Government to publish final NPPF by March but with a "transitional period"

The Government has said it will "fully consider" the consultation responses and will publish a final version ahead of its 31 March deadline, with a transitional period.

"[The Government] will work closely with local authorities to ensure appropriate transitional arrangements are in place before the new framework comes into force", said Greg Clark, the DCLG Minister.

Currently only one third of councils have an up-to-date core strategy in place and of those core strategies already adopted, many are going to need re-evaluating to ensure compliance with the NPPF.

Having an up-to-date core strategy will be key for local authorities because the "presumption in favour of sustainable development" in the draft NPPF states that the default answer is "yes" to development where a core strategy is "absent, silent or indeterminate".

"I have urged the Government not to have too long a transition period for the NPPF to be effective," said Richard Ford, a planning expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. .

"There is a longstop date of 31 March 2012 to bring in the final NPPF, but what we await to hear is the extent to which the NPPF itself will contain any inbuilt transition provisions for parts of it to apply. The full picture on that is still awaited."

Baroness Hanham has expressed concern over the introduction of a specified transition period:

"It is absolutely essential that we put pressure on local authorities to get their plans completed. We would need to consider very carefully whether there is any value in having [a laid-down transitional period], but are committed to guidance of some sort," she said.