It is telling that local authorities are already adopting their own biodiversity net gain policies, somewhat overriding whatever delay to legal implementation the government may propose.

Planning is a close relation of politics – and events in UK politics have been moving fast. An announcement on planning was due from the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Simon Clarke, on 19 October 2022, but this was overtaken first by the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt rolling back most of the previous Chancellor's minibudget of 23 September 2022, and then by the resignation of the Prime Minister Liz Truss. By the time that this article is published, we may well have yet another new Housing Secretary.

While it is not clear whether the next Prime Minister will pursue the remaining 'growth' elements of the Growth Plan 2022, there seems to be support for the principle that attention must be paid to how growth can be achieved. The Growth Plan proposed further changes to the planning system as a way to encourage growth, including the potential deregulation of planning in new investment zones, which we were told by the government had been very popular with many (although not all) local authorities. As we know, promising planning reform is not new to England – governments have scapegoated the planning system for holding back housing and economic growth for many years. However, unlike politics, actual planning reform seems to be moving very slowly indeed. Whichever Prime Minister is in charge, the underlying question of what is happening to planning reform remains. Just where are we now on reforms which have been promised since March 2019?

The Growth Plan 2022

Let's start with the most recent announcement on changes to the planning system, the Growth Plan of 23 September 2022.

Investment zones

The main thrusts of the Growth Plan were an energy support package, widespread tax cuts and incentives for economic growth – particularly in new investment zones (IZs) to be established in quick time across the UK.

IZs would be designated development sites that will benefit from 'planning liberalisation' in addition to tax incentives and wider support for the local economy. Mayoral Combined Authorities, Upper Tier Local Authorities and Freeports were invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for one or more sites in their area to become IZs. These EOIs had to be submitted by 14 October 2022, a mere 12 days after the EOIs for England were issued on 2 October. We were told that the government will select potential IZ sites on the basis of specified criteria, with the aim of ensuring 'broad geographic distribution of investment zones, and/or a balance of urban and rural areas', a 'proportionate balance of housing and commercial sites' and a 'readiness to deliver'.

Although most of the tax cuts announced on 23 September 2022 have been rolled back to fill the budgetary black hole, as at the date of writing it is not clear whether proposed tax incentives for IZs will also disappear (or will possibly be significantly scaled back). In ministerial questions on 18 October 2022, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Simon Clarke, noted continued government support for bringing forward tax incentives for IZs, including:

... business rates relief, enhanced structures and buildings allowances, enhanced capital allowances and ... action on employer national insurance contributions, designed to ensure that there are incentives for new jobs in the zones.

If this is so, then IZs may not (yet at least) be dead in the water.

So, what is proposed for IZs from a planning point of view?

The Growth Plan says that a 'lighter-touch' planning regime will apply to these zones, and that the government will work to streamline planning applications. Unfortunately, little detail has been given on what 'planning liberalisation' will look like, either in the Growth Plan or in the factsheet on Investment Zones published with it. Little more can be gleaned from Investment Zones in England Guidance, published on 24 September, and the Investment Zones expression of interest form and Investment Zones expression of interest guidance for England published on 2 October 2022. Applicant authorities have been asked to confirm their support in principle to use a:

... new, faster, and more streamlined consent to grant planning permission ... for development on sites which do not have existing planning permission, or are not expected to have planning permission by Summer 2023.

However, no detail on this has yet been published.

The government also intends to disapply legacy EU 'red tape' in IZs. Although it is not yet clear exactly what this means, measures 'reducing the burden of environmental assessments' and 'reforming habitats and species regulations', which we have been told would include nutrient neutrality requirements, are proposed to be included in a new 'Planning and Infrastructure Bill'. In the ministerial questions on 18 October, the Secretary

of State confirmed that the government does not intend IZs to 'cut away' environmental protection, but the potential for such protections to be watered down has been a major cause for concern, particularly in light of the Retained EU (Revocation and Reform) Bill (known as the 'Brexit Freedoms Bill') introduced to Parliament on 22 September 2022. The government said that there had been great interest in IZs from local authorities, but some have openly refused the government's invitation, including Oxfordshire County Council, who said that 'deregulation within the zone is "incompatible" with the council's green goals' (ENDS Report).

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Originally Published by PROPERTY LAW JOURNAL

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