RADICAL PLANNING REFORM

2010-05-27 13:06:44

The new coalition government has stated that they will radically reform the planning system in order to shift the focus from a national and regional led policy framework to a locally led regime. They have committed themselves to abolishing the regional spatial strategies and to return decision making powers on housing and planning to local councils including powers to help local councils to prevent garden grabbing.

They intend to incentivise local councils to provide sustainable development and in the longer term they are seeking to ensure that neighbourhoods have a real say in the future development of their own communities. They also promise to publish and present to parliament a simple and consolidated national planning framework covering all forms of development and setting out national economic, environmental and social priorities.

Clearly all these proposed changes will cause difficulties in the short term, but we believe the end result will be a more pro development and more responsive planning system.