Planning for Fools: The best planning related April Fools of the weekend, and the stories that I wish had been....
Saturday was April Fools day. I spent the morning engaged in such classic pranks as cleaning the house and doing laundry*.
In honour of the season, below is a combination of the best planning related April Fools that I spotted this weekend - intercut with some genuine stories that quite frankly I wish had been jokes**.
1. Government denies planning extension for repeal of EU Laws under REULRR
The Independent has reported that a Government has denied rumours that a six month extension is being proposed to the 31 December 2023 deadline set out in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REULRR).
REULRR, which is currently in the Lords, is designed to sweep away any and all EU laws that the Government hasn't actively decided to keep by 31 December 2023.
It does this by:
- Repealing EU derived laws by the end of 2023. The government will be able to extend that deadline to 23 June 2026 (the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum) but can't further extend it.
- Repealing the principle of supremacy of EU law by the end of 2023. Currently, any EU decision reached before 1 January 2021 is binding on UK courts unless the government departs from it. However, this bill will subjugate all EU law in favour of UK law by default.
- Repealing directly effective EU law rights and obligations in UK law by the end of 2023; and
- Establishing a new priority rule requiring retained direct EU legislation to be interpreted and applied consistently with domestic legislation.
To give you an idea of scale, that is approximately 4,000 pieces of legislation which will disappear like Cinderella's coach at the stroke of midnight this New Year's Eve.
The Times had reported that No. 10 were proposing to extend this deadline by six months, because of the practical difficulties of reviewing all of the legislation in time, but those rumours have now (apparently) been debunked.
This is a real shame, and may prove to be problematic for the Government as REULRR is not having a smooth passage through the Lords.
In part because those 4,000 pieces of EU law include things like the working time directive and significant environmental protections....
There is also quite a lot of planning law in there. More information can be found here.
2. Preeminent Planning KC Stands in Local Election
On Saturday, Christopher Young KC announced that he was standing in his local elections as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats.
In his LinkedIn post, which can be found here, Chris states:
"I have been overwhelmed by all the people who have encouraged and supported me so far. And I look forward to the hustings as local Liberal Democrat members here in Cheltenham begin the process of selecting their parliamentary candidate for this wonderful constituency, sat on the edge of the Cotswolds.
I am passionate about Cheltenham and very much hope to keep it exactly the same size it is now...."
3. Planning application numbers dip to some of the lowest levels in a decade
Planning Resource has reported that the latest planning statistical release from DLUHC shows that the number of planning applications received and determined by councils in England in the final quarter of 2022 have dropped to the lowest levels recorded in any quarter in the last decade - aside from the first three months of the pandemic.
"According to the release, provisional figures show that permission was given for 287,000 homes in the year to December 2022, a reduction of nine per cent from 2021’s figure of 315,000.”
4. Major Landmarks to be converted into Wind Turbines to meet Net Zero Agenda
The Telegraph reported that as part of the push to Net Zero, the Government plans to convert a number of Britain's most iconic landmarks into wind turbines.
According to reporting in the Telegraph "Among the landmarks that are being sized up for wind turbines are Blackpool Tower, the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, the Radio City Tower in Liverpool, the Angel of the North near Newcastle and the Emley Moor Mast in Huddersfield.
Plans for the conversion of the BT Tower into Britain’s biggest wind turbine, seen by The Telegraph, have already been submitted to Mayfair & Fitzrovia Council."
5. 9 out of 10 SME housebuilders are unhappy with the Government’s approach to housing
The week also saw the release of the HBF's latest "SME State of Play Report" which surveyed a large number of SME housebuilders to ascertain their levels of confidence and the challenges that they face.
The survey found that:
- Securing and processing planning permissions to the point where construction work can start is the major barrier to growth according to 93% of SME developers
- The availability of land is a major issue for 52% of SME builders
- 76% believe Local Authority staffing shortages are the main cause of delays in the process
- Rising material (99%) and energy (88%) costs are a major concern for companies
- Over two-thirds are impacted by the ‘nutrients’ issue that is restricting development in more than a quarter of England’s local authority areas
- 92% of SMEs are unhappy with the Government’s current approach on housing
This is particularly concerning, given that the Government's stated intention is to encourage more SME developers to enter into the market. As such, it is particularly notable that the survey found that "92% of those polled say they do not feel the government’s approach to planning or housing was positive, and call on Ministers to take action if it is to avoid seeing supply levels fall."
6. 20mph Speed Limit on M4 to reduce air pollution in built up areas
Wales Online reported on plans to reduce air pollution around the M4 by significantly reducing speed limits at various points along the motorway.
The article states that "the speed limit was going to be permanently reduced to 20mph on some of the busiest sections of the motorway as part of further Welsh Government measures to reduce pollution in surrounding built-up areas.
The limit had already been cut to 50mph on some parts of the road in a bid to manage congestion, improve journey times, reduce accidents and improve air quality. But the new move - if real - would have made Wales the only country in the world to have such a low speed limit enforced on a motorway."
7. Yet more government amendments to LURB in the Lords
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is continuing to be a serious contender for "Most Amended Bill of the Year" - and this time, it is the government that is attempting to change it.
Amongst the most recent amendments that have been tabled by the Government are the following:
amendment number 285B which would empower the secretary of state to allow the Planning Inspectorate to hold hearings and inquiries remotely - either partially or entirely;
Amendment 216A, would allow the secretary of state to reclaim their appeal costs from local planning authorities in certain circumstances;
Amendment 412D would allow the government to disapply the “hope value” of land obtained via a compulsory purchase order for developments that include affordable housing, health or education provision and tie landowner compensation to the existing use of their land.
Amendment 261A, would widen the scope of existing powers in the bill intended to penalise developers for "slow" build-out rates. The amendment would allow councils to refuse applications from developers who had failed to build out a site (or developed in unreasonably slowly) anywhere within the local authority area. The previous version of the clause required the allegedly slow build-out activity to relate to the same application site as the application being refused.
Amendment number 281CC and amendment, number 281CB, would require councils to take into account existing levels of unmet demand when calculating the current level of demand for self and custom build housing when bringing forward new local plans.
Amendment number 285C would allow unspecified statutory consultees or other bodies to charge fees for engaging with planning applications in England
Amendment number 393C and Amendment number 393B would introduce new definitions of “excess nutrient pollution” into the bill and state that a water company that continued to provide excess nutrient pollution after the plant should have been upgraded would be carrying out "environmental damage"
Amendment number 467D, would allow the secretary of state to abolish and replace the Health and Safety Executive.
...and this does not include Michael Gove's latest promise to amend the LURB to introduce planning restrictions on Airbnbs.....
Whilst is is almost impossible to keep track of all of the amendments swirling around the Lords at the moment, some of these are genuinely concerning - in particular the amendment to remove 'hope value' which was the subject of a 50 Shades of Planning podcast just this week; and the changes to the penalties for slow build out rates, which are going to lead to a significant amount of litigation if they go through in their current form.
All in all, it's almost enough to make you feel positively foolish....
*actually far more apt than you might think. My youngest is scared of the vacuum cleaner and my eldest doesn't understand the difference between a mess and artistic self-expression. Also, there is always a risk that I have left a red sock in with the whites....
** the answer key, for those who haven't already figured it out, is real, joke, real, joke, real, joke, real....
Some of Britain’s tallest buildings, including the BT Tower, are to be converted into wind turbines to help Britain reach net zero under radical plans secretly approved by the Government.
Ministers are so determined to make the country carbon neutral by 2050 that they intend to requisition landmarks and fix propellers onto them to provide “green” electricity.”
Key Contact
