The new National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) which comes into force for plans which are submitted on or before 24 January 2019 has just been published by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. This document will have a major impact on the way new developments are planned and built in England (and Wales?).

CIHT Chief Executive Sue Percy says "We are pleased that some of the concerns we had with the draft version have been addressed in this new document. The Government must effectively use the skills and resources of our world class transport planning and highways professionals to ensure that we are building sustainable homes and businesses in locations that are fit for the future."

Key changes that CIHT argued for in our consultation response were;

• Specifically identifying accessibility for 'pedestrian and cycle connections' as part of healthy, inclusive and safe places (Paragraph 91)
• Allowing maximum parking standards to be used for optimising the density of development in city and towns centres (Paragraph 106)
• Specifically stating that "Good design is a key aspect of sustainable development, creates better places in which to live and work and helps make development acceptable to communities" (Paragraph 124)

Our full response was informed by our Sustainable Transport Panel, a consultation event held at 119 Britannia Walk and online responses from our members and you can read it here.