Council backs move to cut planning time

FRESH powers to make it easier for communities to create their own neighbourhood development plan have been backed by Oldham Council.

The authority said it will assess all community proposals on their own merits after measures to slash weeks off the time it takes to agree a neighbourhood plan were announced.

Currently, agreeing a plan takes 19 weeks, but Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis announced the changes will now see councils given 13 weeks to consider an application.

This time frame will be reduced to eight weeks where the area follows a parish boundary, and where applications cover an area straddling more than one authority the period will be extended to 20 weeks.

More than 5.2 million people live in one of the 1,274 areas across England where the community is working together to create a neighbourhood plan.