National planning policy and air quality

Peter Ellis, Deputy Head of Planning - Infrastructure and Environment Division

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National Planning Policy

• Positive planning in favour of sustainable development

• Greater democratic and local control

• Greater simplicity and effectiveness

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National Planning Policy Framework

Planning and air quality:

• preventing both new and existing development from contributing to or being put at unacceptable risk from, or being adversely affected by unacceptable levels of air pollution

• ensuring new development is appropriate for its location

• taking into account effects (including cumulative effects) of pollution on health, the natural environment or general amenity

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National Planning Policy Framework

Planning and air quality:

• planning policies should sustain compliance with and contribute towards EU limit values or national objectives for pollutants

• planning decisions should ensure that any new development in Air Quality Management Areas is consistent with the local air quality action plan

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Review of planning practice guidance

• Lord Taylor’s External Review of Planning Practice Guidance began work in October 2011

• Review reported in December 2012 and made 18 recommendations …..

• ….new guidance suite should be up-to-date, coherent and easily accessible, provide essential information and exclude best-practice/case study material

• Following public consultation, Government accepted majority of recommendations

• DCLG worked closely with other departments that co-owned/co-badged planning guidance

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From five times longer than Tolstoy’s War and Peace to …

*actual planning guidance

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Next steps for the guidance

After Beta-stage:

• Finalised guidance to ‘go live’ later this year following consideration of feedback collected during Beta

• Existing guidance replaced by new material to be cancelled at this point

• Some further work still to be done e.g. revised guidance on Compulsory Purchase Orders

Longer term:

• Annual reviews of content to ensure it remains current and relevant – this does not mean that all content will change every year

• Capacity for continuous feedback from users

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Planning practice guidance

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Planning practice guidance

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Planning practice guidance

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Planning practice guidance

Air quality: role of local and neighbourhood plans

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Planning practice guidance

When air quality could be relevant to a planning decision

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Planning practice guidance

Where to start if bringing forward a proposal where air quality could be a concern

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Planning practice guidance

Air quality: mitigating impacts

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Any questions?