The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has broadly welcomed the proposals in the government’s to-be-updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
In its response to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on the proposed reforms to the NPPF and other changes to the planning system, NALC argued that local (parish and town) councils are deeply embedded in local communities and, as such, have a key role in ensuring the community buy-in that will ensure the delivery of homes and communities.
NALC also recognised the urgent need to significantly increase the level of house building and that we are not only building houses for the next five years but also developing homes and communities for the next 50 years.
The government confirmed that updating the NPPF was one of its first priorities when it was elected in July. It is committing to making it easier to develop onshore wind facilities to boost green growth, and it has committed to making it easier to build more of the houses we need on previously developed land and appropriately sited other locations.