Economy

  • There is more emphasis on building economic resilience linked to economic growth.
  • Para 84 A new clearer proposed requirement for planning policies to identify appropriate sites for commercial development which meet the needs of a modern economy, including suitable locations for uses such as laboratories, gigafactories, data centres, digital infrastructure, freight and logistics.
  • Para 85 The current requirement for planning policies to recognise and address specific locational requirements of different sectors is proposed to be expanded upon with reference to:
  • infrastructure that is needed to support the growth of knowledge and data-driven, creative or high technology industries (including data centres and grid connections).
  • locations for storage and distribution that allow efficient and reliable handling of goods, especially where this is needed to support the supply chain, transport innovation and decarbonization.
  • the expansion or modernisation of other industries of local, regional or national importance to support economic growth and resilience.

Infrastructure

  • New references are proposed to be added to early years and post 16 education places in relation to education infrastructure planning.
  • It is proposed that significant weight should be placed on the importance of new, expanded or upgraded public service infrastructure when considering proposals for development.
  • Reference is also proposed to be added to a vision led approach to promoting sustainable travel modes.

For more information contact Sarah Hamilton-Foyn.