Planner Mark Battersby reflects on the reforms in today’s (11th March 2025) Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, introduced today, sets out a series of long-awaited and largely ‘process driven’ reforms designed to create a more efficient, transparent, and investment-ready planning system. The government has placed a clear emphasis on reducing delays, streamlining processes, and increasing certainty for developers and investors – key factors that have historically constrained economic growth and housing delivery. In this article, I’ve examine the key proposals within the Bill and provide our perspective on their potential impact:

1. New Spatial Development Strategies

The Bill introduces a new system of spatial development strategies, aimed at coordinating planning across multiple local authorities to ensure development and infrastructure are better aligned. By taking a broader, regional approach, these strategies are intended to identify the most sustainable locations for growth, unlocking new opportunities for housing and economic development. The plans will be led by mayors in devolved regions or, in some cases, by groups of local authorities working together. This reform is designed to ensure development targets are met more effectively and that infrastructure delivery keeps pace with housing growth.

#OurSteer

We welcome the introduction of a more strategic, joined-up approach to planning. A planning system that further considers development needs beyond the boundaries of individual local authorities should help to unlock more sustainable and viable sites for housing and infrastructure. The current approach is often fragmented, leading to missed opportunities for coordinated growth and delays in delivering the necessary infrastructure to support new communities.

2. Streamlined Approvals for Major Infrastructure Projects

The Bill introduces a series of reforms to accelerate the approval process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). By streamlining consultation requirements and ensuring that national policies guiding infrastructure decisions are updated at least every five years, the government aims to provide greater clarity and certainty for developers. The Bill also includes amendments to the Highways Act and the Transport and Works Act, intended to cut unnecessary bureaucracy and speed up the delivery of transport projects such as wind farms, roads, and railway lines. Additionally, the government will reform the process for challenging infrastructure decisions, reducing legal obstacles that have historically delayed major projects.

#OurSteer

A faster and more predictable NSIP process is a welcome reform that should improve investment confidence and unlock stalled infrastructure projects. The current system is often slow and complex, leading to significant delays and cost overruns, particularly in the transport and renewable energy sectors. By reducing consultation burdens and ensuring policies remain up to date, this reform should increase efficiency while maintaining appropriate scrutiny.

3. Changes to Local Planning Committees 

The Bill proposes limiting the role of local planning committees in determining applications for projects that comply with adopted local plans. Instead, professional planning officers will have greater authority to approve policy-compliant schemes, with the Bill setting out measures to discharge the functions of local planning authority. In addition, the Bill introduces mandatory training for all committee members, reinforcing the need for informed and competent decision-making at the local level.

#OurSteer

We very much welcome this reform, which we have advocated for many years as a necessary step towards more predictable and policy-driven decision making. Too often, policy-compliant applications face unnecessary delays due to political influences or a lack of technical understanding among committee members. By ensuring that professional planners have the authority to approve large developments that accord with adopted local plans, this reform will provide greater certainty for all applicants (large and small) in boroughs where their ‘schemes of delegation’ are far too prescriptive, thus encouraging more confident decision-making and long-term planning.

The introduction of mandatory training for planning committee members is also welcome. We have long argued that training is essential to ensure committee members have a clear understanding of planning law, policy frameworks, and the technical aspects of development proposals. Well-informed decision-makings will lead to more consistent, objective, and fairer outcomes, reducing the unpredictability that has historically led to unnecessary and often costly delays. 

4.  Reforming Environmental Regulations 

The Bill introduces a Nature Restoration Fund, allowing developers to contribute to a centralised fund for environmental mitigation rather than handling biodiversity requirements individually. It also replaces the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system with a new ‘Environmental Outcomes Reports’ (EOR) model, designed to make environmental planning more effective and proportionate.

#OurSteer:

We support this reform. From experience, the current system is often overly rigid, requiring developers to address environmental concerns in an often fragmented, site-by-site manner that increases costs and delays without necessarily delivering the best environmental outcomes. By consolidating efforts into a well-managed, centralised fund, conservation efforts can be better coordinated, allowing for more meaningful and large-scale environmental enhancements.

Final thoughts 

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill sets out reforms designed to create a more consistent and investment-friendly planning system. By addressing bureaucratic inefficiencies and strengthening policy certainty, the Bill aims to provide greater confidence for developers and support economic growth, in line with the Government’s wider objective to ‘Get Britain Building’. 

Whilst not specifically covered within the Bill, we alsowelcome the anticipated reforms to statutory consultees, recognising the challenges they pose in delaying applications. However, the Bill provides limited detail on these changes, and we look forward to further clarification on their scope and implementation in due course.

Overall, we are very encouraged by these reforms, and whilst many questions remain unanswered (for example, around viability and deliverability), there is genuine belief that the Government is listening and is prepared to make some politically sensitive changes to decision making in the nations interest.

Mark Battersby is a Planner in Newsteer’s Planning team. He has a strong interest in emerging planning legislation and has written articles on key industry changes for the regional press. He is a Licentiate member of the RTPI and is currently working towards chartered membership.