Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he has taken to increase planning protection of the Green Belt in relation to traveller sites.
[147359]
Answer
We have taken a series of steps to increase planning protection of Green Belt and open green spaces:
We have revoked the last Administration's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Circular 01/06 on traveller sites. Our new planning guidance on traveller sites, published in March 2012, strengthens protection of the Green Belt and open countryside. It clearly states that âplan-making and decision-taking should protect Green Belt from inappropriate development-1d;; âtraveller sites (temporary or permanent) in the Green Belt are inappropriate developmentâ and âlocal planning authorities should strictly limit new traveller site development in open countrysideâ (DCLG, Planning policy for traveller sites, paragraphs 4, 14, 23).
This is complemented by the strong protection for the Green Belt in the National Planning Policy Framework (e.g. paragraph 14, footnote 9, paragraph 17 and section 9). For the avoidance of doubt, unmet need does not in itself constitute the "very special circumstances" necessary to permit inappropriate development in the Green Belt.
The last Administration's guidance which pressured councils to compulsory purchase land for traveller sites has been deleted (Circular 01/06, paragraph 35).
Stronger consideration is now given to the protection of local amenity and the local environment amenity (Planning policy for traveller sites, paragraphs 4, 9). Text disregarding local landscape and nature conservation designations has been removed (Circular 01/06, paragraph 53).
In conjunction with measures in the Localism Act, we have abolished top-down regional targets, scrapped the unelected regional planning quangos and are revoking the last Administration's Regional Strategies. Councils can now plan for traveller site provision in a locally-led way.
Our planning guidance will help councils in planning enforcement cases against unauthorised development. Guidance restricting the ability to use enforcement action has been removed (Circular 01/06, paragraphs 12, 63).
The Localism Act gives councils new powers to tackle the intentional abuse of retrospective planning permission (whilst still allowing for the correction of innocent mistakes by householders). .
We are also giving councils more freedom to use Temporary Stop Notice powers to enable local authorities' to take immediate action against unauthorised caravans; the Town and Country Planning (Temporary Stop Notice) (England) (Revocation) Regulations 2013 comes into force on 4 May.