Local Implications of National Planning Policy

Hello, I am Sarah Napier and this is my second blog for SusMo. My first blog was about the Home Energy Project which I worked on. Although the project is no more, there is a website with information for people interested in leaving a lighter footprint. I have been involved with SusMo for a year now, I joined as an intern to work on the Green Streets project.

SusMo is not just about solar panels and wind turbines, we also take an interest in the local implications of national news. As a planning graduate, the announcement this week that there will be some dramatic changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, made me sit up and take notice!

The changes mainly centre around the government's determination to encourage growth; they will make it easier for development applications to go through and free up land for much needed housing, which is clearly a positive. However, included in the allocation is some local authority and green belt land. In urban areas such as Moseley, the risk is that potentially polluting uses will be permitted in the poorer areas where the land is less desirable, and that larger developments leading to an increase in traffic and therefore local pollution will be approved.

As many of you are already aware, the greatly protested Tesco development on the old Metor Ford land went through despite much local protest. The outcome of these planning reforms will make this sort of outcome more likely. The community's grip on power and influence will slip, meaning that all the hard work gone into creating a local Moseley will be easily undone if a developer wants to buy up some land and plant something detrimental to Moseley spirit. Moseley's strength is in its community, which is supported and encouraged by local business, faith groups and organisations.

It is therefore more important than ever to fight for a sustainable and local Moseley, where people can shop, eat, work and play together as a united community. SusMo are determined to offer a voice for Moseley's environmental brethren, and the more people that are involved the better! Join our meetings, peruse our blog, send us your thoughts via email, and very soon... visit our new website!