The government should create a fast-track planning system for well-designed schemes as part of a wide-ranging reform of the development process, according to the final report of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.

The commission, set up by former housing secretary James Brokenshire, recommended changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to prioritise placemaking and beauty which would make it easier to turn down planning applications on design grounds.

The report, written by Create Streets founder Nicholas Boys Smith and the late Roger Scruton who co-chaired the commission, contains 45 recommendations in total, and sharply criticises the government’s policy on permitted development.

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