The Planning Act 2008

The progress of the Planning Bill through Parliament received much attention and generated much debate throughout 2008; in particular, the proposals in the Bill relating to the authorisation of nationally significant infrastructure projects by a new independent body called the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) proved to be the most controversial. Many planning commentators expressed concern at what they perceived to be an attempt to ‘fast track’ these applications at the expense of democratic accountability.
Despite these concerns, the Bill received the Royal Assent on 26 November 2008, to become the Planning Act 2008. It heralds significant changes to the way in which ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’ as defined in the Act are prepared and consented to. The Act puts in place a radical new system for these projects and it is essential that all organisations involved in national and other projects have an understanding of how the new regime will operate. This includes not only professional advisers but also promoters of the projects themselves, project managers in local and central Government and the private sector.
The cornerstone of the new system will be a series of National Policy Statements (NPSs) produced by relevant Government departments, which will set out the national policy, including the need, for the relevant infrastructure in the fields of energy, transport, water, waste water and waste. It is currently estimated that there will be 11 NPSs which will cover, amongst other areas, energy, nuclear power, national networks, ports and aviation. If an individual project falls within one or more of the thresholds for nationally significant infrastructure projects set out in the Act, then it will come before the IPC. The Act sets out the composition of the IPC, which will include a chair, at least two deputies and approximately 32 commissioners – leading individuals of standing and knowledge who will determine the application and issue a Development Consent Order. The DCO will take the place of a plethora of consents currently required for these projects.
Alongside this, the Act introduces provisions that will allow local planning authorities to introduce a community infrastructure levy (CIL). This will be a mandatory contribution payable by all development towards the infrastructure required to support development. This will impose a significant cost on development and the way in which CIL will be calculated, tested and charged will be a significant new element affecting future infrastructure projects.
Members of the MPA will benefit from participating in this half day seminar by understanding how their organisation should approach this new way of national policy formulation and approval for national infrastructure projects, how they will be funded through the CIL and how promoters of these projects should react.