Question:
In Michael Gove’s speech to the RIBA conference on 19 December 2023 he presented the updated National Planning Policy Framework. Whilst the updated NPPF confirms that the standard method of calculating housing need remains in place, he went to great lengths to make clear that “Local authorities have the comfort of knowing that they need not re-draw the green belt or sacrifice protected landscapes to meet housing numbers”.
Therefore, will you confirm that you will take advantage of the
updated NPPF and produce an updated LPU with a significantly lower
number of houses compared to the November 2021 version, reflecting
that the standard method of calculating housing need has to be
adjusted in order to provide greater protection for the green
fields in Wokingham Borough.
Minutes:
In Michael Gove’s speech to the RIBA conference on 19 December 2023 he presented the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Whilst the updated NPPF confirms that the standard method of calculating housing need remains in place, he went to great lengths to make clear that “Local authorities have the comfort of knowing that they need not re-draw the green belt or sacrifice protected landscapes to meet housing numbers”.
Therefore, will you confirm that you will take advantage of the
updated NPPF and produce an updated Local Plan Update with a
significantly lower number of houses compared to the November 2021
version, reflecting that the standard method of calculating housing
need has to be adjusted in order to
provide greater protection for the green fields in Wokingham
Borough.
Answer
As you refer, the government published an updated National Planning Policy Framework in December. Reviewing the NPPF itself, and not a speech, little has changed.
As before, the government will tell councils how many houses should be built though an unchanged algorithm. As before, departure from this algorithm is permitted only in exceptional circumstances, and those circumstances are so rare that the algorithm will apply in almost all cases.
As before, local plans are expected to meet he housing need defined by the algorithm unless the NPPF itself provides a strong reason not to or the adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the NPPF, which includes the objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes.
The perfectly reasonable proposal from the government to allow homes built in excess of a council’s requirement to be deducted from future needs has been removed. This means we cannot take account of the near additional 2,000 homes that have been delivered above our requirement since 2006.
We will continue to make representations to ministers about the unsatisfactory state of national policy, but at the same time we will have to move forward to the final stage of the local plan process to ensure our policies remain effective.
Let me be clear, contrary to the message conveyed by the government, the new NPPF requires housebuilding at a scale which meets their unchanged algorithm.
Meeting our development needs will be challenging, however through the local plan we intend to take the opportunity to deliver the highest quality development for our residents. Of the homes we plan for our aim remains to deliver a greater number of affordable homes than in the past, subject to viability.
We are also working on new policies which will secure more energy efficient homes, improve the safeguarding of our valued landscapes, and identify important local green spaces to be protected from inappropriate development.
It is important therefore, that we progress our local plan to include both the right strategy and the right policies for the future.
Supplementary question:
I share your disappointment that the revised NPPF wasn't clearer, but my supplementary is that in the January edition of Wokingham Today, Pauline Jorgensen, the leader of the Wokingham Conservatives on the council, said that if her party regained control with the Council in May, it would deliver a Local Plan that, amongst other things, would protect our green spaces.
John Redwood recently stated that, and I quote, I've worked with a group of MP's to secure the promise from the government that they will not impose mandatory top down targets for numbers of homes to be built. More power will rest with local councils.
To design a suitable local plan, therefore, is now. Now the time to take the Local Plan Update (LPU) out of local politics and work with Pauline and other conservatives to produce a cross party, agreed LPU with a significantly lower number of houses compared to the November 2021 version.
John Redwood MP and must have not listened to his colleagues at the end when he was spoken to because there is absolutely nothing in the NPPF as you've just indicated, to show that there or will be lower numbers and the only thing that is included is about exceptional circumstances.
Supplementary Answer:
The very first words do say about some changes, but after that there's nothing. So, I think that either he wasn't looking or concentrating enough on the information from his colleagues. So, I'm afraid that I dismissed the John Redwood comments on the issue from Pauline Jorgenson.
We have a cross party working group as was done in the 2021 local plan update, which obviously the Conservative Members are invited to and we have held a number of those meetings.
Their attendance has been relatively low, but they've always had at least one person present at them and we have been discussing a whole number of issues, including energy, local green spaces, which was the last meeting we had and the previous one was about landscape views.
There are a few benefits in the NPPF which help in the neighbourhood Plan area. Particularly for those parishes who can include some housing numbers in their network in their neighbourhood plan so that they can be protected for five years instead of two.
Also, the 5% buffer, which is a figure that's also added to the housing number, has been removed.
But the biggest disappointment, as I mentioned, was the removal of this issue, which was in the draft proposals for the NPPF to allow for over provision in one local plan into the next local plan and in the case of Wokingham borough, our number of houses that we have built in excess of what we have needed to is just under 2000 homes and because the government has not allowed for that in the current version of the NPPF, we cannot take those 2000 houses out of the equation.