Government Plan To Speed Up Big Projects ... Is Delayed

A government plan to speed up the delivery of major national infrastructure projects, which had been expected today, has been delayed until later in the week.

The Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Reform Action Plan is intended to cut the time it takes to secure approval for big projects — road, rail, water and power in particular.

Resolving delays over transport, power and water infrastructure would help open up development sites, particularly for the residential and logistics sectors.

The last-minute delay adds a final irony to a plan that is intended to end an apparently ever-slower planning system for big projects. Government figures showed that in recent years, with the timespan for granting development control orders — the mechanism used for major projects — increasing by 65% between 2012 and 2021. Some projects are taking up to four years.

Academics have long argued that improved efficiency in the planning process can speed the delivery of new development sites.

Recently, research for the Local Government Association, which represents most planning authorities, argued that “the linkages, challenges and opportunities of the integration of strategic planning and key agendas of transport, the natural environment and health” need to be explored.

The government announced last week that it had invited the National Infrastructure Commission to look at ways to speed up reviews of national policy statements — the documents that guide planners. Today the system is based on a review every five years. The government also asked the commission to say whether the policy statements were in the most useable format.