Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 (2017, Chapter 20).

This Act contains measures relating to planning and compulsory purchase of land for housing and planning purposes following the reforms introduced by the Housing and Planning Act 2016. It amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The Act strengthens neighbourhood planning by - ensuring that planning decision-makers take account of neighbourhood development plans; requiring parish councils and designated neighbourhood forums to be automatically notified of future planning applications in their area; and, by giving neighbourhood development plans full legal effect at an earlier stage. It introduces new procedures for modifying neighbourhood development orders and plans and facilitates the modification of neighbourhood areas where a neighbourhood development order or plan has already been made in relation to that area. The Act also makes the duty on local planning authorities to support neighbourhood planning groups and the neighbourhood planning examination process more transparent and grants power to the Secretary of State to make regulations which prescribe the circumstances where certain conditions may or may not be imposed and descriptions of such conditions for the purpose of ensuring that conditions meet national policy tests in the National Planning Policy Framework.