I'm Cllr Pam Jones, Alton Town Council

Sheila - you can rename your screen to something else (right click on your own picture)

I'm Cllr Graham Titterington, Alton Town Council - a bit too long to show on the screen!

Hello everyone and thanks to MHCLG officials for kindly giving up time to do this important session

Good afternoon everyone from Suffolk, great to see so many delegates.

Hi everyone, Karen Wakefield, Clerk to Ollerton & Boughton Town Council in North Nottinghamshire.

Hi everyone, I'm Phil Exton Chair of Planning Committee for Malmesbury Town Council

How do you change your zoom name please?

Click the three dots - top right next to your own image

Then “rename”

Thank you Andrew

I can't hear anything at present.

its loud and clear - do something at your end/

sound

back in - sorry can you unmute

Thanks everyone for bearing with us during that technical glitch!

Will we be able to view this again?

Still can't hear a thing.

can we get the slides after the talk

Slides would be useful after this event.

And we will also be sharing the slides too

Who decides what is beautiful???

Design aspects can be enshrined in N Plans

How will automatic consent sit with local democracy?

How will housing numbers be determined?

Could an application be refused by the local authority at the detail stage (where it is impossible to remedy a severe impact using conditions) which has already been given automatic permission due to zoning.

how does neighbourhood planning be of any substance for planning application if it is valid of little use if over two years old

How ill the new planning process ensure that there is commensurate infrastructure investment to support developments?

We included infrastructure in our NP

Q Communities feel under threat, not engaged by these changes and current process. Concerns about organisations like Gladmans riding roughshod in some area with financial resources, experience from across the country against local authorities (Unitary and Districts) that cannot match/defend the pressures on areas at anything like the same level.

How do you intend to protect 'villages' which feel they have already had enough development, when as few as another 20 houses could actually turn them into small towns?

What sort of streamlining for environmental considerations are you considering?

We did but not always reflected in infrastructure outcomes in practice

We've had a Neighbourhood Plan for 6 years. They are easily overridden by Developers, City and County. Trevor Cringleford PC, Norwich

If you don’t have a neighbourhood plan and the time to complete one would be quite lengthy, but there design codes in for example our High Weald AONB, would this be

Sorry -would this take some weight

The proposals seem to about trying to satisfy a perceived requirement for the ‘now’ rather than a strategic vision for the future. In addition, it does nothing to meet the fact that there are over 1,000,00 applications approved and not built. What is proposed to speed up development of approved applications

As a voluntary badger group charity consisting of volunteers, we need ready access to proposed development sites in order to assess the impact on badgers.

Q. Neighbourhood Planning and Green belt. There is currently a conflict between Neighbourhood planning and Green Belt responsibility.what are plans for Where the authority to alter green belt will lay.Our Neighbourhood plan was unable to legally allocate land for housing as it was all in the Green Belt (we are totally surrounded by greenbelt) So our agreed and referendum allocations did not have the same weight with the borough council local Plan..

How will the new proposals ensure that Prish Council or NP groups are listened to?

How will existing Neighbourhood Plans fit with the new system? Will they have to be re-written, or will existing plans stand unless they become irrelevant?

will not the land use zoning proposal and embedded presumptions devalue the benefit of Neighbourhood Plans and local democratic input

Seems a huge gap between Government plans to take control of new development and the role of NP's. Are NP's to be given greater standing in the process

there should be more clout to get developers who have already received Planning to get on with things.

Johnson expressed a desire not to let ‘newt counters’ delay development. Under proposed changes will we as a badger group be able to express concerns about individual planning applications? Thank you.

QUESTION - I see activity in neighbourhood plans which take approx. 4 years to produce an on average £20k - so expensive and heavy in relation to resource time. However.... often they are not taken into account in decision making leaving communities feeling disconnected. I agree they provide opportunity but if they are ineffective this seems wholly wrong

What limits will there be on the "design parameters" imposed on development in a particular area?

What happens if the Neighbourhood Plan differs from the Local plan - how will differing opinions be mediated?

Q. Neighbourhood Plans seem to be given minimal weight at present. How will these proposals provide a way of getting greater weight to the NP.

I've switched devices and am now hearing you.

NP take a lot of work from the community. Not every community will have the expertise to make the most of this.

NP do not appear to have any real weight with the District Council!!! will this change? hard slog doing one......and many in my community feel it was a waste of time given the decisions made by the district.

Proposals for permission in principle also pose a risk

How do you square Permitted Development with Neighbourhood and Local Plans when they are in conflict?

what can mhclg do to help digital maps and enforce planning applications being submitted with digital models too?

Echo a number of other comments, that it is difficult to get the District Council to take on board the NP policies when determining an application.

Very nervous about talk of automatic approvals - surely there still needs to be a level of control over what is happening otherwise theoretically plans can still get through which are unsuitable despite technically meeting “design parameters”.

Using digital will make NP's appear in context and will be easy for individuals to understand. Digital planning is 100% the way to go. However, with current fudning levels NP's can't afford it. We need government support

Local plan led allocation of sites, essentially takes a lot of the decision making away from communities.

I agree Stewart - Suffolk is a rural county and we are working with stakeholders on digital inclusion. I also have concern that rural communities may be impacted more as a result of the new proposals

Agree with Malmesbury comment - how will this be safeguarded

I feel the proposals need to highlight precisely the defined role of NPs in the planning process. Ambiguity leads to open interpretation and then challenge.

It is very difficult to understand the real impact of zoning and how it will impact

The reduced timetable for local plans and consequences seems very challenging for LPA in my view.

Whether something is good development, poor development and even inappropriate development are all about "nuance" and you cannot always predetermine that in a plan. This is why there should always be consideration at planning stage....

I worry about the centralisation of S106 monies and who and how it is decided te money is allocated.

residents have enough difficulty engaging with the existing planning system. How does an approach based on wider geographical areas and zones work better for them? Digitizing is not the answer.

Lack of housing and encouraging housing should be aimed at developers who are failing to build approved permissions, rather than Councils not allocating enoughhousing

I agree, Cllr. Kim Power.

It feels like this will be like a never ending process but does tend to leave consultees at grass roots level disconnected because of ensuring they are up to date

Also - does that mean there has to be a constant review of NDPs?

Cllr Kim Power - this has been exemplified in North Dorset - I agree with you!

will we get funding for each review?

Land banking by developers is a real problem here in Cornwall. There should be a time limit set or the land forfeited to a developer willing to carry out the existing consents.

agree quite so -Cllr Power

In Wiltshire we have been told that our NP only holds any sway if under two years old

Good point. Who and how will funding for new NP's or updating NP come from?

Is there any intention that Neighbourhood plans have the greatest weight...

Is there still room for neighbourhood plans when we have government inspector approved local plans now in place?

Purbeck local plan went to inspectorate last October and we still await result.

Well said John Wilson

I think the danger is that very prepared developers can be poised and have the capacity to engage in the 'pace' of the new proposed Local Plan approach and process. Local Councils, of varying sizes, and at the end of the day are made up of volunteers ( all be it very committed and often capable). The local council tier could be very challenged to remain engaged in a meaningful way and could be disengaged if they fell more and more unable to 'keep up' in an accelerated process.

Absolutely, agree with John Wilson’s question: who decides the size of the zones, what consultation will take place and with whom, what process of appeal will there be and can the decisions be reviewed and amended?

How are Local Plans incorporating enforcement for energy renewables and zero carbon footprint requirements of any new builds and development. These things can no longer be left as just desirable - they are necessary.

Richard I agree.

On where the different types of land will be set out, The White Paper is clear that that Local Plans should identify three types of land – Growth areas suitable for substantial development, Renewal areas suitable for development, and areas that are Protected.

We are facing same problems as Lesley...our NP is 5 yrs old and we are just about to start reviewing it.. but assume we will need to consider the zoning

Where are the reservoirs and underground water rese

Established Neighbourhood Plans will need to be reviewed every two years to hold weight in planning decisions if the County ir reviewing their local plan (so expired) and so doesn't have a 5year land supply, because of a different way of calculating it.... How can any community manage that in terms of effet and expense and in the meantime speculative developments are gaining planning permission?

Resources to supply all of this new development

Well said John Wilson. This is all about the principle of who has the decision making power... If the new system continues with pretending that neighbourhood plans have significant weight but leave the "power at the different level" then neighbourhoods will become even more diss-engaged..

I am concerned about balance in the proposals. local authorities give approval to build, developers build houses or decide to delay if profits can’t be assured, communities need to have a voice on location and style

If the government gets its way, lots of these decisions will be taken by out-of-reach unitaries.

New Neighbourhood Plans - another Trojan Horse for developers?

The Neighbourhood Plan should allocate housing...

Definitely keep NP / PCs involved in allocating land. Otherwise why should we both with NP's at all?

should say "bothered" not both - apologies.

Our parish has no sssi’s or aeon’s etc. can we protect our green areas or will it all be growth or renewal.

Really sorry am going to have to leave the meeting but thank you for the useful information.

Thanks for joining Carole

will these proposals take into account that most parish councils have little cash, yet the major developers have been earning profits of over 1,000,000,000 a year. the S106 replacement should redress this imbalance

surely a Neighbour

Agree that NP/PCs need to be kept involved in decisions regarding allocation of categories etc.

Will funding still be available for Council who want to make a NP?

Asking NP's to allocate land is fraught with problems, not least the power & expertise of developers to challenge. Parish Councils do not have resources to manage this, unless the new plans make more provision for support

No architect builds what he/she thinks is an ugly building and yet lay people are often horrified by what gets built. It is a fruitless exercise to try to legislate for beauty.

All this hinges on the existing relationship that a Parish Council has with its Local planning authority!?

what happens when an area has loads of housing to allocate but there is no consideration of the water supply or sewage removal.. messing up rivers ...?

Hood plan neighbourhood plan is the engagement evidence and should just be reviewed regularly. LA / Gov imposed zoning runs counter to this.zoning

There is a huge amount of change here and it conflicts in a number of ways . There is a determination to build more houses, simplification is an aspiration but probably not likely, what will happen to affordable housing and local democracy is at risk especially being at the tail end of the process

Why can't new proposals ensure that unitary authorities listen to the T & PC's they cover PLUS the NP input to ensure housing goes where it is needed and viable and in sustainable areas. If the UA ignores all input in putting together a Local Plan no matter how much public engagement happens there will be a comple loss of support then long protruded hearings such as in South Glos with a Spatial Plan thrown out by inspectors.

Can the MHCLG guys please confirm that the location of the three zones will be determined by the Local Planning Authority with input from the Parishes?

Impacts for AONB and Enabling Development ?

Community engagement except those where planning in principle overrides

There has to be much closer engagement with the bodies that provide the local services.. eg education, health services etc.. infrastructure has so often been put to oneside

We are in a known water stress area, & have been for many years, but this does not appear to be an obstacle for current & future housing developments

I read the 'Centre for Cities' report on local gov reorganisation yesterday. It was utterly disdainful of the work of boroughs/districts and had not one word about parish/towns councils. I fear we're just not 'in the game' in the discussions around the proposed changes.

'Beauty' is so subjective. Preston's brutalist bus station, the concrete crescents which were built in inner Manchester were not appreciated by locals who had to live with them.

Surely there is a balance between having PC allocate land vs having them involved in the decision making process they can add an amount of information which the Local Planners may not appreciate.

Well said Sue Simmons (we have new UA in Buckinghamshire!)

ANOB - comes under one of the three types - Protected areas• Green Belt, AONBs, Conservation Areas, Local Wildlife Sites, flood risk and important areas of green space.• include gardens and areas of open countryside.

Even in the 21st century there are still a lot of people who are not tech literate, so whizzy, high tech solutions should not be used instead of traditional paper solutions but in addition.

Q The proposed Infrastructure Levy seems to apply a nationally derived structure and takes no account of local needs for new, revised or replacement infrastructure. Under the present CIL rules, we as a Parish Council with a made NP get 25%, these rules give no indication that any of the IL would be paid locally and relies on Local Authorities. We already have evidence that we get none of the current New Homes Bonus.

This cannot be considered in isolation from the Government's plans to reduce the number of LA's and create Metro Mayor led super authorities. What role for communities in dealing with planning issues with a remote LA?

Great words Kim..

Totally right, Mike.

That is the elephant in the room that's not being talked about in this meeting.

Whilst I welcome Rob's assurances on protected areas, a problem we have in Dorset - repeated elsewhere in the Country - is that over 70% of Dorset is AONB. This considerably reduces the growth areas and development is then squeezed into ever decreasing available space with lack of grey and social infrastructure. We already have that problem. The new planning regulations need to address this problem.

There is a need to front load infrastructure

Please could MHCLG clarify how their overall housing algorithm takes into account that only 30% of Chichester District can be built on as 70% is a National Park and AONB?

I very much hope there'll be a similar such meeting, very soon, to discuss the Govt's in my view appalling decision to abolish countless boroughs/ districts and impose unitaries/directly elected mayors.

As anyone actually had a win in stopping an inappropriate application with their plan? We thought we had, we won after calling in an application, but it was overturned by the planning officer.

Thank you for attending today's Planning for the Future Webinar. We'd welcome your feedback so please take a few moments to fill out our feedback survey here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NGVXXHF

Protection is only if the Np is less than two years old

Rob, you are penalised if you made your plan more than 2 years ago

Cllr Karl Love East Cowes Isle of Wight - What allowances will be made for our Island Community can be made when we have 50% land mass AONB and a small population Demography. Lots of Land Banking by Developers here and no need to build excessively for an Island population of very low growth?

We are concerned that S106/CIL will be combined and paid at the end of a development? Will we become another Greek island with lots of unfinished houses?

The PC that I represent is a small village on the outskirts of Penryn in Cornwall. We have recently had 90 houses built, along with consent being granted at appeal fo a further 60. We know the County council has plans to build further housing on land they own. At what point does this become too many? It will destroy the 'village' atmosphere of our parish and will make us a suburb of Penryn. we cannot use our emerging NDP to say enough is enough, but we feel we have had more than our fair share of development opposed to neighbouring parishes. Our local school is already full without these new developments, our public transport is almost non-existent and to cap it all we have a University in the parish. At what point does the Planning Authority also say enough is enough? All these applications have not been supported by local residents, but no-one takes any notice. Where is democracy and inclusion in this?

Will all the questions raised in this Chat be available after this webinar please? And answers would be of benefit.

If the UA doesn't recognise the T & PC's or the NP's then how will the new proposal address that?

Can we also have a copy of chat as well as the slides?

What abour residence requirement for new builds in areas with 25% or more holiday home?

Yes please, Copy of the chat as well as the slides.

Yes Mary we'll also share the chat

Much anecdotal evidence here in Cheshire, that new developments attract people who want to move somewhere "nicer". This isn't solving any housing crisis.

Regarding growth plans located in neighbouring parishes. Our parish will have all the impact due to high density housing on our border. Can we reference this in our refreshed plan and will it have any weight because it is outside of our area? I asked this question but wasn't answered - but accept it's difficult to keep a check on all questions being asked. Thanks, Lesley

protection and acceptance of validity of NP as engagement is fundamental to give assurance to those most affected by imposed zoning etc. very concerned on premise of White paper, looks to starting a structure to ride roughshod over local communities. Local communities know the infra structure, Drainage, facilities stresses our views are relevant and essential for sustainable and quality of life .

Gladman have been to Bishops Cleeve too...

and Charfield in SGlos

And Corsham

And Cheshire. Planning vultures

Most Local people don't realise that developments are in planning process until they are posted in paper form on lamp posts! There has to be transition to Digital not simply switched over night.

And Barwell in Leicestershire

and Winslow Bucks

This government wants rid of boroughs!

Agree that NDPs are a brilliant way to engage at the local level. This should be retained and a more digital and yes I agree Justin the three tiers should be working together..... in essence we should all be swimming in the same direction but it never feels like that. Suffolk works with all LPAs and bring them together and the Highways Authority in order to bring the tiers together especially around design and community engagement

In my experience ,people aren't nimbys if they have a say in where housing should go, it would be better to streamline Neighbourhood Planning and make it cheaper and you would have more communities who wanted to go through the process. The white paper effectively reduces local decision making.

I agree, Kim Power.

Many large developers are able to continue building phase after phase ignoring the contracted S106 for Community buildings and sports facilities. Will the new levy rules give more power to Borough Council to prevent this issue?

Please can we have the contact details for the MHCLG officers at this meeting, so we can give them our views on how we should be included in the zoning process and input to design codes

Despite all the rhetoric I think Town Councils are powerless to influence planning decisions despite all the time and energy residents have given to the NDP process.

In poorer areas of the country like Cornwall, changing the number at which affordable housing is built from 10 to 40 or 50 is not going to help the lower paid and will only encourage people from outside the county to move into the area, putting even more pressure on local services.

I totally agree with you Chris. Our County Council is terrified of fighting appeals in case they lose and are made to pay the costs. the whole appeal system needs updating as well. We've just had an appeal, and the Inspectorate has agreed that a lot of his comments and judgements were incorrect or ill informed, but it is only possible for the PC to take it to the High Court to get it overturned. How are we expected to pay this type of fee?

Parish Councils have little say currently in planning and this needs strengthening not diminishing

Thank you for a good event.

agree David Fougler

Many thanks...

please respond to the consultation: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future

Thank you.

Would very much like to be more involved going forward. - Aspley Guise Parish Council

Thank you, please can we have copies of the slides and chat, and Zoom.

Thanks for the event.

can you put the feedback link up again please

Thank you

Cllr Jane Rann from East Cowes TC, Isle of Wight, thank you