Chris Primett expands on the Government’s proposed changes to national planning guidelines.
The latest Government announcement on proposed changes to the national planning guidelines for England and Wales introduces four areas which are of interest to garden centre operators and nurseries, particularly those located in the Green Belt.
Firstly there is the introduction of the term Grey Belt. This refers to land in the Green Belt but where the planning authority has assessed as not making any useful purpose to the objectives of the Green Belt. Thus, if you have a piece of currently hard-surfaced space within your garden centre, and it makes no contribution to the Green Belt, then under the Government’s draft proposal you could develop it with, for example, an extension to an existing building.
The second part follows on from the above, and this is, in several respects, of greater interest to those wanting to develop in the Green Belt. Previously you could only erect a building or structure if it would not have “a greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than the existing development…..”, in other words a like for like replacement of an existing development.
The Government are proposing to now relax this requirement by substituting a lower threshold of where it would not cause “substantial harm”. In other words you can have a building or an extension that increases the impact of the development on the openness of the Green Belt provided it is not “substantial”. How this term is to be assessed in practice remains to be seen.
Thirdly, again of significant interest is the Government’s proposal to expand the definition of previously developed land (more commonly referred to as brownfield land) to include glasshouses and hardstandings. This raises a number of planning issues but if it were written into the final Government guidance then this would open up significant opportunities to convert horticultural development into alternative residential or commercial uses. But, as the Government acknowledge, such a change should not be a deterrent to ensuring there remains sufficient incentive for the development and maintenance of glasshouses for horticultural production. The devil will be in the detail.
And finally the Government is proposing that local planning authorities should consider releasing Green Belt land to meet commercial needs that support wider social and economic objectives. Releasing such land could be through the planning application determination process rather than through the lengthy and time consuming plan – making process. Such a proposal would be of great interest to garden centre owners as it could mean that a proposed extension to their centre within, or on to, Green Belt land could be acceptable if it can be demonstrated that it meets social and economic objectives.
The proposed changes being put forward by the Government raise many significant planning issues which will be the subject of public consultation over the next few weeks (the deadline for comments being the 24th September 2024). The Government then proposes to issue the revised NPPF by the end of the year.
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