Response to Planning White Paper from The Construction Centre.co.uk

Following the release of the Planning White Paper by Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly on Monday last week, The construction Centre has welcomed the proposals but with a degree of caution.

The Construction Centre is specialist online resource delivering search results on thousands of building products and people. The company is the only UK provider delivering such a diverse range of accurate and relevant information for industry professionals such as specifiers, housebuilders, contractors, tradesmen and architects and is an authority in construction.

Reaction to the white paper from various industry bodies and environmentalists has been varied with each sector of the building industry taking their stance in relation to their key areas of interest. Environmentalists however have condemned the white paper as a smoke screen to enable the Government to speed up and control infrastructure and large scale development projects over the next decade. The Construction Centre welcomed the proposed changes particularly with regard to local planning applications however on a national level concerns were raised as to how infrastructure developments would ultimately affect environmental targets.

The planning white paper (view the whole document at http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1510503) which was published on Monday 21st May concentrated on four main sections; national infrastructure, local planning, climate change and support of town centres. Kelly attempted to focus on reducing carbon emissions in each key area of the paper and it is this which has caused consternation amongst green campaigners, particularly with regard to the national infrastructure plans which will now be approved by an independent commission alongside public consultation. The Government hopes that planning approvals for infrastructure such as motorways, airports and nuclear power plants will be able to move through the new system much quicker. The environmental agencies are concerned that the resultant new roads and airports will only fuel an increase in carbon emissions, rather than reduce them.

The Construction Centre indicated today that the building industry will undoubtedly benefit from these reforms both on a national level and at a local level. The white paper has recommended that projects, which are considered to be minor developments, should be released from planning application restrictions and it is hoped that this will generate more time and resources to process approvals for housebuilders and local developers. Some believe this may spark a flurry of home improvement projects throughout the UK and possibly a resultant increase in neighbourly disputes. However the planning restrictions will only be lifted if developments have little or no impact on neighbours or the surrounding area. As yet the specifics of the criteria to enable projects to go ahead without planning have not been set and therefore the impact of the announcement difficult to interpret at this stage.

The paper also addressed new development projects across villages, towns and cities which will have to incorporate measures to reduce carbon emissions; this will include private and commercial buildings. Existing commercial buildings have also been targeted with a 10 year plan to significantly reduce their carbon emissions. Kelly also addressed the issue of out of town development projects and recommended detailed assessments should be carried out by local councils before any approvals given. Her intention here was to support town centre economies and to discourage the ever increasing use of cars to out of town shopping centres. She said “We must meet the challenges of low-carbon living, protect the vitality of our town centres and improve how we consult local people.”

The Construction Centre Managing Director, Richard Simmons issued a statement today saying “Overall the planning white paper is a positive step forward for the building industry however we have to be concerned over the ultimate effects on the environment. The construction industry is striving towards incorporating sustainable practices into projects large and small but the reality is that not everyone will respond positively to change and there is a long way to go before the UK as a whole truly embraces a carbon neutral existence.”

Just how the practicalities of the planning white paper will work out in reality, remains to be seen but for the construction industry, it appears to be good news.

www.theconstructioncentre.co.uk

The Construction Centre: Number 1 for delivering results on products and people

Targeted at consumers and the building industry, The Construction Centre is an encyclopaedic directory containing over 10,000 UK product manufacturers. Additionally there are over 50,000 contact details for merchants, industry professionals, tradesmen and contractors. Local Authority planning websites, trade publications and jobs can also be directly accessed from The Construction Centre.

Based in Warwickshire The Construction Centre is part of the UK250 Ltd group.

Contact:
Angela Gallacher (Head of Press and Marketing)
Telephone: 44 (0)1926 865825
Email: angela.gallacher@theconstructioncentre.co.uk
Address: 1 Alpha House, Farmer Ward Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2ED

www.theconstructioncentre.co.uk

This release was published on openPR.