Planning reform has become a byword for political timidity in the face of vested interests and a graveyard of economic ambition.
Our antiquated planning system leaves too many important projects getting tied up in years and years of red tape before shovels ever get into the ground.
We promised to put planning reform at the centre of our political argument – and we did.
We said we would grasp the nettle of planning reform – and we are doing so.
Today I can tell you that work is underway.
Over the weekend, I met with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister to agree the urgent action needed to fix our planning system.
Today, alongside the Deputy Prime Minister, I am taking immediate action to deliver this [political content removed] government’s mission to kickstart economic growth;
And to take the urgent steps necessary to build the infrastructure that we need, including one and a half million homes over the next five years.
The system needs a new signal. This is that signal.
First, we will reform the National Planning Policy Framework, consulting on a new growth-focused approach to the planning system before the end of the month, including restoring mandatory housing targets.
And, as of today, we are ending the absurd ban on new onshore wind in England. We will also go further and consult on bringing onshore wind back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime, meaning decisions on large developments will be taken nationally not locally.
Second, we will give priority to energy projects in the system to ensure they make swift progress…
… and we will build on the spatial plan for Energy by expanding this to other infrastructure sectors.
Third, we will create a new taskforce to accelerate stalled housing sites in our country…
…beginning with Liverpool Central Docks, Worcester Parkway, Northstowe and Langley Sutton Coldfield, representing more than 14,000 homes.
Fourth, we will also support local authorities with 300 additional planning officers across the country.
Fifth, if we are to put growth at the centre of our planning system, that means changes not only to the system itself, but to the way that ministers use our powers for direct intervention.
The Deputy Prime Minister has said that when she intervenes in the economic planning system, the benefit of development will be a central consideration and that she will not hesitate to review an application where the potential gain for the regional and national economies warrant it.
… and I welcome her decision to recover two planning appeals already, for data centres in Buckinghamshire and in Hertfordshire.
To facilitate this new approach, the Deputy Prime Minister will also write to local mayors and the Office for Investment to ensure that any investment opportunity with important planning considerations that comes across their desks is brought to her attention and also to mine.
The Deputy Prime Minister will also write to Local Planning Authorities alongside the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, making clear what will now be expected of them…
…including universal coverage of local plans, and reviews of greenbelt boundaries. These will prioritise Brownfield and grey belt land for development to meet housing targets where needed.
And our golden rules will make sure the development this frees up will allow us to deliver thousands of the affordable homes too, including more for social rent.
Sixth, as well as unlocking new housing, we will also reform the planning system to deliver the infrastructure that our country needs.
Together, [political content removed] we will ask the Secretaries of State for Transport and Energy Security and Net Zero to prioritise decisions on infrastructure projects that have been sitting unresolved for far too long.
And finally, we will set out new policy intentions for critical infrastructure in the coming months, ahead of updating relevant National Policy Statements within the year.
I know that there will be opposition to this.
I’m not naïve to that;
And we must acknowledge that trade offs always exist: any development may have environmental consequences, place pressure on services, and rouse voices of local opposition.
But we will not succumb to a status quo which responds to the existence of trade-offs by always saying no, and relegates the national interest below other priorities.
[Political content removed].
We will make those tough decisions, to realise that mandate.
[Political content removed].
Be in no doubt – we are going to get Britain building again.
Nowhere is decisive reform needed more urgently than in the case of our planning system.
Planning reform has become a byword for political timidity in the face of vested interests and a graveyard of economic ambition.
Our antiquated planning system leaves too many important projects getting tied up in years and years of red tape before shovels ever get into the ground.
We promised to put planning reform at the centre of our political argument – and we did.
We said we would grasp the nettle of planning reform – and we are doing so.
Today I can tell you that work is underway.
Over the weekend, I met with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister to agree the urgent action needed to fix our planning system.
Today, alongside the Deputy Prime Minister, I am taking immediate action to deliver this [political content removed] government’s mission to kickstart economic growth;
And to take the urgent steps necessary to build the infrastructure that we need, including one and a half million homes over the next five years.
The system needs a new signal. This is that signal.
First, we will reform the National Planning Policy Framework, consulting on a new growth-focused approach to the planning system before the end of the month, including restoring mandatory housing targets.
And, as of today, we are ending the absurd ban on new onshore wind in England. We will also go further and consult on bringing onshore wind back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime, meaning decisions on large developments will be taken nationally not locally.
Second, we will give priority to energy projects in the system to ensure they make swift progress…
… and we will build on the spatial plan for Energy by expanding this to other infrastructure sectors.
Third, we will create a new taskforce to accelerate stalled housing sites in our country…
…beginning with Liverpool Central Docks, Worcester Parkway, Northstowe and Langley Sutton Coldfield, representing more than 14,000 homes.
Fourth, we will also support local authorities with 300 additional planning officers across the country.
Fifth, if we are to put growth at the centre of our planning system, that means changes not only to the system itself, but to the way that ministers use our powers for direct intervention.
The Deputy Prime Minister has said that when she intervenes in the economic planning system, the benefit of development will be a central consideration and that she will not hesitate to review an application where the potential gain for the regional and national economies warrant it.
… and I welcome her decision to recover two planning appeals already, for data centres in Buckinghamshire and in Hertfordshire.
To facilitate this new approach, the Deputy Prime Minister will also write to local mayors and the Office for Investment to ensure that any investment opportunity with important planning considerations that comes across their desks is brought to her attention and also to mine.
The Deputy Prime Minister will also write to Local Planning Authorities alongside the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, making clear what will now be expected of them…
…including universal coverage of local plans, and reviews of greenbelt boundaries. These will prioritise Brownfield and grey belt land for development to meet housing targets where needed.
And our golden rules will make sure the development this frees up will allow us to deliver thousands of the affordable homes too, including more for social rent.
Sixth, as well as unlocking new housing, we will also reform the planning system to deliver the infrastructure that our country needs.
Together, [political content removed] we will ask the Secretaries of State for Transport and Energy Security and Net Zero to prioritise decisions on infrastructure projects that have been sitting unresolved for far too long.
And finally, we will set out new policy intentions for critical infrastructure in the coming months, ahead of updating relevant National Policy Statements within the year.
I know that there will be opposition to this.
I’m not naïve to that;
And we must acknowledge that trade offs always exist: any development may have environmental consequences, place pressure on services, and rouse voices of local opposition.
But we will not succumb to a status quo which responds to the existence of trade-offs by always saying no, and relegates the national interest below other priorities.
[Political content removed].
We will make those tough decisions, to realise that mandate.
[Political content removed].
Be in no doubt – we are going to get Britain building again.