Out-Law News 1 min. read
20 Apr 2012, 5:13 pm
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) introduced a presumption in favour of sustainable development and requires Local Plans to reflect the presumption, containing policies that will guide how the presumption will be applied locally.
The model wording aims to help councils meet the expectation of the NPPF to have policies to guide how the presumption in favour of sustainable development will be applied locally.
The Planning Inspectorate said that it considers that this model policy will, if incorporated into a draft Local Plan submitted for examination, be an appropriate way of meeting this expectation.
The Government's flagship planning policy reform came into force last month with the publication of the NPPF (72-page / 1.3MB PDF), which is designed to simplify the planning system. It reduces over a thousand pages of policy to around 50 pages.
The NPPF contains a "presumption in favour of sustainable development", which states that permission should be granted "where the development plan is absent, silent or relevant policies are out‑of‑date".
The model wording would help councils to demonstrate that they have clear policies to guide how the presumption in favour of sustainable development will be applied locally", as required by the NPPF, the Planning Inspectorate said.
"Planning authorities will of course also need to consider what other aspects of their plans may need to be revised in order to reflect the approach of the presumption, to meet the development needs of the area," the Planning Inspectorate said.
