Clark is Back – What difference will it make?

Greg Clark becoming levelling up and housing minister – a few quick takes.

I doubt it will make a lot of difference to the passage of the Levelling Up Bill. In terms of planning it is largely codification of local plan law and is no big deal. The only major change is the introduction of the national development plan policy override which I think most experts in the field have by now worked out is a necessary stopgap for out of date plans given the enhanced weight of development plans with the ‘strongly’ test.

The problem though is that it wont all make sense until the government publishes it policy paper on national planning policy promised in July but with the leadership contest probably not before September. Only then will the likely course of the revised standard method be clear and it might be several options. You cant see new standard method coming in before may. A lot of local authorities are planning to submit just before May purder. Many may now add another 6 months delay as the timing to get a new standard method in place and adjusting plans in time has gone.