Key legislation and policy overview

The planning system is complicated enough…but the words that planners use make it even harder to understand…see the planning jargon page for help!

New legislation and policies are constantly being put in place which affect the planning system. The Planning and Climate Change Coalition document (available for download here) details examples of new legislation that has occurred in current years. However some key pieces that you should be aware of are:

The Climate Change Act 2008

In 2008 the UK passed some legislation which ‘introduces the world’s first long-term legally binding framework to tackle the dangers of climate change’. The UK has to cut its CO₂ emissions by at least 34% by 2020, and 80% by 2050, based on our 1990 baseline. 5-year carbon budgets are set, 3 at a time, to help us stay on track to meet our targets.

For more information see the Department of Energy and Climate Change website.

The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan

This is what helps us to form the 5-year carbon budgets by looking at how CO₂ reductions in the power sector, heavy industry, transport, homes and communities, workplaces and jobs, farming, land and waste sectors can help us meet our targets.

For more information see the The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan: national strategy for climate and energy.

Planning Act 2008

This Planning Act 2008 was drawn up to enable the following initiatives:

1. When developing National Policy Statements, Ministers have a duty to ‘contribute towards sustainable development’ and to carry out an analysis of their policy’s sustainability.
2. Any infrastructure project subject to the policy framework being considered by a developer must undergo a consultation process involving the local community, local authorities and key stakeholders which must inform the planning application.
3. An independent planning commission will conduct planning inquiries into the infrastructure projects, examining them in relation to the National Policy Statements.
4. The public ‘right to be heard’ is protected so that any person who expresses an interest in the proposal is able to give oral evidence at the relevant stages of the enquiry.

You can read it in more detail at the legislation.gov.uk website.

Planning and Energy Act 2008

This Bill allows local councils to set targets in their areas for on-site renewable energy, on-site low carbon electricity and energy efficiency standards in addition to national requirements.
The Bill covers England and Wales. It requires developers to source at least 10% of any new building’s energy from renewable sources, implementing nationwide the so-called ‘Merton Rule’, named after the sustainable planning policy first adopted by the London Borough of Merton. The Government has implemented policies in this area, notably the Planning Policy Statement on Climate Change, issued by the Government on 17 December 2007 after public consultation.

You can read it in more detail at the legislation.gov.uk website.

Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004

The aim of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 is to speed up the planning system through increasing the predictability of planning decisions, and handling major infrastructure projects more efficiently.

You can read it in more detail at the legislation.gov.uk website.

Planning documents for the East Midlands

Every region must have their own Regional Spatial Strategy (soon to be removed)… and so here is the East Midland’s version: East Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy

The East Midlands also has a Renewable Energy Policy to help the region play its part in achieving the national 2050 Climate Change target: The East Midlands Renewable Energy Policy