20 Oct 2011, 3:21 pm
Consultation on the draft NPPF closed on Monday evening and despite the delay to the introduction of the policy, Planning Minister Greg Clark has said that ministers are committed to publishing the final version of the NPPF by 30 March 2012.
The draft NPPF requires local authorities to produce a development plan, called a "core strategy", which outlines the types of development that can take place in certain areas of the local authority region.
New figures reveal that so far only one third of councils have published their core strategy, which means there are still 223 councils that do not have an up to date core strategy.
Councils will be given time to publish local plans in a "transitional agreement", Greg Clark said in a statement to MPs last night.
Whitehall sources suggested this could mean that councils have between 18 months and two years to prepare their development plans and produce a core strategy, the Telegraph said.
Environmental campaigners, including the National Trust, argue that in the absence of an up to date core strategy, the default answer to development is yes. So the introduction of the NPPF, whilst two thirds of councils do not have a core strategy, will leave them open to swathes of inappropriate development.
