On 20 December 2010, the Minister for Decentralization and Planning, Greg Clark MP, announced a review of planning policy, designed to consolidate all policy statements, circulars and guidance documents into a single, simpler National Planning Policy Framework. A consultation draft of the NPPF was subsequently published on 25 July 2011 which raised a large number of responses and concerns from national organizations such as the National Trust. The final original version was published on 27 March 2012. Despite the pledge for a national policy of only fifty pages, the NPPF was released as a 65-page document, together with a 27-page Technical Guidance document, though this was still a large reduction from the previous guidance of over 1300 pages. Local planning authorities were given a 12-month transition period to ensure their plans were compliant with the new NPPF. Following 5 years of the new condensed NPPF being in place the UK Government announced their intention to revise the NPPF in order to ensure policies were up to date.
Concerns
Archaeology
The potential negative impact of the NPPF on UK archaeology has been heavily debated, with archaeologists noting that there is likely to be considerable tension between the immediate-term impacts of the process of government deregulation in the NPPF and the medium-term impacts of another key government priority – its localism agenda as enshrined in the Localism Act of 2011, which places much greater planning control in the hands of local communities. The NPPF is likely to encourage development through its streamlined planning system, but the Localism Act of 2011 is equally likely to stall development through its commitment to local communities having a greater say in what is built in their neighbourhood, a process likely to block many developments.
Environment
has criticised the NPPF revisions for lack of environmental review, in that it makes it "virtually impossible" for councils to refuse fracking schemes, that it fails to address the problems in coal developments or on building within green belts, and that it introduces harsh rules for wind farms. FOE has argued that, as the United Kingdom is still part of the EU, a strategic environmental assessment was required as part of the revision of a public plan. The Campaign to Protect Rural England has raised concerns about the extreme streamlining of the revised NPPF, indicating that it treats land as a commodity, rather than as a finite resource. CPRE said Planning is pointless if the outcomes it delivers would be little different from what would happen without a planning system.
Planning Practice Guidance
Publication of the NPPF has been followed by the release of a wide range of online Planning Practice Guidance. As of 2019, the guidance extends to over 50 categories covering a wide range of subjects including Green Belt, Light Pollution and Viability. The amount of guidance in circulation has grown significantly in recent years meaning the volume of government planning advice is similar to what existed prior to the introduction of the NPPF. Unlike changes to the NPPF, much of the practice guidance has been issued without prior consultation or advance notification.
