Welcome to the October 2024 edition of the Planning Insights Bulletin where we discuss:

1. Consultation on NPPF: sustainable development changes
2. Office conversion opportunities unlocked
3. High court dismisses energy efficiency challenge
4. Get to grips with BREEAM NC version 7

In July, a legal challenge by two campaign groups against the written ministerial statement (WMS) was dismissed by a High Court judge. The campaign groups, ‘Rights: Community: Action’ and ‘Good Law Project’, mounted their challenge to the WMS, claiming that the written ministerial statement failed to consider key principles outlined in the Environment Act.

The WMS prepared by former junior housing minister Baroness Penn stated that the government "does not expect plan-makers to set local energy efficiency standards for buildings that go beyond current or planned buildings regulations". Baroness Penn added “Any planning policies that propose local energy efficiency standards for buildings that go beyond current or planned buildings regulation should be rejected at examination if they do not have a well-reasoned and robustly costed rationale."

The challenge centred around three grounds. The first ground argued that the government had not fulfilled its duty under the Environment Act to consider the environmental principles policy statement (EPPS) when issuing the 2023 WMS. Campaigners claimed that no assessment had been conducted prior to approving the WMS, or that the subsequent assessment lacked substance and rigor.

To read more, view the full article here.