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Commenting on today's Planning Bill, RICS spokesperson, Andrew Warner said...

"We applaud Government's decision to extend permitted development rights to include micro-generation of renewable energy. This is a major step in enabling citizens to take control of their carbon footprint and shows that Government is taking seriously its carbon reduction commitments. However, care will need to be taken to ensure that the local conditions are such that the micros are energy efficient.

Furthermore by ensuring that permitted development rights are extended for common householder projects local authority planning officers will be free to make decisions on more strategic projects. The planning system is extremely overstretched and under resourced and these small scale applications have clogged the system for far too long."

On the Government's failure to provide a national spatial framework he added:

"The Government's failure to include a national spatial framework for the proposed infrastructure plans is extremely disappointing. A framework would supply a link into the regional spatial strategies and provide the bedrock for national policy statements. Without this map, Government policy could ignore regional inequalities, leaving many regions neglected. In planning terms this policy is like a map without reference points."

by: Editor

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