Angela Rayner gives mayors greater powers in fast-tracking planning permissions

Last week, Secretary of State Angela Rayner introduced the English Devolution Bill to Parliament, which included a range of provisions to help mayors speed up the planning process in their areas.
The Bill will allow “mayoral development orders” to be used for large scale projects – giving in-principle planning permission, similar to permitted development rights, for certain areas and certain use types – as well as allowing the creation of Mayoral Development Corporations. The Government hopes this will encourage mayors to identify promising sites in their own areas.
Speaking at the House of Lords Built Environment Committee on Thursday, Minister for Housing Matthew Pennycook also announced that mayors will likely play an important role in the Government’s “New Towns” programme.
Though he was cautious not to pre-empt the New Towns Taskforce’s report, which is expected to be with MHCLG by the end of summer, Pennycook confirmed that individual Development Corporations were expected to be the delivery mechanism for the chosen New Town sites – with some of these “Dev Corps” likely to be led by and accountable to the mayoral authority in the area (though this would be decided on a site-by site basis).
Pennycook also re-confirmed that Mayors will be able to raise a “Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy” once they implement spatial development plans within their area, whilst also clarifying that, though non mayoral areas can still apply to schemes such as the Housing Infrastructure and Brownfield Land funds, mayors will get more power over how to use these funds within their areas.
Ms Rayner hopes that these new powers for mayors will “stop developments getting stalled in the planning system”, whilst still maintaining a level of local input.
The Bill will have its 2nd reading in the Commons in early September, at which point it will be debated and scrutinised by MPs for the first time.
Mayoral Development Corporations would seem like a good mechanism to deliver the New Towns, similar to the London Dockland Development Corporation, set up in 1981 by Michael Heseltine, which has transformed the docklands area.