Planning reforms: issues behind the headlines
The government and countryside campaigners have been in much publicised conflict over proposed reform of the planning system. But behind the news headlines, there are issues that developers and local authorities need to consider, says Michael Hardware. Published in Building4Change - click here to view the published article
The government's planning policy has come in for much criticism in recent months. The National Trust, CPRE and The Daily Telegraph have all launched campaigns opposing the current reforms, predicting the desecration of the Green Belt and a development free-for-all. This is all different from only six months ago when the government's planning policy was viewed very much as a NIMBY's charter, and very little was predicted to be built anywhere.
The Localism Bill
Last year, only 103,000 new homes were built in the UK. According to official household formation predictions, we should be building 232,000 homes a year. Few now argue against the fact that we need to build homes - there are 1.8 million families (5 million people) on local authority housing waiting lists alone.
The government understands the need for more homes, and is at pains to state, both publically and in informal briefings, that it will not be deflected by the current criticism, and will push ahead with its policies on planning and housing. It is clear that it wants to encourage more housebuilding, not only to address the chronic housing shortage but also to act as a stimulus to the economy, currently struggling to shrug off the recession. Housing supply, even at current low levels, accounts for some 3 per cent of GDP and more than one million jobs. Increasing housebuilding numbers by 130,000, to household projection levels, will create 195,000 jobs, and many hundreds of thousands more in the supply chain.
The Localism Bill is the main instrument of change and is currently at committee stage in the House of Lords. Once it gets its third reading, it will come back to the House of Commons for consideration of the amendments. It is still on course for enactment in November, and to come into force in April next year.
The new homes bonus is already in operation and the government recently published its draft National Planning Policy Framework. There is further guidance and regulation to be published that will provide the detail on how the new planning system will work and be regulated.
Emerging issues
Many developers and planning consultants have already been factoring the reforms into their forthcoming projects. However, as with any new system and approach, some issues have emerged.
One concerns incentives for development. Government policy is that communities accepting development should receive the benefits, such as the new homes bonus, the community infrastructure levy (CIL) and Section 106 agreements. Communities welcome this approach but are not convinced it will happen as all the monies currently go to the local planning authority (LPA) and it is not clear what mechanisms will be in place for communities to influence or decide how this money is spent in their community, and how it will be monitored. We are assured that regulations will be published detailing this, but these will need to be robust if communities are to have confidence in delivery, and the policy to work.
This leads on to a further issue, where a community's wishes are not in accordance with the LPA's. Although it is clear that ultimately a community will prevail through neighbourhood planning, there are situations where LPAs are actively undermining communities' wishes, and in some cases pushing through programmes ahead of localism, and even censuring councillors who are siding with the community. This is certainly against the spirit, and probably the letter, of localism, is somewhat underhand, and somewhat surprising where Tory councils are involved.
A dilemma for councillors
The final issue concerns councillors themselves. Although they will be having the shackles of predetermination removed by the Localism Bill, allowing them to do what they were elected for in representing their communities, many are uneasy, especially in leafy Tory middle England where development is often opposed.
On the one hand, they feel obliged to follow government policy and understand that the planning system will favour development, but on the other hand, they want to reflect the wishes of their community as they will want to be elected at the next election. Life is about to become more difficult for councillors.
Michael Hardware has worked in development and planning for over 25 years. He heads Chelgate's property and construction team, which has been practising many of the principles of localism for more than 20 years. It has not been involved in a project that has failed for more than a decade.
