In September 2025, our Group Director of Strategy and Planning, James Scott, delivered a paper to the 53rd Joint Planning Law Conference entitled Flexibility is better than Prophecy (for consents underpinning Super Strategic Sites). The paper and the appendicies are set out below.
In December 2025, MHCLG published published the draft NPPF. At policy HO13, this explictly recognises the need for flexibility with "large scale residential and mixed use development which will be implemented through multiple phases across development plan periods". MHCLG are consulting upon this flexible approach (Questions 80 and 81) as well as the creation of a "super strategic" site designation (Question 82).
The Paper
This material was first published by Thomson Reuters, trading as Swoot & Maxwell, 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AQ, in the Journal of Planning Law [2025] J .P.L. Issue 13 and is reproduced here by agreement with the publishers. For further details, please see the publishers' website.
The Appendices
The paper has a number of appendices which illustrate the points made with further information and practical examples based on our site at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire:
