Maldon District Council have joined North Essex Councils in producing a joint response to the government on their proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), raising concerns about lagging infrastructure if an increase in housing targets was to go ahead.

Labour's proposed NPPF changes, announced July 30, involve the reintroduction of mandatory house building targets for local authorities, with the aim to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years.

If agreed to, the plans could result in Maldon seeing a 97% increase in its housing target, from 276 to 544 new homes a year.

Now, North Essex Council have responded to the NPPF Changes consultation in a shared statement of concern. 

While the response offers unanimous support for housing growth, it highlights that changes must be accompanied by suitable funding for infrastructure, affordable housing delivery and capacity support for councils.

In its response, NEC recommends the government to address the gaps to deliver affordable and social housing, and incentivise developers to deliver the homes where permission is granted to ensure "it is not councils and communities that are punished for the development industry's inability to deliver."

The response also states significant concerns over proposals to re-introduce the 5-year housing land supply requirement. 

It argues sensible transitional arrangements need to be put in place to allow councils to "move smoothly from existing to new targets without fear of speculative development, planning by appeal and the huge damage it does to the effective use of limited public resources".

This is something Maldon District Council have also expressed concerns about, as the NPPF reforms could severely set back the council's already fulfilled 5-year-plan, overnight.

This would leave the Council vulnerable to speculative development and planning by appeal, meaning developers could override or bypass a local planning authority decision.

Cllr Richard Siddall, Leader of Maldon District Council, said: "Maldon District Council has sent the Government a very strong message regarding the proposed changes to the housing targets.  

"The numbers will no longer be about providing for the District housing needs, they will be about unrelated imposed top-down Government targets. 

"The Council has grave concerns that the impact of these changes will undermine the unique character of the District and place more pressure on our already overstretched infrastructure.

"It is a priority for the Council to work with partners to bring forward the infrastructure that the District sorely needs."

This joint NEC response comes after Maldon District Council called the plans "unsustainable" in their own proposed letter to the government", describing "lagging infrastructure", "behind growth" transport investment, and "overcapacity" doctors' surgeries, making the proposed targets difficult to meet sustainably.

"As a District we have the smallest population and already have an infrastructure deficit to serve those people...", the letter reads.

"How are we supposed to plan to meet that target when public service investment is unlikely to follow?."

The NPPF reforms, brought about by Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, aim to set "a higher expectation" for how many homes are built annually.

Other planning changes include that green or grey belt development must be held to new "golden rules", meaning 50% of the homes built must be affordable, increase access to green spaces, and have the necessary infrastructure in place. 

The consultation into the proposed reforms closed on September 24, 2024.