Latest News - December 2011
Jump to: MPs want NPPF... , Postcard to Clegg!
Dec 21st 2011 MPs want NPPF changed too!
We're welcoming today's call by a cross-party committee of MPs for ‘significant changes’ to improve the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). These suggested changes reflect many of our aspirations for the final policy.
The report shows a strong cross-party consensus that the role of planning is to treat economic, environmental and social needs equally, not to favour short term economic growth at any cost. The Government must now make substantial changes to its proposed planning policies if we are to get the efficient, locally oriented and environmentally sensitive system we believe Ministers want.
In the report the MPs
- call the document ‘unbalanced’ in favour of economic growth alone and call for the removal of a proposed default ‘yes’ to all new development
- state that the Government’s proposed ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ could undermine local plans
- call for a stronger definition of sustainable development, based on the UK’s Sustainable Development Strategy
- highlight the ‘inevitable risk’ of more countryside being lost in the absence of a clear policy of developing brownfield (previously developed) sites before greenfield.
The draft NPPF, consulted on during the summer, sparked major interest and controversy, with over 14,000 public responses. Despite this, Ministers have said they do not propose to hold a second consultation in 2012. The MPs see a strong case, however, for a further short consultation with planning practitioners.
The MPs also criticise the ‘unhelpfully vague’ wording of the draft document. The Government claimed that condensing over 1,000 pages of current policy to just 52 would provide simplicity and clarity. The MPs instead conclude that the draft NPPF ‘does not achieve clarity by its brevity.’
We all want to see a return to a healthy economy. The Government will not achieve this by putting the countryside at risk of poor quality development and undermining cities by allowing greenfields to be built on before brownfield land. We think the Committee's conclusions are considered and well-informed and we urge the Government to respond positively. Otherwise we risk returning to the unsustainable development of a generation ago, when an area of countryside three times the size of Stevenage was built on each year.
Dec 13th 2011 Postcard to Clegg!
We've just delivered a five foot postcard - and a petition signed by over 600 people - to Nick Clegg today, demanding that the Government radically rewrites the draft National Planning Policy Framework. We believe that the draft NPPF puts all our countryside in danger.
Thank you!
So thank you very much to everyone who has supported our campaign so far. We've had some good coverage including stories in the Yorkshire Post and Independent, and really hope that our lobbying will make a difference.
We’re calling on Nick Clegg to stick to his green principles, and make sure that the appalling changes to the planning system don’t go ahead as they are. In particular we want the draft NPPF changed so that it
- protects our countryside for its unique beauty and value
- no longer promotes economic growth over protecting our countryside
- prioritises developing brownfield before greenfield land
We've also asked to meet Nick Clegg so that we can talk to him about local people's concerned about the impact of these planning changes on our countryside. Much of Sheffield's beautiful Green Belt land that protects the Peak District National Park is in his Hallam constituency. We also want to see him use his influence as Deputy Prime Minister to make sure the draft NPPF is changed.
Meanwhile, we've written to South Yorkshire's 13 MPs asking them to put pressure on the Government to rewrite the NPPF.
Still time to make a difference
The Government is expected to publish the NPPF in January or February 2012. So there's still time for you to write to your own MP and ask them to speak out against these changes, and save our countryside!
MPs tell us that the most effective letters are those written by individuals, so it's best to write from the heart telling them how your local countryside could be affected by these proposed changes. If you prefer, you can edit or use the model letter - but please try to personalise it.
The photo shows Isabella Stone, Chair of CPRE South Yorkshire, and Carol Robinson, Chief Executive of CPRE South Yorkshire, handing over the postcard to Nick Clegg’s office.
