Planning Policy Statement 4: Planning for Prosperous Economies
The Government issued a consultation paper in May 2009 seeking views on a new Planning Policy Statement 4 which would bring together in one place all the Government’s key planning policies relating to the economy. The intention is to streamline and simplify policy so that it becomes easier to focus on what is needed to enable the economy to grow.
The planning system has a vital role to play in supporting the growth of the economy through its control over the supply of land, enhancement of town centres and facilitating economic growth. It provides certainty over land use and brings forward infrastructure which both attract inward investment to an area. Well planned infrastructure also increases business productivity, for example by cutting journey times. It also enables businesses, local authorities and regions to work together to identify and exploit potential opportunities when considering their development plans.
PPS4 requires development plans to have clear, proactive, proportionate and flexible policies aimed at supporting the start up and growth of businesses, attracting inward investment and increasing employment especially in deprived areas. It recognises the importance of a strong city or town centre both for economic growth and for community cohesion and continues to prioritise this. It also recognises that rural communities need to plan the way in which they change to adapt to the current economic pressures just as much as the urban areas.
When draft PPS4 is in its final form it will replace the current PPG 4: Industrial, commercial development and small firms, PPG 5: Simplified planning zones and PPS 6: Planning for town centres and parts of PPS 7: Sustainable development in rural areas and part of PPG 13: Transport.
The intention is that by putting all the policies relating to the economy together in one place and ensuring that they fit neatly together, this should provide greater certainty for business, speed up decision making and result in fewer appeals and challenges. It also encourages both local and regional planning bodies to plan proactively for economic development in their areas. It requires decision makers to consider the economic costs and benefits of a proposed development against the social and environmental costs and benefits when deciding whether to grant planning permission for a particular scheme.
The draft PPS 4 does not contain specific proposals for a “competition test” as recommended by the Competition Commission. This is because Tesco have challenged this recommendation at the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Following this challenge the Tribunal quashed the Competition Commission’s recommendation of a “competition test”. The Competition Commission now has to reconsider its recommendation and decide whether it is still appropriate. The Government has not therefore included a “competition test” pending the outcome of the Competition Commission’s reconsideration of the matter.
Comments on the consultation need to be submitted by 28 July 2009.
This article was first published in the Property Law Journal on 13 June 2009.
