The Planning and Infrastructure Bill nears Royal Assent

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been making its way steadily through Parliament since March earlier this year. The Bill is expected to be given Royal Assent before the end of the year. The Bill proposes significant reform that will affect delivery of projects across England and Wales with the aim of streamlining the infrastructure process, speeding up housing delivery and changing environmental protections. The Bill is a key driving force towards the government's ambitious 1.5 million target for new homes to be achieved before the end of Parliament. 

Key aspects of the bill include:

• overhauling local plans with a return to strategic planning,
• mandatory planning training for council planning committees,
• a more efficient delegation framework for planning applications to speed up decision making,
• local planning authorities setting their own fees for planning applications,
• widening the responsibilities of mayoral development corporations,
• major changes for infrastructure projects including reduced opportunities for legal challenges to speed up delivery of those projects,
• the introduction of Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) prepared by Natural England to standardise environmental mitigation in specific areas, and
• the Nature Restoration Fund where developers can contribute to streamline the mitigation process for environmental impact of developments.

The success of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will depend on how effectively these changes are executed and engaged with by the whole planning system.