In part three of this series, we provide commentary to the Party positions on the planning system and the types of reforms that have been pledged associated with the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Labour
Labour’s manifesto starts boldly by stating that Britain is hampered by a planning regime that struggles to build the infrastructure or housing the UK needs. The key pledges Labour have made to tackle this issue are:
- Introduce new National Policy Statements (NPS) together with an immediate update to the National Planning Policy Framework;
- Introduce new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning – something that has been missing for fourteen years;
- Develop a Ten-year Infrastructure Strategy which will align with the to-be-developed Industrial Strategy;
- Reform compulsory purchase compensation rules to improve land assembly and site delivery so that infrastructure is developed in the public’s interest. Labour proposes that landowners are awarded a ‘fair compensation’ rather than ‘hope value’, a major change since it will not include the element of future uplift in light of a possible planning permission;
- Establish a National Wealth Fund which will invest £1bn in carbon capture technologies and £500 million in green hydrogen production; and
- Create a ‘National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority’.
Labour also commits to supporting Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) through the provision of additional funding – this clearly has the potential to improve planning services, but the amount is unquantified.
The Conservatives
The Conservatives biggest pledge is to speed up the average time it takes to sign off major infrastructure projects from four years to one – a pledge which is bold and on the face of it unachievable. The Conservatives will ensure NPS’ are regularly updated and that “reforms to outdated EU red tape” are made to simplify the planning system to build faster.
The Conservatives also pledge that requirements to offset the impact of new infrastructure and homes should be proportionate to the area and that LPAs will make use of the new Infrastructure Levy (as introduced by LURA 2023).
The Conservatives will ‘prevent multiple solar farms being clustered in one area’ in a bid to protect rural landscapes. The unintended effects of this on National Grid ESO and the possibility of less suitable sites coming forward have not been identified.
The Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dems’ pledge to introduce a ‘Strategic Land and Sea Use Framework’ to balance the competing demands on our land and oceans. In relation to offshore developments, the Lib Dems propose the creation of a ‘real network of marine protected areas’. Across all developments, the Lib Dems want to ensure significant BNG is delivered with an ‘up to a 100% net gain for large developments’.
The Lib Dems, like Labour, pledge to develop an Industrial Strategy and also pledge greater funding of LPAs. However, the Lib Dems’ approach is to allow the LPAs to set their own planning application fees.
The Greens
The Greens are light on planning and policy reform. With respect to energy-generating infrastructure, the Greens are pushing for a share of community ownership in local renewable energy infrastructure.
Reform UK
Reform UK pledges to ‘reform the planning system’ by fast-tracking infrastructure projects (such as nuclear and gas power plants) and new housing on brownfield sites to boost business and the economy more widely. Reform UK seeks to focus this growth in coastal regeneration areas, Wales, the North and the Midlands.
Summary
The Conservatives have taken the view that planning is frustrating the delivery of national infrastructure but perhaps, due to having been in power for several years, cannot pinpoint how consenting infrastructure will be reduced from four years to one.
Labour have pledged the most significant reforms. The planning reforms are wide ranging and have a particular focus on infrastructure and housing. A level of detail is missing, however, and some reforms may take longer than one term to implement.
The Greens and the Lib Dems take similarly light planning and policy reform positions. The Lib Dems’ pledge to enable LPAs to set their own fees is a unique one. It may generate more income in the short term where LPAs make full use of this freedom but would increase pressures on that LPA and increase applicant expectations. Conversely, authorities in areas with fewer development pressures could compete with each other to reduce LPA fees, hollowing out planning departments.
Finally, Reform UK is seeking to fast-track the types of infrastructure most parties and promoters are seeking to phase out. They also intend on fast-tracking new housing on brownfield sites which may prove difficult given that the complexities often attached to brownfield land may serve to frustrate any such fast-tracking.
