Planning grant allocated

Communities and Local Government has announced the latest allocations of the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant. 

To be eligible for part of the £60m on offer to assist planning performance, councils had to identify at least five years’ worth of suitable sites for housing and a further ten years’ worth for future development.

Ministers have also confirmed the six schemes which will receive support as part of moves to encourage new green homes and green energy projects.

These first six pilot Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs) for renewable energy and low carbon schemes will each receive expert support to assess the projects before planning applications are submitted.

They include proposals for:

• a biomass power plant in Teesside, large enough to produce electricity for more than 50,000 homes
• a wind project near Doncaster which will return around £300k of profit a year to the community for investment in other energy projects
• a plan to generate enough electricity to power the Eden Project in Cornwall using geothermal energy - a scheme which will be a landmark development in the UK.

 

Planning minister John Healey said: "In 1909 the planning system was born to meet housing needs brought about by the industrial revolution. One hundred years later the planning system is needed again for the green revolution, to integrate the economic and environmental objectives of the country and provide greener and more affordable homes that will help everyone do their bit to tackle climate change.”

He acknowledged that although many types of council were delivering good quality homes quickly “some are failing to properly identify land for the homes their communities need”.

The planning minister said: “Supplying land for housing is vital to securing as much house building as possible during the downturn and for housing development upon the upturn.”

Read the CLG press release

 

Roger Milne

4 December 2009