Out-Law News

Government will redraft some elements of draft National Planning Policy Framework


The government has agreed to redraft the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to make the protections for rural England clearer, The Times has reported.

Following months of battles and one to one meetings with environmental campaigners, such as the National Trust and Campaign to Protect Rural England, the government has reportedly agreed to redraft the NPPF.

Although planning minister Greg Clark is revising the document, the aim is to add clarity and the 'thrust' of the policy is to remain, along with the contentious "presumption in favour of sustainable development", the report said.

The Government is reported to feel the need to ease the tension that has arisen as a result of the heated debates with campaigners and needs to regain support form some of the core Conservative voters the party has lost.

Greg Clark is said to be tackling the policy documents with the National Trust in finite detail, going through the document line by line.

The National Trust recently gave the government a "shopping list" of amendments it wanted to see made to the policy. The main concerns of the charity are to reinstate the "brownfield first" rule and to define the term "sustainable development" in the policy document.

However, any major change may upset supporters of the policy, such as the Home Builders Federation, which has said that "the Government needs to stand firm and not be swayed by the scaremongering".

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