Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to reform the regulations on noise and neighbourhood nuisance arising from pubs and clubs in or close to residential areas.

National planning policy and guidance include strong protections against noise impacts, making it clear that the planning system should prevent new and existing development from being adversely affected by unacceptable levels of pollution. Further, national policy sets out that existing businesses wanting to develop in continuance of their business should not have unreasonable restrictions put on them because of changes in nearby land uses since they were established. The planning guidance supporting the Framework states that the potential effect of a new residential development being located close to an existing business giving rise to noise should be carefully considered. The guidance underlines planning’s contribution to avoiding future complaints and risks to local business like live music venues from resulting enforcement action. To help avoid such situations, appropriate mitigation should be considered, including optimising the sound insulation provided by the new development’s building envelope.

On 6 April the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2016 made permanent the permitted development right for the change of use from office to residential. The permanent right includes a prior approval on noise, allowing consideration by local planning authorities of plans to mitigate the impacts of noise from commercial premises on the residents. In considering the prior approval, the local planning authorities will have regard to the relevant parts of the National Planning Policy Framework and supporting planning guidance, as would be the case under a planning application.