The NFU has welcomed the government’s announcement of a consultation on reforms to the planning system that will make it easier for farmers to secure approval for new agricultural buildings.
Changes to the Principle of Development mean local planning authorities will now be expected to give a default “yes” to agricultural developments in rural areas, except in exceptional circumstances. This is expected to speed up applications.
The reforms also reaffirm the government’s commitment to consult on BNG (Biodiversity Net Gain) exemptions for smaller sites in the new year, while simplifying rules to make it cheaper and easier to deliver biodiverse habitats offsite.
NFU Vice-president Rachel Hallos said: “The government’s proposed consultation is a clear indication of its intent to modernise the planning system and make it work better for farming businesses. We agree with Secretary of State Steve Reed that the current system is not working well enough and must change to allow our members’ businesses to grow and invest in the future.
“There is a lot of detail in the government’s announcement which we are reviewing, and we look forward to working with it and wider stakeholders when the upcoming consultation response and implementation timeline are published in the new year.”