Published Friday 2 August 2024 at 16:05
Blackburn with Darwen Council is proud to declare itself “ahead of the game”, following the Deputy Prime Minister’s planning reforms announced earlier this week.
In her announcement in the Commons on Monday, Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP highlighted the importance of Local Plans and called for all local authorities to prioritise reviewing and updating theirs.
Blackburn with Darwen’s Local Plan, adopted in January 2024, identifies sites for new homes and business developments up to 2037. As a blueprint for the future, the Local Plan aims to deliver the homes, jobs, supporting infrastructure and community facilities to meet the needs of the borough.
This is in line with the government’s new policy, as is our progress to review and release Green Belt land. This is something that has already been prioritised in Blackburn with Darwen, to deliver on the Council’s growth ambitions, for example by creating an opportunity for a new strategic employment site at Junction 5 of the M65.
Blackburn with Darwen’s Local plan also sets out how we will increase the supply of affordable housing. The Council is currently meeting its 20% target of all new homes being affordable.
Additionally, in the last year alone 598 new homes have been completed in Blackburn with Darwen, including some affordable housing – in excess of the new standard figure proposed for the borough which is 564 homes.
Coun Quesir Mahmood, Executive Member of Growth and Development, commented:
The government’s new national planning policy highlights the importance of council’s having robust Local Plans in place.
Having adopted a new Local Plan fairly recently puts this Council in a strong position to work with the government and continue moving forward with our ambitious plans. This puts us ahead of the game, and I’m very proud of that.
The government reform also encourages cross-boundary strategic planning, as a means of delivering the national target of 1.5million new homes over the next five years. As an authority we welcome this, and recognise that this will benefit other areas of economic growth.
We’ll continue to meet targets of including affordable homes in new housing developments, and will look out for potential new funding opportunities through Homes England.
Coun Phil Riley, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, added:
Blackburn with Darwen Council is very ambitious for the borough and is quite clear that a growth programme is the way to increase prosperity and to raise living standards for all our residents.
We have a corporate objective to leave no one behind, and we are excited to work with a Labour government that shares both our growth objectives and our overall objectives for social inclusion.
The Council’s Growth and Development team is considering the government’s proposed planning reforms and will respond to the consultation in the coming weeks.