Changes in population structures mean that meeting our future housing requirements will become even more complex. Photograph: Pawel Gaul/Agency Photos would be deferred “until the full suite of data required to consider matters relating to demographics and population projections has been received from the
However, the revision of the framework is about much more than the population projections, and while housing is one of the country’s most serious problems, it must also deal with how spatial planning relates to other areas of policy. This includes planning key infrastructures linked to climate change, such as wind and solar farms and upgrading the national electricity grid to accommodate a growing population and increased generation of renewable energy.
We write as two of three authors invited to prepare a high level review in advance of this first revision of the National Planning As part of the review process, we met representatives of the key stakeholder bodies involved in implementing the NPF. These discussions indicated a good level of overall support for the 2018 framework, but an absence of clarity and accountability on the roles of these bodies. These roles should be made clear and strengthened , and detailed annual measurement and monitoring of the implementation process should be introduced at a national and regional level.