Critique the appropriateness of Town Planning changes under the Labour Goverment
Critique the Appropriateness of the current English Planning Reforms under the Labour Government
The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 was implemented to improve the day to day operation of the planning system, and public interaction with it, through achieving greater simplicity and clarity.
The Labour Government was worried that, due to its roots in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, the system was ‘based on the needs of a post-war world’ (Cunliffe, M, 2001, ‘Planning Obligations-Where are we now?, pg 31) and could not effectively respond to the changing economy that puts more emphasis on speed, efficiency and flexibility. It needed to command confidence in the near half a million direct customers who apply for planning permission every year. Yet there was also widespread concern that the system was failing. Before the Act, over 90% of councils failed to meet target that 80% of planning applications should, on average, be decided within 8 weeks.
Following the proposed reforms The Royal Town Planning Institute labelled the reforms ‘A missed opportunity’ (www.cpre.org.uk) and the House of Commons Transport, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee Report has gone so far to declare that ‘The Government’s radical reforms are in danger of spawning a new generation of swampies’, such is its constraint on effective participation by those with real interests (www.cpre.org.uk). There is concern that the new system is causing uncertainty amongst professionals in Planning Departments, and that targets are damaging rather than enhancing procedures. There remains an underlying murmur that more fundamental change in the processes and delivery of planning needs to occur if real change is to be delivered.
The multi-layered structure of the previous planning system involved plans with up to four tiers in some areas, at national, regional, county and local levels. These could be inconsistent with one another and with national planning
The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 was implemented to improve the day to day operation of the planning system, and public interaction with it, through achieving greater simplicity and clarity.
The Labour Government was worried that, due to its roots in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, the system was ‘based on the needs of a post-war world’ (Cunliffe, M, 2001, ‘Planning Obligations-Where are we now?, pg 31) and could not effectively respond to the changing economy that puts more emphasis on speed, efficiency and flexibility. It needed to command confidence in the near half a million direct customers who apply for planning permission every year. Yet there was also widespread concern that the system was failing. Before the Act, over 90% of councils failed to meet target that 80% of planning applications should, on average, be decided within 8 weeks.
Following the proposed reforms The Royal Town Planning Institute labelled the reforms ‘A missed opportunity’ (www.cpre.org.uk) and the House of Commons Transport, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee Report has gone so far to declare that ‘The Government’s radical reforms are in danger of spawning a new generation of swampies’, such is its constraint on effective participation by those with real interests (www.cpre.org.uk). There is concern that the new system is causing uncertainty amongst professionals in Planning Departments, and that targets are damaging rather than enhancing procedures. There remains an underlying murmur that more fundamental change in the processes and delivery of planning needs to occur if real change is to be delivered.
The multi-layered structure of the previous planning system involved plans with up to four tiers in some areas, at national, regional, county and local levels. These could be inconsistent with one another and with national planning
References: • Cullingworth, J. Nadin, V. 2002, Town and Country Planning in the UK, 13th Ed, Routledge, London • Cunliffe, M, 2001, ‘Planning Obligations-Where are we now?’, Journal of Planning & Environment Law, Sweet & Maxwell • Moore, V. 2005, A Practical Approach to Planning Law, Oxford University Press, London • Roberts, P • Thomas, P. 2004, ‘The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004: The Final Cut’, Journal of Planning & Environment Law, Sweet&Maxwell • Rydin, Y • Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 546, 2002, Sustainable Communities in the North West, ODPM, London • House of Commons, 2002, ‘Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill’, The United Kingdom Parliament • Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2003, Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill: Transferring to the New System (www.odpm.gov.uk) • Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2005, Overview of Spatial Plans in Practice, ODPM, London (www.odpm.gov.uk) • Woodland Trust, 2002, The Woodland Trust Response to Draft Consultation Paper on New Planning Policy Statement 11 (PPS 11), (www.woodland-trust.org.uk)