The government has revealed new proposals to speed up planning decisions and remove local authority blockages as part of its growth drive.
New amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, announced today (14 October), are intended to accelerate unlock development in housing, clean energy and water projects, it said.
Under the measures, ministers would be able to issue “holding directions” to prevent councils from rejecting planning applications while Whitehall decides whether to ‘call in’ decisions.
Existing powers only allow intervention in council approvals, not rejections.
Housing secretary Steve Reed said sluggish planning was depriving families of homes and delaying infrastructure needed to create jobs. He described the reforms as part of a “seismic shift” in planning policy.
Another key amendment would introduce a new mechanism to stop planning permissions from expiring when held up by court challenges.
Other proposed measures include reclassifying large reservoir schemes as nationally significant infrastructure projects, enabling faster approvals and allowing non-water sector firms to build them. No new reservoir has been built in the UK in over three decades.
Onshore wind developments are also set to benefit, with proposals to unlock around 3GW of capacity and attract up to £2bn of investment.
The government said the new approach would ensure defence and seismic monitoring would be protected while enabling faster approvals.
Natural England would have greater discretion over when to intervene on planning matters, allowing it to prioritise high-risk or environmentally beneficial schemes.
Standardised guidance would be issued for lower-risk proposals to reduce duplication and free up resources.
In marine sectors, the Nature Restoration Fund could be allowed to support coastal infrastructure, which the government said would improve biodiversity while speeding up development.
The proposed changes also include limiting judicial reviews to one per major infrastructure project, reducing delays by cutting the statutory pre-consultation period by one year.
Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves said the “outdated” planning system had been held “to ransom by blockers” for too long.
She said the reforms would back builders over bureaucracy and demonstrate that the UK was “a country that gets spades in the ground”.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is expected to become law before the end of the year.