Government brings BIDEN to Levelling Up Bill...

Measures to deliver new homes, regenerate left-behind communities and clean up rivers have been added to the Government’s flagship Levelling Up Bill.

The amendments were presented in the House of Commons today.

The new measures will follow the Government’s BIDEN principles, which aim to ensure new developments are beautiful, have the right infrastructure, are democratically supported by local communities, enhanced the environment and create better neighbourhoods.

Housing Minister Lucy Frazer said: “Levelling Up means creating vibrant and beautiful communities where local people and businesses can thrive.

“The measures we are setting out today will put protecting the environment at the heart of our plans, while bringing forward much needed new homes across the country.

“We will make sure that new development is surrounded by the right infrastructure and that local people are given an opportunity to shape their neighbourhood.”

The Government said amendments being tabled will:

Tackle slow build out by developers to make sure much needed new homes are delivered. Developers will have to report annually to councils on their progress and councils will have new powers to block planning proposals from builders who have failed to deliver on the same land.
Improve our environment and enshrine in law an obligation on water companies to clean up our rivers by upgrading wastewater treatment works. Considering all catchments covered by the amendment, our initial estimates indicate that there will be around a 75% reduction in phosphorus loads and around a 55% reduction in nitrogen loads in total from wastewater treatment works, although this will vary between individual catchments. These upgrades will enable housebuilding to be unlocked by reducing the amount of mitigation developers must provide to offset nutrient pollution. This will be accompanied by a Nutrient Mitigation Scheme that will make it easier for developers to discharge their mitigation obligations.
Give residents a new tool to propose additional development on their street, like extensions to existing homes, through ‘street votes’. Planning permission will only be granted when an independent examiner is satisfied that certain requirements, such as on design, have been met and the proposal is endorsed at a referendum by the immediate community. Pilot Community Land Auctions – testing a new way of capturing value from land when it is allocated for development in the local plan to provide vital infrastructure, including schools, roads, GP surgeries, and the affordable housing that communities need.
Enhancing powers for mayors to support them to managing their key route networks and increase transport connectivity across their area.
Help Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects such as wind farms and new major transport links be delivered more quickly, by enabling a small number of public bodies to charge for their statutory services to help them provide a better, reliable, quality of advice to developers and support faster planning decisions.