The government has made the case that it is right to remove hope value from the assessment of compensation when schemes deliver benefits for communities which are in the public interest.
Hope value is the additional value uplift attributed to the land based on the anticipated increase in its worth due to the expectation of future development.
Under the new Bill, where there are no objections, inspectors, councils or mayors will now be able to take decisions on compulsory purchase orders to remove hope value instead of just the Secretary of State.
NFU Vice President Rachel Hallos said 鈥済iving local authorities more power to acquire land through compulsory purchase and process of using directions to remove 鈥榟ope value鈥� will need to be thought through carefully to ensure all farmers are compensated fairly鈥�.
皇家华人believes that compulsory purchase should be a last resort and an agreement with a landowner for a site should always be reached wherever possible.
Faster planning decisions
The Bill will also see measures to speed up planning decisions, including the promise of a faster NSIP (National Significant Infrastructure Projects) regime which it says will make sure consultation requirements for projects such as windfarms, roads or railway lines are streamlined.聽
It will still be vitally important that any new roads, railway lines and windfarms are consulted on properly and the farmers directly impacted by the infrastructure are communicated and negotiated with at all stages.
National policies against which infrastructure applications are assessed are updated at least every five years and changes will be made to the Highways Act and the Transport and Works Act to reduce bureaucracy so transport projects can progress quicker.
鈥�UK food security and the protection of our environment has rarely been more vital, and productive farmland needs securing for our collective future more than ever.鈥�
NFU Vice President Rachel Hallos
Challenges to government decisions on major infrastructure projects will see meritless cases have only one, rather than three, attempts at a legal challenge.
A Nature Restoration Fund will also be established to help builders meet environmental obligations faster by pooling contributions to fund larger environmental interventions
Farmers and landowners must be consulted
NFU Vice President Rachel Hallos responded: 鈥淭his Bill comes at a time when the UK farming industry is under immense financial pressure due to the loss of direct payments, extreme weather and the impacts of the family farm tax. So, farmers and landowners must be fully consulted every step of the way.
鈥淭he housing minister told media today that these new powers would be used to access brownfield and urban land, and that must be the case. Anything else further undermines the government鈥檚 policy that food security is national security.
鈥淲e appreciate there are huge demands being made on land for more housing and for critical national infrastructure. But UK food security and the protection of our environment has rarely been more vital, and productive farmland needs securing for our collective future more than ever.
鈥溁始一藄upports moves to get rid of the regulatory burden and speed up planning processes and applications to enable sustainable on farm investment.鈥�
Clean energy
The government has also said projects that aim to achieve clean energy by 2030, including wind and solar power, will be prioritised for grid connections. 皇家华人strongly supports the 鈥楩irst Ready, First Connected鈥� approach which will be introduced.
In ensuring that Britain can become a clean energy superpower by building necessary infrastructure, the NFU believes that there needs to be flexibility over how electricity transmission and distribution networks are built, including both underground and overhead lines to reduce the impact on agricultural land and the landscape.
As many of the energy projects will be deployed in rural areas, the NFU wants to see:
- renewables projects deliver the maximum advantage to farmer and growers in enabling low-carbon energy self-sufficiency and diversification
- limited impact on farming and farmland
- an offshore network to connect offshore windfarms to then enable cables to be brought on to land where the electricity is required
- landowners hosting the infrastructure will need to be paid proper, full compensation covering all heads of claim to be put into the position of equivalence.
The government has said around twice as much new transmission network infrastructure will be needed by 2030 as has been built in the past decade.
People living within 500m of new pylons across Great Britain will get up to 拢2,500 over ten years off their electricity bills.
Separate new guidance will set out how developers should ensure communities hosting transmission infrastructure can benefit meaning some communities could get 拢200,000 worth of funding per km of overhead electricity cable in their area, and 拢530,000 per substation.
