Woodland Consultation:May 10th Deadline
The following is an extract from the Woodland Trust (online) Planning Advisor, Victoria Bankes Price, regarding the Government's recently revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). It highlights some of the problems we encounter dealing with Havant Borough Council's Local Plan:
"The new consultation draft of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a mixed bag, with great news for ancient woodland but bad news for aged and veteran trees. Although the big issue driving these policy changes is housing, what are the implications for the environment generally? Let’s take a look at some of the other changes to the ‘green’ policies and consider how well they work for woods and trees.
The definition of sustainable development is much clearer in the new draft. In the current NPPF, after the definition of sustainable development there is a confusing statement that says that the rest of the NPPF constitutes the Government’s view of what sustainable development in England means in practice in the planning system. Yes, the Government’s view of sustainable development excludes the definition of sustainable development! This means that in its current form, the NPPF with its strong focus on economic growth presents a seriously lopsided view on what sustainable development is."
Please read further comments on their web page where you can click on links to 'have your say' on ancient woodlands and trees:
