Thousands more homes could be built within 10 minutes of transport hubs, including on green belt sites, under a loosening of planning policy announced by Angela Rayner on Monday.

The housing secretary will set out changes to national planning guidance for England that will include an order for councils to have a “default yes” approach to housing developments that are within a reasonable walking distance of well-connected train and tram stations.

If a proposed development is on green belt land, then the government’s “golden rules” state that they must have higher levels of affordable housing, new or improved green spaces, and be supported by the right infrastructure.

The approach was put out to consultation under Rayner’s predecessor, Steve Reed, but the guidance will be confirmed as part of the new national planning policy framework (NPPF) this week.

[snip]

The new NPPF is aimed at providing clearer national policies for plan-making and decision-making, meaning that conflicting local policies will carry less weight when they are inconsistent with national policies.

Other changes will include:
* Stronger support in principle for development, meaning a more explicit presumption in favour of building in sustainable locations.
* Pubs will get protection from being turned into housing or offices with developers having to prove there is no reasonable prospect of keeping a pub as a going concern, including evidence that it was marketed for sale for at least a year.
* A requirement for at least 40% of homes to be accessible on bigger developments and stronger protections for community facilities.
* Stronger support for growth and infrastructure including support for AI growth zones and datacentres.

The two line station picture (number 2) - Melksham in 2030?

How many stations are there that are:
a) outside settlements or in green belt AND
b) served by at least 4 trains per hour?

Would the policies listed in NPPF apply just to areas around existing stations or could a developer pay for a new one in order to make use of the NPPF rules? (though the new station would itself be subject to planning...)

I have not (yet?) read the new NPPF - is the 4 trains an hour specified?   Each way or a 30 minute service? Possible by stopping trains that already go through but don't stop?   Looking at the line from London to Penzance, I would look at ... Kintbury, Bedwyn, Castle Cary, Tiverton Parkway, Menheniot, Bodmin Parkway, Lostwithiel, Par and St Erth as stations that may fit the criteria.    Others across the GWR area which have at least 4 trains an hour passing through and  that come to my mind are Avoncliff, Freshford, Newton St Cryes, Pilning, Dean and Mottisfont.

Well-connected station: Railway stations and underground, tram and light rail stops located
within a top 80 Travel to Work Area located partially or fully within England by Gross Value
Added (GVA) and which, in the normal weekday timetable, are served (or have a
reasonable prospect of being served due to planned upgrades or through agreement with the
rail operator) throughout the daytime by at least four trains or trams per hour overall, or at
least two trains or trams per hour in any one direction.

Two tph in the peak direction?....

Two tph in the peak direction?....

Yes;....so would apply if the service swapped direction midway through the day to maintain peak flow of 2tph....

...
The top 60 travel to work areas in England have been expanded to 80 and notable additions in the South West are Trowbridge, Newbury, Poole and Cheltentham.  Most of the South East and Central Southern England is included, but further South West only the south of Devon through to Plymouth makes the grade.  Notably, Bath and Salisbury are not included.  Station service wise, the specification is two trains per hour acheievable in the peak direction, and we are looking as I read it as development totally within 800 metres of the station.
...

A travel to work area is a collection of wards for which "of the resident economically active population, at least 75% actually work in the area, and also, that of everyone working in the area, at least 75% actually live in the area".

Houses without requiring planning consent

These should be approved, unless the benefits of doing so would be substantially outweighed by any adverse effects, when assessed against the national decision-making policies in this Framework

They'd still need planning consent in consideration of other issues, would they not, as the following extract from NPPF says:



The NPPF is, I think, trying to say: "Developments outside settlement boundaries are usually a bad thing, but if there's a useful railway station nearby, we can say that the development is actually OK".
What I'm having trouble in deciding is whether or not the "Top 80 GVA" rule is actually doing anything useful.

I've also thought housing could be developed at Yeoford. Trains every half an hour, roads are terrible. It would need track infrastructure improvements which GWR wouldn't do unless someone else pays. Maybe the new GBR would?

Not so much track as a second platform? 

The only think we know about the "real" next GBR generation is that we don't know what it will bring ...

Yeoford has second platform that only needs re-instating. GWR would probably quote £10m.

I've lost all faith in GWR in the southwest unless someone else is paying.

Isn't that what this planning change is all about; more housing.

As for infrastructure move the crossing to Coleford junction to make a dual track and not two single tracks. It should have been done when the original Okehampton was improved. It would benefit Barnstaple travellers as well.

Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions

Mayors across England will be given new powers to overrule local councils on some planning decisions.

The change would apply to proposals with more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings over 30 metres.

Mayors in 13 areas including Manchester, Liverpool, the West of England and the West Midlands will gain similar powers to Sir Sadiq Khan in London, who is already able to "call in" planning decisions.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the powers were an "essential part of the toolkit that mayors need to effectively deliver new homes and regeneration".

The Conservatives questioned whether it was right for councils to lose the "ability to make planning decisions in their own communities".

The powers will also be available to mayors in the Combined Authorities in North East England, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, and Tees Valley.

Housebuilding has fallen in London in recent years, but Pennycook insisted the "call in" powers had helped the mayor "unblock strategic growth sites" in the capital.

In the 2024 general election, the Labour government promised to build 1.5 million homes in England by the end of the decade but housebuilders have warned the target could be missed.

Pennycook said the government was "absolutely determined to stick with that ambition".  He acknowledged the target was "really stretching" but said nearly 180,000 children were in temporary accommodation and "any smaller target wouldn't be commensurate with the scale of the challenge".

In addition to gaining the new "call-in" powers, mayors are set to be able to grant "up-front permission", which the government says will allow building to begin "without a developer having to apply".

A consultation on how the powers will work is due to be published next week.

The government has sought to stress that local councils will continue to decide the majority of applications and that all decisions must still follow planning rules.  It has also said mayors will get a "bigger say" over how housing funding is spent in their area, with the government directing national agency Homes England to focus on local mayors' priorities.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who served as mayor for Greater Manchester for nearly a decade, has repeatedly expressed his desire to transfer more powers to local mayors.  "Challenge does need to be made to local decision-making and actually it cuts both ways," he told the Sunday Times.  "Sometimes it's the other way round. It's the local authority putting forward something that's unacceptable in terms of the impact on the community. It's a two-way street."

Last month, Burnham promised to give all mayors a share of income tax revenue, saying he wanted to "bring power home" to "every postcode".  Earlier this week, he announced a secondment programme to send high-performing civil servants to work in mayoral offices.

The approach has faced criticism from some in his own party and the Liberal Democrats, who fear it could create a "two-tier system" that discriminates against those areas that do not have an elected mayor.

Responding to the new powers for mayors, Sir James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, said the government was "simultaneously stripping councils across the country of their ability to make planning decisions in their own communities, while making it easier to build traveller sites against local wishes".

Sir James also suggested Labour mayors had failed to meet housing targets, adding: "The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to get Britain building and moving again with our plan to scrap stamp duty on the family home."

Gideon Amos, the Liberal Democrat housing and planning spokesperson, said "taking powers away from communities and local councillors is taking powers away from local people.  Instead of silencing residents and handing mayors a blank cheque, the government should be empowering local councils with the resources to deliver genuinely affordable homes alongside the infrastructure to support them," he added.

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Greens, said "more powers for mayors to direct local councils" was "more tinkering from the Labour government when local authorities continue to be forced by government into austerity budgets".

Reform UK accused Labour of "centralisation in disguise", saying: "Westminster is stretching its tentacles outward instead of giving real power, resources and decision-making capabilities to devolved authorities."

Quote
Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions

Mayors across England will be given new powers to overrule local councils on some planning decisions.

The change would apply to proposals with more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings over 30 metres.

Mayors in 13 areas including Manchester, Liverpool, the West of England and the West Midlands will gain similar powers to Sir Sadiq Khan in London, who is already able to "call in" planning decisions.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the powers were an "essential part of the toolkit that mayors need to effectively deliver new homes and regeneration".

The Conservatives questioned whether it was right for councils to lose the "ability to make planning decisions in their own communities".

The powers will also be available to mayors in the Combined Authorities in North East England, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, and Tees Valley.

Housebuilding has fallen in London in recent years, but Pennycook insisted the "call in" powers had helped the mayor "unblock strategic growth sites" in the capital.

In the 2024 general election, the Labour government promised to build 1.5 million homes in England by the end of the decade but housebuilders have warned the target could be missed.

Pennycook said the government was "absolutely determined to stick with that ambition".  He acknowledged the target was "really stretching" but said nearly 180,000 children were in temporary accommodation and "any smaller target wouldn't be commensurate with the scale of the challenge".

In addition to gaining the new "call-in" powers, mayors are set to be able to grant "up-front permission", which the government says will allow building to begin "without a developer having to apply".

A consultation on how the powers will work is due to be published next week.

The government has sought to stress that local councils will continue to decide the majority of applications and that all decisions must still follow planning rules.  It has also said mayors will get a "bigger say" over how housing funding is spent in their area, with the government directing national agency Homes England to focus on local mayors' priorities.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who served as mayor for Greater Manchester for nearly a decade, has repeatedly expressed his desire to transfer more powers to local mayors.  "Challenge does need to be made to local decision-making and actually it cuts both ways," he told the Sunday Times.  "Sometimes it's the other way round. It's the local authority putting forward something that's unacceptable in terms of the impact on the community. It's a two-way street."

Last month, Burnham promised to give all mayors a share of income tax revenue, saying he wanted to "bring power home" to "every postcode".  Earlier this week, he announced a secondment programme to send high-performing civil servants to work in mayoral offices.

The approach has faced criticism from some in his own party and the Liberal Democrats, who fear it could create a "two-tier system" that discriminates against those areas that do not have an elected mayor.

Responding to the new powers for mayors, Sir James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, said the government was "simultaneously stripping councils across the country of their ability to make planning decisions in their own communities, while making it easier to build traveller sites against local wishes".

Sir James also suggested Labour mayors had failed to meet housing targets, adding: "The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to get Britain building and moving again with our plan to scrap stamp duty on the family home."

Gideon Amos, the Liberal Democrat housing and planning spokesperson, said "taking powers away from communities and local councillors is taking powers away from local people.  Instead of silencing residents and handing mayors a blank cheque, the government should be empowering local councils with the resources to deliver genuinely affordable homes alongside the infrastructure to support them," he added.

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Greens, said "more powers for mayors to direct local councils" was "more tinkering from the Labour government when local authorities continue to be forced by government into austerity budgets".

Reform UK accused Labour of "centralisation in disguise", saying: "Westminster is stretching its tentacles outward instead of giving real power, resources and decision-making capabilities to devolved authorities."

Torbay had a mayor under the existing unitary system, but after a referendum the position was abolished and went back to a ceremonial mayor. No mention of a mayor under Torbay and South Devon unitary authority.