West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has called for clarity on the treatment of land with planning permission as local district councils finalise their local plan. The MP has asked the Department for Communities and Local Government for clarification on how planning inspectors will treat sites which have already had planning permission. Wychavon District Council has lobbied the MP asking her to ensure that these sites will count towards five year housing supply targets, even if the homes have not yet been built. Harriett said: “Our local district councils are working on plans which will provide a framework for development over the next two decades. “The five year land supply numbers are of key importance and it seems logical to me that the planning inspectors should take into account sites with granted planning permission as much even if the homes have not been started. “The district council can control planning permission but not whether the builder actually starts or completes a site.” Planning Minister Nicholas Boles has today replied to Harriett, confirming that the National Planning Policy Framework requires that sites with planning permission should be considered ‘deliverable’ until permission expires, unless there is clear evidence that schemes will not be implemented. He added that councils should work towards identifying ‘a supply of such ‘deliverable’ sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their requirements’. Worcester City Council, Malvern Hills District Council and Wychavon District Council have all been working on plans to provide a combined strategy to help deliver new homes and employment land. The South Worcestershire Development Plan will be voted on by the three councils in the coming months. Harriett added: “The SWDP is at a crucial stage and we are all watching carefully to see what position each council takes so that local planning can be controlled by locally elected councilors, rather than defaulting to the National Planning Policy Framework. “I am glad that the Minister has confirmed that sites that already have planning permission can count towards meeting housing land supply and that councils won’t only get credit for them if they are completed.”