The government is considering streamlining the process by which local authorities produce local plans.
Speaking at a House of Lords committee on the built environment Steve Quartermain, chief planner at the department for communities and local government (DCLG), said: “Sometimes a plan can take so long to produce that the community shifts.
“We are looking at the process to see if we can streamline it and make delivery of plans quicker.”
Quartermain also expressed some exasperation with local authorities when he said: “There are times when we wonder why they are taking so long because the NPPF [National Planning Policy Framework] makes it clear what is needed, yet there are still 20% of authorities who haven’t published a plan since 2004.”
Ruth Stanier, director of planning at DCLG, defended local plans.
She said: “Where plans are in place they provide permissions much closer to projected need.”
Quartmain agreed, and stressed the importance of planning. “Planning is a delivery mechanism that makes things happen and changes people’s lives. It’s very important we embed that into the people involved in delivering housing,” he said.
