Rayner takes on the NIMBYs: New moves to stop towns and villages objecting to government infrastructure plans

11 December 2024, 01:14 | Updated: 11 December 2024, 01:43

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner is set to take on the NIMBYs with new plans to overrule objections of local towns and villages when it comes to infrastructure projects.

Ms Rayner wants to speed up planning applications, with some potentially avoiding scrutiny by local councillors if they meet certain rules.

New prisons will be among those forced through the planning process, allowing the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to bypass councils, who normally decide on applications.

It comes in a bid to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis.

Officials will be able to send plans to the planning inspectorate, which could give them the green light in as little as 16 weeks.

Ms Rayner is expected to confirm the sweeping changes to the National Planning Policy Framework - the document which sets out national priorities for building - following a consultation.

It comes after the PM last week vowed to face down "NIMBYs" to achieve plans to build 1.5 million homes and make 150 planning decisions on major infrastructure projects.

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The government has said it will build four new prisons within the next seven years, creating 14,000 cell spaces in jails by 2031.

Some 6,400 of these will be at newly built prisons, with £2.3 billion towards the cost over the next two years.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "The last Government pretended they could send people away for longer and longer without building the prisons they promised.

"This strategy reveals that their prison building plans were years delayed and nearly £5bn over budget. They left our prisons in crisis, on the edge of collapse.  

"Part of our plan for change, this capacity strategy, alongside an independent review of sentencing policy, will keep our streets safe and ensure no government runs out of prison places again."

Ms Rayner last week approved a super-prison in the green belt in Lancashire, despite complaints from locals that it would mean the village is outnumbered by prisoners.

The project has been stuck in the planning system for over three years.

The three other prisons given the green light are expected to be located in Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire and Yorkshire and each house between 1,500 and 1,700 criminals.

The move is part of a 10-year plan to "make sure we can always lock up dangerous criminals".

Prisons will be deemed sites of "national importance" amid efforts to prevent lengthy planning delays, and new land will be bought for future prisons, the MoJ added.