The Labour Government has been very busy on planning since it was elected.  A revised draft NPPF was ready for consultation within a month, we have a new Task Force and the Kings Speech has promised us a Planning and Infrastructure Bill with an array of changes across the system.  

Last weekend saw the publication of a planning reform working paper on brownfield passports.  The aims are laudable, namely to provide greater certainty that developments on brownfield land that meet certain criteria (relating to scale and form of development) would be granted planning permission.  This bolsters the amended NPPF policy for brownfield land which says that certain forms of development should be regarded as acceptable in principle.   The concrete suggestions are to set certain policy expectations at a national level relating to the scale of development and the use of detailed design codes at a local level. 

I suspect that trying to set national standards for design in a country that has a diverse range of townscapes is going to be fraught with risks and is not going to be popular with local authorities, who are unlikely to be happy at being told what design issues they should accept.   Enough caveats and exclusions would need to be built into the policy that it would in effect be meaningless.  How would conservation areas be dealt with?  If they are to be excluded that would provide a simple way of getting around the policy, by designating new areas.  How would the setting of listed buildings be protected?

There's nothing new about local design codes.   London has pioneered the way with Housing Design Standards.  Local authorities will always do this if they think there is merit in doing so but I would advise against attempting to force them to do so.

I do wonder if the Government is just trying too hard on this one.  They are not the first to try and give developers greater certainty on the planning front.  Who remembers permission in principle, that great planning white elephant?  Nationally set standards seem the wrong way on this one, but I don't doubt a pot of money to enable Councils to prepare local or site specific design codes on brownfield sites would be welcome.