性吧电台

In July 2010, Eric Pickles took the pen from the hands of his officials and bravely wrote out to all chief planners and council leaders that he was scrapping the regional planning system with immediate effect. 

So began the coalition government鈥檚 shake-up of planning in England, amid proud rhetoric about 鈥渘ot doing guidance鈥� and 鈥渓ocalism, localism, localism鈥�. In due course, in came neighbourhood planning, the National Planning Policy Framework, and the Duty-to-Cooperate, each key features of the new system. But is it delivering and what鈥檚 the state of the planning system three years on?

The most notable thing about the new planning system in August 2013 is the return to guidance 鈥� slimmed-down, targeted guidance, but guidance nonetheless. 鈥淏in stores鈥� and 鈥渂ungalows鈥� have caught the attention of the press 鈥� and, of course, it鈥檚 easy to pick out the irony in Mr Pickles suddenly discovering a propensity for telling councils what to do (鈥渟o much for localism鈥� we might cry). But this is important because it鈥檚 the coalition government realising at last that some degree of uniformity across the country has its merits 鈥� there are limits to localism. It seems on the face of it pretty obvious that councils should be planning to ensure the delivery of adequate storage in new homes and appropriate housing for our ageing population 鈥� but these things can and do get lost in the headline-grabbing debates about loss of greenfields and green belts. 

It鈥檚 easy to pick out the irony in Mr Pickles suddenly discovering a propensity for telling councils what to do

Moreover, provided the communities department doesn鈥檛 bite off more than it can chew (or deliver in a reasonable timescale ahead of May 2015), there is good sense in producing national standards for new homes. We鈥檙e already seeing the alternative, which is one council after another producing its own standards, upping the stakes on its neighbours in a fever of localism, and leaving the housebuilders in the soup, trying to adapt the designs that worked perfectly well last month in one district to the standards of its neighbours 鈥� hardly conducive to speeding up delivery.

So the consultation launched by Mr Pickles on new housing standards in the middle of last month and the imminent draft planning guidance (on which I鈥檒l say more in weeks to come) deserve positive consideration. And, not least, to ensure that the law of unintended consequences isn鈥檛 allowed to run riot, as it did in the early days of the coalition鈥檚 approach to planning. After all, the at-a-stroke dismissal of regional planning has led to High Court challenges, reinstatement, confusion and delay. Indeed, it鈥檚 quite possible that the Regional Plans would have been removed a good deal more quickly had due process been followed. A genuine case of more haste, less speed.

So let鈥檚 welcome the publication of the new draft guidance and do what we can to help the government get this right.  And then I鈥檒l turn to the things that haven鈥檛 been done so well 鈥� but that鈥檚 for another week 鈥�

Ian Tant is a senior partner at Barton Willmore

Editor鈥檚 note: subsequent to this being published, the referred to is now on the Planning Portal and is available for comment until the 9^th October 2013