The Coalition Government has published a revised Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) today with two amendments.

The first is that the minimum density target of 30 dwellings per hectare has been removed, but the PPS still urges the efficient use of land.  The difference will be that Council’s will no longer need to justify permitting a density that is lower than 30 dwellings per hectare, and emerging policies will need to consider a range of possible density targets across a particular area.  What this means for Councils that already have Development Plan Policies which set a minimum density is unclear.

The second amendment is the removal of  ‘private residential gardens’ in ‘built-up areas’ from the definition of ‘previously developed land’, often referred to as ‘brownfield land’.  This effectively removes the priority status given by paragraph 36 of PPS3 to the development of garden land.  However, this does not place a moratorium on the development of garden land, particularly where it is sustainably located within a settlement boundary.

Our thought for the day – what about gardens in non ‘built-up’ areas – are these still previously developed land?