Housing and Planning Bill

Baroness Parminter Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2016 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Parminter]

102ZA: After Clause 128, insert the following new Clause—
“Neighbourhood right of appeal
(1) After section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the 1990 Act”) insert—“78ZA Neighbourhood right of appeal(1) Where—(a) a planning authority grants an application for planning permission,(b) the application does not accord with policies in an emerging or made neighbourhood plan in which the land to which the application relates is situated, and(c) the neighbourhood plan under paragraph (b) contains proposals for the provision of housing development, certain persons as specified in subsection (2) may by notice appeal to the Secretary of State.(2) Persons who may by notice appeal to the Secretary of State against the approval of planning permission in the circumstances specified in subsection (1) are any parish council or neighbourhood forum, as defined in section 61F of the 1990 Act (authorisation to act in relation to neighbourhood areas), whose made or emerging neighbourhood plan includes all or part of the area of land to which the application relates, by two-thirds majority voting.(3) In this section an “emerging” neighbourhood plan means a neighbourhood plan that—(a) has been examined,(b) is being examined, or(c) is due to be examined, having met the public consultation requirements necessary to proceed to this stage.”(2) Section 79 of the 1990 Act is amended as follows—(a) in subsection (2), omit “either”, and after “planning authority” insert “or the applicant (where different from the appellant)”;(b) in subsection (6), after “the determination” insert “(except for appeals as defined in section 78ZA (as inserted by section (Neighbourhood right of appeal) of the Housing and Planning Act 2016) and where the appellant is as defined in subsection (2) of that section)”.”

[Baroness Parminter (LD)]

My Lords, in Committee there was widespread support for the measures of both this Government and the coalition Government to devolve powers to local communities, particularly through neighbourhood planning. We know that neighbourhood planning delivers more homes—the Government’s own figures confirm it—so how can it be right for local people to have no redress when a planning application is approved which drives a coach and horses through everything they have worked tirelessly to achieve in their neighbourhood plan?

The Minister confirmed in Committee that 1,800 neighbourhood plans had come into the early stages of development and that about 120 had been brought into force, but the total number that we could be looking at is 9,000. Why, bluntly, should local people go to the effort of producing a neighbourhood plan if such plans can be ignored when councils make decisions on planning applications and the opportunity to challenge is through costly judicial reviews?

The Minister said in Committee that this amendment was not necessary because the Secretary of State can recover planning appeals, but at that stage I highlighted three things. First, that power applies only when the permission has been refused by the local authority and subsequently taken to appeal. Secondly, it applies only to major applications while, particularly in rural areas, it can be the smaller sites of up to nine homes which need very careful planning to ensure that we get those types of development which have the support of local communities. Finally, the recovery available to the Secretary of State provides no protection for communities when the permission has been granted by local authorities contrary to a neighbourhood plan.

This amendment, in my name and those of the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy of Southwark, and my noble friend Lord Taylor of Goss Moor, creates a limited right of appeal. I am sorry to see that the noble Lord, Lord True, is not in his place today, but we debated this point in Committee. This is a limited right only for parish councils and neighbourhood forums, not for individuals, and it would enable them to appeal against the granting of permission only for new housing that conflicts with their made or well-advanced neighbourhood plan. It is a limited right supported by the House of Lords Committee on National Policy for the Built Environment, on which I was privileged to serve earlier this year, and by the CPRE, Civic Voice and NALC, three organisations that do so much to ensure that more people are involved in planning, helping to ensure that we get consensus around planning and thus help us to deliver the additional homes that we know we need. I beg to move.

[Lord Best (CB)]

My Lords, I support this amendment, to which I spoke at greater length in Committee. I shall summarise my earlier points. This proposal for a parish council or neighbourhood to be able to appeal against a planning approval that cuts across an emerging neighbourhood plan was raised in the other place by Nick Herbert MP, with support from Sir Oliver Heald MP and Andrew Bingham MP, all Conservative Members, whose views were shared by Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods MP for the Opposition. Mr Nick Herbert said,

“speculative developers try to get in applications ahead of the completion of neighbourhood plans or even after they have been completed … either they are upheld by the local authority, which is fearful of losing an appeal, or the developer makes an appeal that is upheld by the planning inspector. The development is then allowed to go ahead”.

This totally undermines all the hard work of the volunteers who have spent endless hours gaining support for the neighbourhood plan before, to quote Sir Oliver Heald, it is,

“trashed by an application by a speculative developer ”.—[Official Report, Commons, 5/1/16; col. 222.]

This is a deficiency in the otherwise sensible arrangements for neighbourhood forums and plans which were devised and introduced by Greg Clark, now the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

I have declared my interest in the excellent neighbourhood plan for the Cerne Valley in Dorset, where I own some land within the area covered by the plan. I followed the progress of the local volunteers who brought together this neighbourhood plan from the summer of 2011 until its approval in a public referendum on the plan in January 2015. The nerve-racking hazard facing all the local people involved was that their hard work was at risk from a developer putting in an application which in no way accorded with the emerging neighbourhood plan. Had this happened, neither the parish council or the neighbourhood forum would have had any way of appealing and the council itself would not have been able to use the neighbourhood plan to determine the planning application until the referendum on it was done and dusted. For all the 1,800 neighbourhood forums currently preparing neighbourhood plans, and all those to come— the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, tells us that 9,000 could come down this route, and I hope there will be many more—this amendment would overcome the problem.

If the Minister wanted to modify this amendment so that the neighbourhood right of appeal applied only once the emerging neighbourhood plan had reached a later point in its progress—as was suggested earlier by some noble Lords—I feel sure that this would be acceptable to the proposers. I hope that the Minister will indicate a move in this direction. I support this amendment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My Lords, Amendment 102ZA has enabled us to revisit our discussion on a proposed community right to appeal where there is an emerging or made neighbourhood plan, and I thank all noble Lords who have contributed today. Although I appreciate the intention behind the amendment, I cannot accept it and will explain why.

We have a long-established and much-valued right of appeal. It recognises that the planning system acts as a control on how an individual may use their land. This existing right of appeal serves an important purpose—to compensate for the removal of the individual’s right to develop—and there is no need to change this fundamental principle. That is because communities are integral to and involved in the whole planning process. They are consulted on the preparation of the local plan for their area from the earliest stages, through to making representations to be considered at the independent examination. The right of every community to produce a neighbourhood plan takes this further, allowing communities to set their own planning policies for the area. Those are the basis for decisions on planning applications and guide how the neighbourhood develops.

Importantly, communities can make representations on individual planning applications and appeals, and the Bill and new regulations will provide neighbourhood forums with the right to request notification of applications in their area, alongside being statutory consultees on their area’s local plan. The views of the community are considered at every stage in the decision-making process. Given all the opportunities that already exist, the Government do not believe that a community right of appeal is necessary.

It cannot be right for development that secures planning permission to be delayed and uncertainty created at the last minute by a community right of appeal. The amendment would serve only to discourage people from getting involved in the planning process earlier, or lead to repeated consideration of issues raised and addressed during the planning application process.

To reinforce what I said in Committee, decisions on planning applications must be made in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. A made neighbourhood plan is part of the development plan and therefore already a powerful tool that must be the starting point for the authority’s decisions on applications. National policy is very clear: proposals that conflict with a neighbourhood plan that has been brought into force should not normally be approved.

We have also made it clear that an emerging neighbourhood plan can be a material consideration in planning decisions, including where there is a lack of five-year housing land supply in the local authority area. Decision-takers may give weight to relevant policies in emerging plans according to the stage that the emerging plan has reached, the extent to which there are unresolved objections, and the degree of consistency with the National Planning Policy Framework. The extent of local support should also be taken into account. I also remind the House that in January, we announced that for a further six months, the Secretary of State’s criteria to recover and decide planning appeals would continue to include housing proposals in those areas where there is a made or submitted neighbourhood plan.

We have a planning system that balances competing demands for growth and protection. We have asked local planning authorities to balance these competing considerations to deliver sustainable development. We must now allow them get on with the job. For these reasons, I hope that noble Lords will not press their amendments.

[Baroness Parminter]

I thank the Minister for that reply and for the support we have had from right round the House, which was very telling. The response from the Front Bench opposite was disappointing, although not surprising. What the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, said about striking the right balance was right; in planning, that is what it is all about. We need to ensure that local people are fully engaged in planning opportunities so that we build consensus and actually get the development we need. That is why we all support neighbourhood planning, but why there is a real need now for this limited right of appeal just for parish councils and neighbourhood forums.