Business In Sport & Leisure (BISL) has called for a significant increase in the funding and resources of local authority planning departments.
BISL is a lobby group for commercial hospitality, leisure and sport operators.
In its official response to the planning green paper, BISL said that more resources would be needed to support the Local Development Frameworks (LDF) and Core Policies proposed in the green paper.
BISL also raised concerns that the LDFs and the consequent action plans would take as long to produce as local plans.
BISL’s chief executive, Brigid Simmonds, said: “We welcome moves to simplify and speed up the planning system but are not convinced the proposed changes will achieve this.
“There is an inherent tension in both increasing community representation and speeding up the system. Leisure is particularly prone to the NIMBY factor, so strong national guidance for all action plans is essential.”
She added: “The planning system will require huge extra resources if Local Development Frameworks are going to work.”
BISL also called for PPG6, Town Centres and Retail, to be renamed Leisure and Retail Developments in Town Centres.
Simmonds said: “The nature of town centres has changed in recent years. The artificial ceiling of only 15% non-retail uses in town centres is no longer realistic, as demand for leisure uses grows.
“We believe that PPG6 should be renamed to make it clear that leisure is included. Leisure is very diverse and needs an alternative approach to the sequential test.”
EGi News 19/03/02
