I take the noble Lord’s point. This highlights again how important it will be to ensure that the results of the consultation reflect issues such as those the noble Lord has raised. It may be that the general feeling is to go along the road the noble Lord has suggested. I do not want to pre-empt the consultation result in that sense, but let me reflect further on what he has said. Again, I will be happy to write to him if I have further wisdom to impart at this stage.
I can understand the reasons for tabling Amendment 254, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, spoke. I do not, however, agree that it is necessary. As a general point, biodiversity net gain will be an important point of the planning system going forward. It will ensure biodiversity must be enhanced when new development occurs and habitats will be impacted. Having said that, my colleagues at Defra have recently published the Government’s response to their consultation on the implementation of biodiversity net gain—BNG. This response makes clear that certain types of development will be exempt from BNG requirements.
The powers in the Bill require regulations to specify the development which can be consented to through a street vote development order. We are likely to use those powers to specify a range of development, from more minor developments such as roof extensions to more extensive development. In line with the wider policy approach, it is therefore likely to be appropriate to exempt some forms of street vote development from BNG requirements. That is why we are seeking the power in the Bill to both modify and exclude BNG provisions under Schedule 7A.
The noble Baroness asked in particular about conservation areas, and I will touch on that. I recognise the important role that conservation areas play in protecting local heritage. Proposals for street vote development orders will be independently examined against a set of prescribed requirements. The importance of local heritage will be taken into account in the design of these requirements. In addition, street vote development orders cannot be used to consent to the development of listed buildings and scheduled monuments.
The noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, asked about infrastructure and perhaps I could reply to her in this particular context. We recognise that improvements to local infrastructure may be needed to support street
vote development. Where street vote development takes place, local authorities will be able to secure value from the new development by charging a specific community infrastructure levy rate targeted at street vote development. This will ensure that value generated by the street vote development can be captured and used to secure infrastructure and affordable housing that will support the local area.
I turn briefly to the issue of whether it is appropriate to seek a delegated power in this case. As Defra’s recently published implementation plans make clear, much of the detailed implementation for biodiversity net gain will be set out in secondary legislation. It is therefore also appropriate to set out the biodiversity net gain arrangements for street vote development orders in secondary legislation to ensure that the systems work in harmony.
I can understand the reasons for tabling Amendment 257 in the name of the noble Baroness; however, I do not agree it is required. Clause 100(3) of the Bill allows for local authorities to expedite the procedure for setting community infrastructure levy rates for street vote development where local authorities do not have immediate plans to update or introduce CIL rates within their authority.
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Unlike other developments, we do not intend for street vote developments to be subject to Section 106 planning agreements to deliver on-site affordable housing. However, we recognise that in some cases it may be appropriate for street vote developments to contribute towards affordable housing. That is why this clause allows authorities to spend street votes CIL receipts on affordable housing, where they consider it appropriate to do so. It is not possible at this stage to make any prediction about the amount of affordable housing that would be provided by street vote development orders, for the simple reason that we need baseline data and we do not know how many street vote developments will come forward.
Turning to the issue of annual reporting, I note that local authorities are already required to report annually on CIL expenditure in their infrastructure funding statements. We will be considering as we develop the policy the role that monitoring of CIL expenditure can play, as a part of the wider monitoring strategy for street votes.
Amendments 249, 250, 252 and 253 all relate to who is eligible to participate in the street vote process and I will address these as a group. Street vote development orders are intended to give those who currently live in the relevant area the opportunity to come together and prepare a development proposal for their street. If the proposal passes independent examination, a wider group of local people will get the opportunity to vote on whether planning permission should be granted. While I absolutely acknowledge and understand what the noble Baroness was seeking to achieve with Amendment 249 and her interest in who will be eligible to submit proposals and vote, the effect of her amendment would allow for people who no longer live in the area to participate in the process, which would be contrary to the intention of the policy.
Once again, these are matters for the consultation. We intend to consult on the relevant date for meeting the conditions for eligibility to be in a proposer group and the eligibility for who can vote in a referendum before exercising the relevant powers to ensure we get the balance right.
My answer is similar regarding Amendment 250, which covers a concern voiced by my noble friend Lord Young of Cookham. The powers we are seeking allow the Secretary of State to prescribe in regulations the minimum number or proportion of qualifying individuals that are needed to form a group which is eligible to submit a proposal with a view to it being independently examined and ultimately put to referendum. We want to ensure proposals have sufficient local support before they progress, and we similarly intend to consult on this as part of a wider consultation on the detail of the measure.