Protections on areas such as greenbelt in the Government’s new planning policy will allow for consideration of appropriate development, according to Branwen Evans, deputy director of planning policy and reform, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
With new Government plans including a classification of land as protected, the industry has raised concerns this would prevent land in the greenbelt being considered for development completely.
Speaking at the CLA Navigating the Planning System webinar during its Rural Powerhouse Week, Ms Evans
said: “Even though they have broad protection, we should be able to look at appropriate development there.
“There is protection, but we still are expecting places to evolve. The world and society is still changing. We need to keep doing that, not just preserving.”
There were also calls for sustainability criteria for new planning applications to be updated as proposals find
themselves put into the unsustainable category for outdated reasons.
Applications were being classed as unsustainable due to a lack of access to a bus stop or local bank.
Fenella Collins, CLA head of planning, said: “Many thousands of villages are put into unsustainable category
because housing needs assessment is based in types of services that are no longer available.”
She suggested a more modern measure such as broadband access for sustainability so people can work from
home would be more appropriate.