Government plans new powers for council CPOs

The UK government plans to introduce legislation to grant councils greater authority to issue compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) for land, including green belt areas, ensuring landowners receive a "fair but not excessive return”.  

A section of the current planning reform consultation addresses ‘Benchmark Land Values’¹ and how these may be set. A range of options are presented that try to ensure that location-specific factors can be considered as part of local policy development, and that these can then factor into the need (or otherwise) for viability assessment of green belt sites.

A proposed new annex to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) seeks to discourage the granting of planning permission “if land released from Green Belt is transacted above the benchmark land value and cannot deliver policy-compliant development”, whilst also stating that “where policy compliant development can be delivered, viability assessment should not be undertaken”. 

This initiative forms part of a broader effort to overhaul the planning system and address the housing crisis. These proposals aim to "get Britain back to building" and come alongside substantial proposed changes to the NPPF.   

The green belt, established in 1947 to prevent "urban sprawl"—the uncontrolled expansion of urban areas—covers 6,300 square miles (13% of England). Under the new rules, developments on green belt land would require 50% affordable housing, with a focus on brownfield and grey-belt sites. This move follows a decade of declining housebuilding and planning system disruptions.  

At Planning Portal, we understand the pressures facing the planning system due to limited resources, a growing skills gap and local issues. By working closely with industry professionals, local authorities, and agents, we remain committed to our mission of transforming planning and building control, to support the development of vibrant communities, contribute to economic growth and keeping pace with the ever-changing built environment.   

Energy Secretary’s decision to approve solar farm called into question

Councils have expressed concern that developers behind a controversial solar farm project, which energy secretary Ed Milliband approved just a few days after taking office, do not intend to sufficiently shoulder the financial burden of the development. 

The application was originally advised against by planning inspectors on the grounds that it could cause ‘potential harm’ to local park and garden space.

When approving the project, Miliband found that those same harms should only be ascribed ‘moderate negative weighting’. 

Four councils have now issued a ‘pre-action protocol’ letter, which is the first step in potential judicial review proceedings. All the council’s complaints centre around Sunnica Ltd’ failure to address or account for costs associated with the project, which they say will now fall to the councils. 

Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk, criticised Mr. Miliband's decision, calling it "inappropriate" and expressed his support for the councils' decision to challenge the approval legally. 

"Mr. Miliband admitted in his response to my question in Parliament that he did not fully consider all the evidence before rushing to approve the application" 

You can read more on The Planner.² 

Natural England ‘open’ to new nutrient neutrality approach

Natural England³ chief has claimed a new ‘nature levy’ could be an option for improving nutrient neutrality, Planning Resource has reported. Mariana Spain claimed that the idea was initially proposed by a developer – and was keen to stress that whilst this was ‘absolutely not government policy’, it could be a method for addressing some of the shortcomings of the current Nutrient Neutrality measures. 

In a letter to Nature Conservation Organisations⁴, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, recently claimed that current nature regulations aren’t having the desired effect. 

Natural England’s president Mariana Spain was asked for her views on the controversial Nutrient Neutrality policy by a Planning Resource journalist.

She has claimed that, whilst the body are firmly clear that water protections are necessary, that our waterways are already terribly polluted and that we ‘can’t afford for new development to make that worse’, they are open to ‘finding a speedier, simpler way’ for developers to discharge Nutrient Neutrality obligations. 

She suggested a larger-scale approach: ‘A developer could contribute to the fund that would improve the overall quality of the catchment in a broader sense – so a more strategic, landscape-scale approach.’ 

You can read more on Planning Resource.⁵ 

2,100 home brownfield development approved

Since its establishment in 2015, the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) has been leading efforts to transform the area around Ebbsfleet International Train Station into a new garden city, complete with 15,000 homes. The EDC, acting as both the applicant and planning authority for this recent application, submitted for the Ebbsfleet Central East project which aims to create a vibrant urban centre, including 2,100 homes, office space, retail and leisure facilities and new public spaces.

The plan, which was approved by the EDC planning committee on 15 July, exceeds local housing policy requirements by offering 35 percent affordable housing. The project promises significant economic benefits, with potential to create between 1,470 and 10,358 jobs, depending on the final uses of the site. 

While the development is generally supported by planning policies, concerns were raised about its impact on nearby heritage sites, including two historic churches in the Hill Conservation Area. However, Historic England assessed the harm to these sites as being at the lower end of "less than substantial." 

You can find further information on Planning Resource.⁶ 

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-reforms-to-the-national-planning-policy-framework-and-other-changes-to-the-planning-system/proposed-reforms-to-the-national-planning-policy-framework-and-other-changes-to-the-planning-system#green-belt-land-and-benchmark-land-values
2. https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2024/08/12/councils-warn-miliband-error-solar-farm-consent
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england
4. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/669c04b9ce1fd0da7b59295b/Joint_SoS_letter_to_eNGOs_on_Planning_Bill.pdf
5. https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1884836/new-nature-levy-option-improving-nutrient-neutrality-says-natural-england-chief
6. https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1884906/2100-homes-approved-heart-garden-city-22-years-similar-consent-site#:~:text=Planning-,2%2C100%20homes%20approved%20for%20%27heart%27%20of%20garden%20city%2022%20years,site%20was%20first%20granted%20permission.