The British Property Federation (BPF) recently endorsed the Government’s response to a key recommendation of the Penfold Review, which aims to drastically reduce the complex web of planning consents.

In a written ministerial statement Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Transport, backed a recommendation that will see the decision period on whether the stopping or diversion of a highway for the purpose of a property development is granted reduced from the current period of thirteen weeks.

Greening’s statement said it “will help to deliver the Government’s growth agenda, by removing unnecessary burdens faced by businesses, speeding up the application process and removing unnecessary bureaucracy”.

In July 2011 the Penfold Review called on the Government to end the “complex and fragmented landscape” of non-planning consents, covering issues such as environmental permits, highways orders and heritage consents, while maintaining the essential benefits and protection they offer.

The review, carried out by British Land head of planning and environment Adrian Penfold, demonstrated that the bureaucracy and complexity involved in obtaining all these consents is “both burdensome and unnecessary”.

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “We welcome the consultation on these areas as suggested in the Penfold Review and the Government’s intentions to speed up the application process in order to encourage development.

“Stopping up and diversion orders have long caused great cost to applicants, and have delayed some schemes by over a year. We are broadly supportive of some of the options suggested by the consultation, but would urge the Government to ensure that issues of timeliness really are enforceable, and that issues of resourcing and quality of service are taken into account when giving local authority planning departments even more responsibility at the moment”

The link to Department for Transport announcement is at: www.dft.gov.uk/news/statements/greening-20120716b/