NPPF should be amended to include brownfield first, BPF says

British Property Federation (BPF) chief executive Liz Peace told the Committee that environmental campaigners against the NPPF could be placated with a rewrite to include 'brownfield first' provisions as this would work to mean that greenbelt land is less likely to be overdeveloped.

“We think it’s morally right to seek brownfield land before looking elsewhere such as the greenbelt," said Peace.

Peace said that most developers already build on previously-developed land, so if the concept were included in the NPPF it should not cause any problems from developers. It would also halt opposition from environmental campaigners who say that the policy would result in widespread development across the greenbelt, she said.

The NPPF already advocates a brownfield-first policy, despite the lack of the word brownfield in the framework itself. The word has become "common currency" and people have read more into the absence of the word than was intended, Planning Minister Greg Clark said.

"It is worded that sites of the lowest economic value should be brought forward first, and that is exactly what we intend to happen," he said.

The BPF has reaffirmed its support of the draft NPPF and backs its aim of streamlining the planning process to allow for more development.

It said that it will encourage councils to produce local plans that offer certainty to businesses, developers, residents and those seeking to protect the countryside from unnecessary or unacceptable development.

“I don’t think it’s the intention of the draft to diminish environmental issues at all," Peace said. "Developers will only want to put their efforts into building where there is a desire from the local community to do so. They don’t want to push water uphill."

However, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) told the committee that even if a brownfield-first policy was introduced to the NPPF, greenbelt land would still be developed.

"There simply isn't enough brownfield available" to meet the country's "massive shortage of housing",  John Slaughter of HBF said.