National Guidance

Housing Green Paper 2007

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The Housing Green Paper 2007 provides for both increased housing supply and the delivery of necessary infrastructure to unlock land and address related issues such as “access to schools, health care, roads, public transport, water, energy sources and public spaces”.

It states the Government’s commitment to housing growth being accompanied by the:

“social, transport and environmental infrastructure needed to deliver sustainable development at the local level”, and that “improved infrastructure planning” is needed to “plan effectively to supply and manage the demand for water, provide facilities for waste water and mitigate the risks of flooding” (page ??)

It identifies the benefits of doing so as being reduced overall costs and the achievement of better environmental outcomes. It states:

"Planning and delivering local and strategic infrastructure is critical to ensuring the Government meets its new commitment to increase housing supply to 240,000 homes per year by 2016. Supporting the timely delivery of infrastructure can help to shape and attract new housing development and is vital for long-term sustainability, including economic sustainability. Conversely, uncertainties about the timing and delivery of infrastructure can cause unnecessary delays in construction.” (page ??)

It therefore identifies a crucial lead role for local authorities and regional bodies in supporting growth, particularly through RSSs, Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) and the “coordination of infrastructure”.
It recognises that increased housing supply requires a coordinated approach at the regional and local level, including “better coordination between infrastructure and provision and housing growth”. It sees this as a two–way relationship, stating:

“…public services will need to be available when people move into new houses, providing appropriate confidence for infrastructure providers and house builders, but also…that local planning authorities will need to be more responsive to the plans of public service providers, when deciding where to build houses, including making most efficient use of existing capacity and demand management measures.” (page ??)

Planning Policy Statement 1 – Delivering Sustainable Development

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PPS1 requires local planning authorities to ensure that development plans pursue sustainable development, in particular ensuring that new development is supported by new infrastructure.

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• It highlights that in preparing development plans planning authorities should bring forward sufficient land, in appropriate locations to meet expected needs, whilst also considering the provision of essential infrastructure (including for sustainable waste management), and the need to avoid flood risk and other natural hazards.
• Throughout the preparation of development plans (at both regional and local level), PPS 1 states that sustainable development should be pursued in an integrated manner, supported by a common, robust, evidence base. In addition, those preparing spatial development plans should seek to integrate a wide range of activities relating to development and regeneration, taking full account of other relevant strategies and programmes and, where possible, drawn up in collaboration with those responsible for them.

Planning and Climate Change – Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1

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Sets out how planning, in providing for new homes, jobs, and infrastructure needed by communities should help shape places with lower carbon emissions and resilient to the carbon change now accepted as inevitable.  It clearly sets out how planning should contribute to reducing emissions and stabilising climate change and take into account the unavoidable consequences. I n particular, it emphasises that when selecting land for development planning authorities should take into account

"…the contribution to be made from existing and new opportunities for open space and green infrastructure to urban cooling, sustainable drainage systems, and conserving and enhancing biodiversity…”

Planning Policy Statement 3 – Housing

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PPS3 identifies a number of criteria which should be taken account of when determining local, sub-regional and regional levels of housing provision. Specifically, it states that LPAs and RPBs, working together, should take into account an assessment of the impact of development upon existing or planned infrastructure and of any new infrastructure required.

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• PPS3 seeks to ensure that housing is developed in suitable locations which offer a range of community facilities and with good access to jobs, key services and infrastructure. This should be achieved by making effective use of land, existing infrastructure and available public and private investment, and include consideration of the opportunity for housing provision on surplus public sector land.
• It also states LPAs should develop housing density policies having regard to the current and future level and capacity of infrastructure, services and facilities such as public and private amenity space, in particular green and open space.

Planning Policy Statement 9 - Biodiversity and Geological Conservation

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PPS9 sets out planning policies on the protection of biodiversity and geological conservation through the planning system.  Local authorities are required by PPS9 to maintain networks of natural habitats by  "…avoiding or repairing the fragmentation and isolation of habitat…" undertaken "…as part of a wider strategy for the protection and extension of open space and access routes…"  PPS9 also emphasises the role of previously developed land to host locally important biodiversity, and the importance of retaining or incorporating such interest into developments.

Planning Policy Statement 10 – Planning for Sustainable Waste Management

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PPS10 provides for a waste hierarchy (i.e. reduce, re-use, then recycle – but only dispose of to landfill as a last resort). It requires RPBs to provide sufficient opportunities to meet the identified needs of their area for waste management, and for RSSs to include both apportionments (i.e. waste tonnage requiring management) and a pattern of waste management facilities of national, regional and sub-regional significance (including broad locations where facilities can be accommodated). It also requires LPAs to prepare Local Development Documents (LDDs) to reflect their contribution to delivering RSS (i.e. LDDs should allocate sites to support the apportionment and pattern of facilities set out in RSS). 

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• PPS10 and its Companion guide identify a key role for the Environment Agency in providing data and information at all stages of development, monitoring and review of strategies.

Planning Policy Statement 11 – Regional Strategies

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PPS11 sets out the procedural requirements for Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS). It states that RSS should: set out a spatial vision for the Region; be regionally specific, addressing matters of regional or sub-regional importance; provide spatially specific policies; identify broad areas for development. It should not: repeat national policies; address local issues, which should be the subject of a local development document; identify specific sites as suitable for development.

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• PPS11 makes it clear that growth should be supported by infrastructure provision. Paragraph 1.3 emphasises that infrastructure should be taken into account in the development of the RSS. It states that the RSS should provide a broad development strategy for the region for a fifteen to twenty year period taking the following matters into account:
• identification of the scale and distribution of provision for new housing;
• priorities for the environment, such as countryside and biodiversity protection; and
• transport, infrastructure, economic development, agriculture, minerals extraction and waste treatment and disposal.

Planning Policy Statement 12 – Local Spatial Planning

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PPS12 requires local planning authorities (LPAs) to ensure adequate provision for development and infrastructure provision in Local Development Frameworks (LDFs). It stresses the importance of the overall evidence base in preparing local development documents (LDDs) and notes that LPAs should ensure that the delivery of housing and other strategic and regional requirements is not compromised by unrealistic expectations about the future availability of infrastructure, transportation and resources.

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• PPS12 recognises infrastructure is important in all major new developments. Annex B notes that the capacity of existing infrastructure and the need for additional facilities should be taken into account in the preparation of all LDDs; and encourages LPAs to develop a strategic approach to infrastructure provision when preparing LDDs.
• PPS12 underlines the link between a LPA’s approach to new development and infrastructure by stating that the core strategy LDDs should look over these issues and project forward over a reasonable length of time. In doing this, it will allow the bodies responsible for infrastructure provision to plan on the basis of a clear picture of the future shape of the community. Equally in contributing to the preparation of LDDs these infrastructure bodies can also influence the pattern of new development so that it takes account of likely infrastructure limitations and makes best use of existing infrastructure.
• In adopting a proactive approach to the plan-led system, PPS 12 aims to ensure that the links between infrastructure and development is properly investigated and that as infrastructure agencies have greater certainty in terms of their own investment programmes, so infrastructure provision will be more intrinsically linked to development foreshadowed in the LDF.
• LDDs provide the utility companies responsible for electricity, gas and water supply, sewerage and telecommunications with essential inputs for their own planning. Consultation with the utility companies and their regulators on such issues at the information gathering stage of the preparation of a LDD is an essential requirement within PPS 12. Indeed bodies such as the water companies and the Environment Agency are statutory consultees in any consultation on local development documents.
• In particular, PPS12 recognises the adequacy of existing infrastructure may well influence the timing of development. Provision of completely new infrastructure in some cases might take several years from identification of need to commissioning, so local authorities should discuss the possible phasing of development during their discussions with utility companies

Planning Policy Guidance 17 - Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation

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PPG17 sets out the role of the planning system in relation to the assessment and provision of sport and recreational facilities and recreational open space, requiring polices to be developed based on standards for provision of open paces, including green spaces.

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• It advises local authorities to carry out assessments of existing and future requirements for open space and recreational facilities. It states that local authorities should undertake an audit of quality, quantity and accessibility of open space.
   

Planning Policy Statement 22 - Planning for Renewable Energy

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PPS22 sets out the Government’s planning policies for renewable energy. It states RSSs and LDDs should contain policies designed to promote and encourage (rather than restrict) the development of renewable energy resources. It states RPBs and LPAs should not make assumptions about technical and commercial feasibility of renewable energy developments, as technological change can mean sites currently excluded as locations for particular types of renewable energy development may become suitable in the future. Additionally, it states that RSSs should include the regional targets for renewable energy potential to 2010 and 2020, expressed as the minimum amount of installed capacity for renewable energy, in megawatts. Where appropriate, targets in RSSs should be disaggregated into sub-regional targets, but should not set fixed targets for specific technologies. 

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• Paragraph 6 of PPS22 states that LPAs should only allocate specific sites for renewable energy in plans where a developer has already indicated an interest in the site, and has confirmed that the site is viable.
• Paragraph 7 states that criteria based policies should be developed and used to identify broad areas at a regional/sub-regional level where development of renewable energy may be appropriate.

Planning Policy Statement 25 - Planning for Flood Risk

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PPS25 aims to ensure that flood risk is taken into account at all stages in the planning process to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding, and to direct development away from areas of highest risk.  Where, in exceptional circumstances, new development is necessary in such areas, policy aims to make it safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere, and, where possible, reducing flood risk overall.
Paragraph 6 states that RPBs and LPAs should prepare and implement planning strategies that help to deliver sustainable development by appraising risk, managing risk and reducing risk.

Key parts relevant to infrastructure planning:

• PPS 25 states that there should be early consideration of flood risk in the formulation of Regional Spatial Strategies, Local Development Documents and proposals for development by regional planning bodies, local planning authorities, the Environment Agency, other stakeholders and developers. This should identify opportunities for development of infrastructure that offers wider sustainability benefit; these include dual use (i.e. flood storage and recreation)...