Labour's housing targets and planning reforms risk development free-for-all, says local CPRE boss

First and foremost, bold decisions needed to be made and I broadly welcome the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and I support the need for increased new housing, especially affordable homes. However, the proposals do raise key issues locally.

The branch of CPRE that I run covers South Yorkshire and the Peak District and as is the case regionally and nationally, the impact of the changes differs across this patch.

They’re likely, for example, to mean less change for the Peak District and Sheffield than for say Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster.

Importantly, the rewrite also needs to better define some key terms like ‘grey belt’ and ‘horticulture’.

I have some concerns that housing targets will exceed deliverability by the private sector and that this will potentially lead to a free for all, rather than a brownfield first approach.

It is vitally important that the quality of housing improves and that sustainable locations are selected with placemaking and infrastructure (roads, water, sewage, power, amenities, etc) available to them. The right homes in the right place at the right quality really is key. This is also an opportunity to move faster on net zero for new homes.

I am heartened that any development of grey belt land will only follow a review of the relevant Local Plan which will include community involvement. Angela Rayner has spoken about affordability, the access of existing key infrastructure and amenities and a net benefit to nature being key to any development of grey belt. I support her comments on this.

The development of brownfield sites such as the former RAF base at Norton in Sheffield, a site that sits on the edge of an urban area, is not isolated from essential services, facilities, utilities and public transport and poorly meets the purposes of Green Belt. These types of sites provide an opportunity to provide much needed housing of different tenures in sustainable locations.

Developers ought to be bound by stronger mechanisms to develop land within reasonable timeframes once permission is authorised.

Notwithstanding the urgency for new homes, there really needs to be clarity on and monitoring of the impacts that major infrastructure developments will have. I really don’t think we should race to build them at the detriment of the environment.

We are in the throes of a climate crisis and the last five years have proven the importance of green spaces and nature for all of us, so seizing every opportunity to enhance nature and biodiversity in new (and existing) housing developments ought to become the norm.

For the proposals to the NPPF to be realised, to work well and to avoid a situation of ad hoc development, it is vitally important that local and regional planning departments need to be properly funded and supported. Whilst the Government seems to recognise this to a degree with its intention to increase planning application fees, more support is likely to be needed.

I urge you all to get involved in providing feedback on the proposals.

Tomo Thompson is CEO of the Peak District and South Yorkshire branch of CPRE The Countryside Charity