Expression of concern over new National Planning Policy Framework
16 December 2024
We have expressed significant concerns about the government's recently revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), questioning its ability to support sustainable development in the New Forest and safeguard local decision making.
The new NPPF increases pressure on local authorities to meet housing targets and has been accompanied by concerning messaging from government ministers that every local area must deliver on these housing needs.
For areas like the New Forest, which has a unique balance of environmental, economic and social priorities, there is concern that the NPPF lacks necessary guidance to ensure sustainable growth or support the objectives of the New Forest National Park.
We are already reviewing our Local Plan, well ahead of the required five-year period, to address challenges in delivering growth in its currently adopted plan. However, the revised NPPF risks undermining this plan-led approach by heavily favouring speculative housing delivery in the short term.
This shift raises concerns about the delivery of required supporting infrastructure and the ability to achieve coordinated development and economic growth in a planned and comprehensive way.
There will be significant difficulty in meeting the revised housing target of 1,501 new homes per year — over six times the recent average of 246 homes delivered annually. We have never been close to this figure in previous Local Plans.
We are also mindful of the recent requests from two neighbouring authorities to accommodate their existing unmet housing needs, highlighting a broader challenge for the government in directing housing growth to areas with capacity to accommodate development in a sustainable way.
We have submitted detailed feedback to the government during the consultation process, outlining these and other concerns. However, initial indications suggest that several key issues we, and other stakeholders, have raised have not been adequately addressed in the final framework.
Cllr Derek Tipp, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Economy, said:
"The New Forest is a nationally and internationally significant landscape that requires careful stewardship. We are committed to delivering new homes to meet local needs, but statements made by the government expecting every local area to adopt a plan to meet the prescribed housing needs presents a deeply confusing message to unique areas with such limitations as ours. We also want to make sure that local people have a chance to inform the development of our Local Plan."
We will now carefully consider the government's response to its representations over the coming days and assess the implications of the revised framework in detail to determine the next steps in responding to the changes.
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