The government has announced a minimum of £14 million in funding to support local authorities with local plan making. The funding will be available to eligible authorities using both the legacy and new plan making systems, and is in addition to £29 million awarded in January and March last year.
The Legacy Plan System Funding covers plans to be prepared and adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning)(England) Regulations 2012, and which will be submitted for examination by 31 December this year.
The New System Plan Funding is available for local authorities committed to bringing a plan forward early in the new plan-making system and commit to publishing an intention to commence local plan preparation by 30 June.
The government shared details of its plans to implement changes to the local plan-making system in December. The new regulations will supersede the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. They will also make consequential amendments to other regulations, set out transitional arrangements and the saving provisions to enable plan-makers to finalise plans commenced under the existing legal framework.
Under the new regulations, local planning authorities must begin formal preparation of a new local plan within five years of adopting their previous local plan, as opposed to the gaps of 10 years that are currently common. The plans will be required to contain a vision for the future of the local planning authority’s area.
