NALC welcomes the government's brownfield passport proposals  

We broadly welcome the proposals in the government's latest paper on brownfield passports.

In our response to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's latest paper, we argued that it supports the principle of encouraging the development of brownfield land, particularly within urban settlements, while recognising that factors other than the planning status influence whether development occurs.

We recognise that while national policy may influence the overall expectations regarding the minimum scale of development for urban locations, the optimum level of development is likely to be established at the local level, combined with robust design codes.

The paper forms part of a series of working papers on different aspects of planning reform designed to inform further policy development in collaboration with the wider sector. This paper invites views on further action that we could take through the planning system to support the development of brownfield land in urban areas. It proposes options for a form of 'brownfield passport', which would be more specific about the development that should be regarded as acceptable, with the default answer to suitable proposals being a straightforward "yes".