The government has published revised planning rules for England, including the need for developers to be prioritising spaces that are safe, secure and inclusive as well as not overly or obtrusively lit.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was last updated in 2024, and the latest revisions have followed a consultation that was carried earlier this year.
The headline change under the new framework is that it will enable thousands of new homes will be built around England’s train, tram and underground stations so “helping families to live closer to work, schools and transport”, the MHCLG said.
However, from the perspective of lighting, one big change is that, for the first time, the framework has explicitly stated that development proposals should be designed to address the safety of women and girls.
Public spaces, it argues, should be “safe, secure, inclusive, and accessible” and it expressly refers to women and girls.
It also makes the case for high-quality pedestrian and cycle routes, “integrated lighting” and natural surveillance through active frontages.
As transport secretary Heidi Alexander said at the launch of the new framework: “The changes being announced today turn long-held ambitions into reality for our communities. Densification, combined with high-quality walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport, will support healthier lifestyles, improve access to jobs and services, and protect important public transport services.”
The framework, too, argues that developments should avoid “exposure to levels of air, noise, artificial light or other sources of pollution which could have an unacceptable adverse effect on health and the quality of life”.
Furthermore, the NPPF has argued developments ideally should: “Limit any adverse impact from artificial light on local amenity, intrinsically dark landscapes (those areas entirely, or largely, uninterrupted by artificial light) and nature.”
The government’s announcement of the revised NPPF can be found here and the full document here.
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