Planning Reforms

Recently, the government has made proposals to change it.

Today’s system essentially results from legislation from the 1980s and 1990s. Individual policies aside, one particular change from that time has been the biggest single cause of today’s problems – the introduction of timescales for the determination of planning applications. 

While the eight-week deadline had some success, the current government’s mistake was to link it to the financing of planning departments, with those councils that fail to meet government targets receiving less money.

As the government continues to use this timescale-driven process to tighten public spending, councils are faced with little option but to allow the targets to lead the decision making process. As a consequence, some local councils severely restrict the activities of their planners.

In an attempt to address the problems identified by many on both sides of the fence, the Treasury commissioned a report to review the system. If its recommendations are adopted later this year many existing policies will need to be rewritten or abandoned. 

The review attempts to improve the skills of those making decisions, first by introducing compulsory training for planning committee members. It also proposes removing from planning control small forms of development that do not affect neighbours or third parties which should free up the time of both planners and councillors. 

The current local plan-led system remains though plans should be up-to-date, flexible and positive. It also suggests a “resumption in favour of development” where unless there are good reasons why development should not proceed it would be approved. 

The economic appraisal of schemes would be at the centre of their consideration. The report also suggests penalising owners of derelict brownfield land who do not bring this forward for development.

A proposal to increase the cost of planning applications is tempered with an enhanced role for pre-application discussions and less requirement for accompanying information.

Overall, the Barker review appears to offer a number of positive reforms to a system that seems to have lost its direction or raison d’etre, namely an improved environment, economy and quality of life for us all.