CPRE reaction to Planning Review

A new interim report has been presented in the House of Lords by former housing minister Nick Raynsford, reviewing the planning system in England.

The report has been warmly welcomed by a number of authorities, including the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

The Raynsford Review of Planning challenges current planning reform and provides powerful backing of CPRE’s view that the planning system has become too focused on delivering raw numbers of new houses, with little or no consideration for where they should be built, the quality of their design, and whether they are genuinely affordable.

Mr Raynsford’s report makes nine provisional recommendations for reforms to the planning system including:

• giving the public a greater voice in the planning process;
• the use of development corporations to deal with issues such as flood risk and economic renewal;
• and the use of ‘betterment’ taxes to fund regeneration in low-demand areas

Tom Fyans, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the Campaign to Protect Rural England said: “This important report highlights the scale of the challenge facing the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, as he inherits a fundamentally broken planning system – we fully support its recommendations.

“We need to see planning policies that work to rebalance the economy, and create genuine support for regeneration across the country. We look forward to further debate on how to provide the housing that this country so desperately needs, and how effective planning policies can protect the countryside that we depend on.”

The review is being led by a cross-section of built environment professionals, including CPRE, and has engaged with over 1,000 people over the past 12 months, including many members of the public.

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