An updated draft of the National Planning Policy Statement for England, which is intended to accelerate the development of housing and roll out of renewable energy has been launched for consultation. The new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, put the plan in context of wider proposals for planning reform on July 30th. Proposed changes that could influence noise and soundscape include: proposing a brownfield first policy and increasing density in urban areas; expanding the definition of brownfield; introducing the concept of grey belt when considering the green belt, focusing on well designed homes rather than 'beauty', and bringing larger scale onshore wind projects back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime.
The consultation is open until September 24th
