The Countryside Alliance has welcomed the opportunity to submit evidence to the consultation on 'Supporting defence infrastructure and the future of time-limited permitted development rights'. A successful rural economy is vital for maintaining a living and working countryside and as the countryside recovers from Covid it is essential that there are measures in place that support rural tourism and hospitality businesses.
The scope of this consultation is limited to the Permitted Development Right (PDR) 'right for the provision of moveable structures'. Changes made to this PDR during the Covid pandemic enabled pubs, cafes, restaurants or historic visitor attractions to make greater use of outdoor spaces so they could provide increased capacity as they reopened.
The Countryside Alliance was very supportive of these changes as it enabled many tourist and hospitality businesses to reopen and support the rural economy through providing additional outdoor seating or event attractions. The ability for these rural businesses to have a more flexible approach as to how they operate is to be welcomed and one that we would like to see continue as part of the post Covid recovery plan.
However, it is disappointing that the following PDR is not included in the scope of the consultation; 'Additional days for the temporary use of land for any purpose' - doubling the days allowed from 28 to 56 in 2020, and subsequently 2021. This right expires on 31 December 2021 and the Government does not propose that it is extended beyond the end of this year.
We have campaigned, alongside a number of tourism and camping organisations such as Pitch-up, for the changes to extend the number of days 'for the temporary use of land for any purpose'. We recognised that doubling the number of days from 28 to 56 would support the rural economy, tourism and hospitality businesses.
You can read our response to the Planning Development Management Team here.