisure-related developments, again subject to scale, design and impact on the landscape.

EC10: Determining planning applications for economic development

This policy tells planning authorities to adopt a positive and constructive approach towards planning applications for economic development. It goes on to say that planning applications that secure sustainable economic growth should be treated favourably.

These are messages the CLA has been lobbying on for the past four years so good news indeed to see them in print.

EC11: Determining planning applications for economic development not in accordance with an up to date development plan

This policy emanates from Kate Barker's report and her first recommendation and is as a direct result of CLA lobbying. That said, it has been watered down but provides for planning applications for economic development that will be assessed against a development plan that is either out of date or one which may contain vague and/or indeterminate policies or no policies at all for economic development.

It gives planning authorities three criteria for determining a planning application in such circumstances and should be of some use to CLA members where development plans in many rural planning authorities are vague or silent in respect of economic development in rural areas.

EC12: Determining planning applications for economic development in rural areas

The policy provides for the re-use of buildings for economic development, but also recognises that there will be cases when residential conversion may be more appropriate.

It tells planning authorities how they should determine planning applications for rural-based economic development: they should support applications that enhance the viability of market towns or rural service centres; support small-scale economic development if it is the most sustainable option in more remote locations and recognise that sites may not be readily accessible by public transport.

They should approve applications for conversion and re-use of existing buildings for economic development and set out criteria if the benefits of conversion/re-use outweigh the harm that might arise in terms of the impact on the landscape and wildlife, local economic and social needs and opportunities, settlement patterns and access to services and housing, the need to conserve heritage assets and the suggestion that new build might be better than any re-use or conversion of an existing building.

EC13: Determining planning applications affecting shops and services in local centres and villages

This policy is about assessing planning applications in respect of shops, pubs or services and the need to take account of local needs if a proposal would result in the closure or change of use. It also includes a policy that planning authorities should "respond positively" to applications for the conversion or extension of shops "which are designed to improve their viability". The Government finally appears to have listened – this might stop the current actions of LPA which say no to such applications and tell the applicant to move into the nearest town if they want to expand their business.

Finally, the policy requires planning authorities to "respond positively to applications for farm shops which meet a demand for local produce in a sustainable way and contribute to the rural economy".