Planning Alert 26th January 2012
Welcome to the Michelmores Planning Alert, where we bring you a round-up of the latest news and legal developments affecting the industry. We hope that you find this useful and welcome your feedback. Please contact us with any comments or queries. Items in this issue include:
Comments on draft NPPF report...Government seeks public view on simplification of housing and construction law...New enforcement powers for Natural England...Consultation on underground storage tank guidance...Site chosen for new reservoir in Somerset...Traveller Pitch Funding
Comments on draft NPPF report
Communities Minister, Greg Clark, has commented on the report of the Communities and Local Government Committee on the draft NPPF.
Mr Clark has made clear that the Government will take on board the recommendations made by the Committee; these included a revised definition of sustainable development.
Government seeks views on simplification of housing and construction law
The Government is asking parties with an interest in housing and construction to identify those regulations which they consider to be unnecessary red tape.
Communities Minister, Baroness Hanham, has said that the removal of red tape can be achieved without sacrificing high standards.
New enforcement powers for Natural England
The Government has granted new powers to Natural England to impose civil sanctions for regulatory non-compliance.
Natural England may now use its new powers to impose civil sanctions in the various areas in which it has enforcement responsibilities. Notably, this means Natural England is now able to impose civil sanctions for breaches of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) Regulations.
Consultation on underground storage tanks guidance
The Environment Agency is seeking views on a revised draft of its guidance paper on underground storage tanks.
The consultation has commenced and will close on 23 March 2012.
Site chosen for new reservoir in Somerset
Bristol Water has chosen the site for a new reservoir which is proposed. The site is near an existing reservoir in Cheddar, Somerset.
Attention will now focus on submitting a planning application for the proposal and dealing with planning matters generally.
Traveller Pitch Funding
The Homes and Communities Agency has allocated a fund of £47m to pay for over 600 new traveller sites as well as the improvement of existing sites around the country. A further £13m remains to be allocated.
Over 100 of the new sites are planned for the South and South West region.
We hope that you have found this Planning Alert useful. We welcome your feedback: please let us know what you thought of this newsletter and if there are any areas that you would like us to include in future issues.
For further information on any of these areas, please contact us.
Mark Howard
Associate, Environmental Law
Tel: 01392 687621
Email: mark.howard@michelmores.com
Author: Mark Howard
Category: Property
Last updated: 2012-04-03 16:05:33
