The Planner- September/October 2022

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In conversation with England’s chief planner Joanna Averley

Weather pain

How extreme weather events are challenging planners

Yes, York Minster

The rst communityled masterplan for a heritage estate

STREETMOVES

How the UK’s active travel commissioners are changing the way we move around our towns and cities

We’re changing The Planner – here’s how and why

Welcome to The Planner , refreshed. We’re now bimonthly in print , daily online , and thrice weekly in your inbox . It’s a renewed proposition for RTPI members and indeed anyone with an interest in planning – so here’s an explanation of what’s happening.

WHAT’S NEW y, naccessquick

Easy, quickscan access from our print features referencesupplementarytoandcontent.

More depth to our features as we reflect on the economic, social and environmental impacts of planning policy and practice, and how these three pillars of planning will inform future policy and practice.

More focus on the

Putting you first

The Planner has always been about you as planners; we seek to convey the culture, character and capability of the profession, bringing to life the people who practice and the places they help to Noneproduce.ofthat is changing. What’s new are the ways in which we seek to better serve you with the right content, in the right format, at the right time.

So that means longer-form features will sit here, in the magazine. We’ve more pages, so more space for profiles, more depth to our analysis. Meanwhile, we’re adding to our existing newsletters with a bimonthly digital supplement, delivered to you in the month between

print editions. This will bring together things you may have missed over the past month, as well as exclusive content; it’ll include more voices and different ways of looking at the profession; and it’ll be for Planner subscribers only.

Your title, preferencesyour

Both in print and online, The Planner is for RTPI members of all levels of experience, location and role. Our content will continue to be balanced accordingly. We’ve always been keen to ensure that the sense of community conferred through membership of the RTPI is reflected in the content we produce; our stronger, more routine online presence will help us do just that.

Our mission

Our mission has always been to update, inform and entertain in equal measure, reflecting this dynamic and critically important profession. That remains our guiding philosophy, and we want you to feel proud of the product we produce on your behalf. We also want you to feel part of The Planner, too.

Find out more Email us at theplanner.co.ukeditorial@with any comments you may have.

4More interviews with you, actual planners, through a greater variety and form of interview format, ensuring that this profession’s voice is fully heard.

5We’ll be selecting the really key information that affects your work and directing you towards more information about it – saving you time and keeping you completely up to date.

7More opportunities for built environment professionals of all kinds to have their voices heard though our print and digital publications with community-led content.

6 The landscape.planningchangingonperspectivelegalthe

“Our mission has always been to update, inform and entertain in equal measure, reflecting this critically important profession”

ANALYSIS

£5.2bn £32 bn11%

uring July’s record temperature heatwave, it became urgently clear that as a nation we need to do more to plan for future extreme weather events.

By August there was an amber alert in place for heat and the Environment Agency had declared a drought in eight of its 14 jurisdictions. The then environment secretary George Eustice spoke of England being in a “stronger position than ever” to withstand drought situations. But when pressed on the risk of taps running dry, Eustice admitted that “if we have another dry winter on top of a very dry summer, the risk for 2023 does become greater”.

This year England recorded its driest July since 1935. We also saw dozens of wildfires, with fire severity risk raised to ‘exceptional’ during August’s four-day amber alert in England and Wales. Hosepipe bans kicked in, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) suspended water abstractions for most licence holders in mid and north Fife as river and groundwater levels have become critical.

The science tells us that these extreme heat events will happen more often. We’ve seen the rise of flood events, including from Storm Eunice earlier this year, Storm Christoph in 2021 and Storm Bella in 2020.

What are the effects of extreme weather?

Living environments are complex systems. The effect on them of unusual weather will vary depending on the timing, type and severity of the event, as well as the sensitivity of habitats, says David Smith, director at Ecological Planning & Research Ltd (EPR).

Agricultural systems and communities are part of the natural environment, he adds, and not separate from it. Extreme weather events, therefore, “are serving

to highlight the interdependencies that people, communities and businesses have with the natural world”.

He highlights that in Surrey alone, the heatwave and drought conditions resulted in wildfires at Whitmoor, Hankley, Bisley, Frensham, Send and Ash Ranges, the last of these a nationally important habitat for the Dartford Warbler. Rivers have little or no water and there are concerns that damage to England’s chalk streams will be “irreparable”.

In recent times, other parts of the UK have, by contrast, experienced extreme rainfall events. “As these extreme conditions become more regular we have witnessed significant impacts on wildlife, habitats, and the wider environment,” Smith points out, Sue Young, head of planning and land use for The Wildlife Trusts, agrees that the extended dry period has had “a devastating impact on nature, affecting

the ability of ecosystems to function properly”. Drought also causes problems in agriculture, she continues, reducing productivity and soil fertility, and forcing farmers to harvest crops earlier.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) adds that drought is “hugely challenging” across all farming sectors: “Many farmers are facing serious impacts ranging from running out of irrigation water to not having enough grass and having to use winter

Lackfeed.”ofrain hampers grass growth, which will hit fodder supplies for the winter, adding additional costs to livestock farming businesses, Meanwhile, sugar beet and maize have been showing signs of stress from a lack of rain.

In response, the Environment Agency launched measures to support flexible water abstraction wbich, it hopes, will give some farmers the ability to trade volumes of water with others.

Investment

Expected

Reduction

POLICY BY COUNTRY

How does policy on creating resilient communities vary?

England – National Planning FrameworkPolicy(NPPF) development’‘Inappropriateinareasatrisk of flooding, from all sources, should be avoided. Local authorities are expected to follow a series of tests to protect people and property, and this includes undertaking a strategic flood-risk assessment.Localplans should take a “proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change, taking into account the long-term implications for flood risk, coastal change, water supply, biodiversity and landscapes, and the risk of overheating from rising temperatures”.

Northern Ireland –Strategic Planning Policy Statement (SPPS)

The Department for Infrastructure says planning has a “vital role” in “guiding, encouraging and promoting a more sustainable and integrated approach to land use and infrastructure development and in looking for innovative and locally agreed solutions” to the challenges of climate change.

The Regional Development Strategy 2035 (RDS) and the SPPS “both recognise the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change”.

DfI policy advises a precautionary approach to flooding to ensure new development, “where possible, is avoided in flood plains and that any proposed development does not increase flood risk elsewhere”.

Wales – Planning Policy Wales (PPW) Edition 11

Water resources and quality “must be taken into account from an early stage in the process of identifying land for development and redevelopment”.

It emphasises sustainable drainage system (SuDS) as an integral part of designing new development, while planning authorities should “adopt a precautionary approach of positive avoidance of development in areas of flooding from the sea or from rivers”.

“Surface water flooding will affect choice of location and the layout and design of schemes and these factors should be considered at an early stage in formulating development proposals.”

Scotland – draft National consultationFrameworkPlanning4,aonwhich

closed earlier this year

The planning system should “strengthen future resilience to flood risk by reducing the vulnerability of existing and future development to flooding”. It should encourage the use of natural flood-risk management.

Local development plans should strengthen community resilience to the current and future impacts of climate change, including identifying opportunities to implement natural flood-risk management and bluegreenNewinfrastructure.development proposals

in flood-risk areas, or which can potentially have an impact on floodrisk areas, “should be avoided”.

“Many farmers are facing serious impacts ranging from running out of irrigation water to not having enough grass and having to use winter feed” – NFU

Drought conditions have been “hugely challenging” across all farming sectors.

“We can reduce the conflict between land use choices by coordinated planning and prioritising the space that nature needs to recover. New developments and infrastructure could be planned around this, benefiting from the services nature provides to society and avoiding further damage to the natural environment” – Sue Young

The UK’s evolving policy positions

The Environment Agency, according to a spokesperson, is working with water companies, regulators and others “to ensure that we can meet our long-term water needs, including protecting and restoring the environment and [we] are using our role in the planning process to ensure development takes account of climateAdditionally,change”.between last year and 2027, £5.2 billion is being invested in creating about 2,000 new flood and coastal risk management schemes across England. It is expected that these schemes will help to avoid up to £32 billion in wider economic damages, reduce the national flood risk by up to 11 per cent and lessen the risk of disruption caused by potential future flooding to the daily lives of more than four million people.

A UK Government spokesperson says that its “robust action” to ensure that the country is prepared for a changing climate includes changing building regulations to make sure that new homes are fit for the future and bolstering flood defences.

Other schemesGovernmentUKinclude:

The Heat and Buildings Strategy, which sets out plans to decarbonise the UK’s 30 million homes and workplaces.TheUrban Tree Challenge Fund, which is being extended to support the planting and establishment of the England Trees Action Plan. Published in May 2021, it intends to enhance urban tree cover to protect

urban populations from overheating by providing shade and reducing the urban heat

Thisland.eUKHealth Security Agency (UKHSA) is currently developing a Single Adverse Weather and Health Plan to ‘mainstream’ adaptation activity. This work includes reducing the evidence gap surrounding the costs of extreme weather events and adaptation in the health and social care sectors.

In Scotland, meanwhile, SEPA is working with local authorities on development of sustainable and resilient communities by “providing data on flooding and water scarcity, supporting the creation of green spaces and restoration of watercourses, and encouraging the use of passive house design and low-carbon technology for heating and cooling”.

The agency is working with others such as NatureScot, Historic Environment Scotland and Scottish Water to help councils to develop their local plans, which it describes as “vital in addressing the climate emergency in terms of land use planning”.

During this year’s heatwave Baitings Dam, a Yorkshire Water reservoir near Ripponden, was at its lowest level in recent memory

So severe was the water loss that the the–packhorseancientbridgesubmergedsincereservoirwas

flooded in the 1950s – was exposed

Mitigation and adaptation

We already know many of the measures needed – the questions are about how best to implement them. For example, in adapting existing settlements, David Smith explains, native street trees can cool local air temperatures, sequester carbon and provide habitats for wildlife. Understanding water will also be key to dealing with future droughts. “Re-wetting habitats in the wider environment can restore water-retaining environmental features such as peat bogs and woodland,” says Smith. “In turn, this can slow water flow, store carbon and, in some instances, reduce flooding risk of human settlements and agricultural lands after extreme rainfall.”

Examples of this more resilient approach are already being implemented, from peatland restoration projects across the uplands of the UK, to the re-wetting of Blean Woods in East

HarryKent.Steele, infrastructure specialist at the RTPI, also emphasises the role of trees, along with restoring bends in rivers to slow water flow. “We must look to green and natural solutions to many of these challenges,” he stresses.

Young emphasises the need for agreement at a national level on how to use and manage land to create wilder,

Find out more Scan the QR code to read The Planner’s latest news feed

more natural landscapes that can store both water and carbon.

“We can reduce the conflict between land use choices by coordinated planning and prioritising the space nature needs to recover. New developments and infrastructure could be planned aroundYoungthis.”highlights how integrating green infrastructure into urban areas can provide habitat for wildlife, help cool built-up areas during heatwaves, and improve access to nature.

“This is especially important for disadvantaged communities,” continues Young, “which have the least access to nature and green space but would benefit the most” .

Farming is increasingly on the front line of climate change and, says the NFU, the government’s national adaptation plan, due next year, “will be crucial to supporting adaptation on farms”.

The farming body adds that recent extreme heat events highlight the “urgent need” to underwrite food security, with the government and its agencies needing to “better plan for and manage the nation’s water sources; prioritising water for food production alongside environmental protection”.

This, it says, would boost resilience in the farming sector and provide investment opportunities around irrigation equipment and reservoir building on farms.

As for housing, the RTPI’s Steele says that existing developments must be retrofitted and new developments future-proofed. More drainage, ventilation and shade must be integrated from the start.

“Old homes were built to be warm, and with energy prices as they are it is still important. But now, with increased heat, we need to look at cooling them. Good insulation, for example, keeps heat in and heat out.”

Oliver Novakovic, group technical and innovation director at Barratt Developments plc, tells The Planner that the company’s work to mitigate the effects of climate change covers two main areas: the operational impact of its building sites (such as recycling construction waste) and the environmental performance of its homes.Toaddress flooding, says Novakovic, Barratt uses sustainable urban drainage systems, the majority of which are “above-ground and landscape-led, like basins, rain gardens, reed beds and wetland habitats that blend into the natural environment”. Better house design – with carefully devised window positions, more shading, optimal landscaping and cleverly designed SuDS – will help to make homes more weather resilient.

Ultimately, if planning is to contribute to mitigation of and adaptation to extreme weather, says Steele, the profession needs more planners, armed with the right skills.

Even very experienced planners haven’t faced these kinds of issues, adds Steele. “We need to make sure those coming into the profession have the skills to deal with the challenges coming from the changing climate. This must include more investment in the sector.”

“As these extreme conditions become more regular we have witnessed significant impacts on wildlife, habitats, and the wider environment” – David Smith

The South of Scotland’s largest community buyout is set to double in size following an ambitious community fundraising campaign.

A historic agreement for around 2,145 hectares of land and three properties between charity The Langholm Initiative and land giant Buccleuch will go ahead, after the Dumfriesshire town of Langholm reached its goal of raising £2.2 million by the deadline at the end of July. Success for the buyout’s second stage was only confirmed as the deadline was reached.

This stage will double the size of the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, created last year after the buyout’s first stage raised £3.8 million to purchase land as well as six residential properties from Buccleuch. The reserve is intended to help tackl the nature and climate crises while boosting community regeneration.

The deal allows the community buyout to reach its original goal of creating a 4,000-hectare nature reserve, which will be known as Tarras Valley. The project will include peatland restoration, new native woodlands and bird of prey conservation.

TOP STORIES FROM THE COUNTRIES OF THE UK AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND nationby

Langholm reaches target to buy 2,000 hectares of land

Scheme for Marine Protected Areas approved

The Irish Government’s cabinet has approved moves to develop legislation to establish the designation and management of a network of Marine Protected Areas for the republic.

The bill will provide powers to help the government to address the twin environmental crises of biodiversity loss and climate change by protecting and conserving the marine ecosystems that underpin the essential and multifaceted services on which coastal communities and wider society depend. These include activities such as fishing, tourism, cultural heritage, climate regulation and resilience to environmental change.

“In the context of energy security and the ramping up of Ireland’s offshore renewable energy ambitions, it’s all the more important that we work at pace to deliver on our commitment to meeting both biodiversity and climate objectives,” said local government and heritage minister Darragh O’Brien.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Go-ahead for two key Belfast schemes

Two major city-centre schemes have been approved by Belfast City Council.

These involved proposals for a 256-bed hotel/aparthotel project in the Titanic Quarter and a 15-storey residential tower at Holmes Street/ Bruce Street, which is planned to deliver 68 flats.

The hotel complex will be located on land north-west of Hamilton Dock, adjacent to Titanic Belfast and off Queen’s Road. It will provide both hotel and BruceaccommodationBedfordaschemesbefacilitiesaccommodation,apartment-styleconferenceandarooftopbar.Theresidentialblockwillsitednexttotwootherplannedforthearea:newapart-hotelat31-33StreetandastudentbuildingonStreet.

Also in Belfast...

Northern Ireland Water has recommended that Belfast City Council refuse proposals

for a student accommodation development in the city centre because existing water infrastructure has insufficient capacity to serve it.

Mandeville Developments is seeking permission for a purpose-built managed student accommodation (PBMSA) scheme with 862 units close to Ulster University’s new campus on York Street.

A spokesperson for the government-owned Northern Ireland Water said that the foul sewer and water networks had capacity shortfalls.

“NI Water has subsequently received a request for a wastewater impact assessment which is being reviewed and still awaiting a water impact assessment request.

“Subject to a positive outcome to both impact assessments and a clear resolution to the storm discharge, NI Water may reconsider the planning response.”

Three approvedDCOs

August saw three transport-related development consent orders granted.

Dualling of A47

The former transport secretary Grant Shapps approved the dualling of a 9km section of the existing A47 between North Tuddenham and Easton, in line with a recommendation by the Planning Inspectorate, the examining authority.

It concluded that improving safety and increasing capacity were benefits of the proposed development and that, in turn, additional capacity would support housing and economic development in and around Norwich. Shapps agreed “that high positive weight is afforded to the proposed development because its need has been established in accordance with the requirements of the NPSNN”.

A428 dual carriageway

Shapps approved a National Highways application for a 16km, two-lane dual carriageway between the A1

ENGLAND WALES

Black Cat roundabout and the A428 Caxton Gibbet roundabout within the administrative boundaries of Cambridgeshire, Bedford and Central Bedfordshire.Theexamining authority determined that the development would improve journey times, journey time reliability and safety, and that it would play a “crucial role in facilitating economic and housing development in the area”.

The transport secretary concurred that there was a manifest need for the proposed development.

Manston Airport

Karl McCartney, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, granted the reopening of Manston Airport, Kent,

primarily as an international freight airport, against the recommendation of the Planning Inspectorate.

This is the second time that RiverOak Strategic Partners’ (RSP) application has been determined, after two deferrals and a DCO being overturned in the High Court. The examining authority concluded that RPS had “failed to demonstrate sufficient need for the proposedMcCartneydevelopment”.agreedwith RPS that the Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) does not provide an explanation of what is meant by “sufficient need”. Furthermore, he did not agree with the way in which the examining authority attempted to establish whether there is a need for the development.

Two key rail station projects take shape in Cardiff

Transport for Wales (TfW) has confirmed that preparatory work is to get under way this autumn on two rail stations in the capital.

This involves the construction of a new two-platform Butetown rail station and the revamping of Cardiff Bay station, part of the biggest upgrade to public transport in the area for a generation.

The existing Cardiff Bay station will get a second platform, new signage

and customer information screens. All signage upgrades will be bilingual.

New track will allow more frequent services using new tram-trains, with a new timetable from spring 2024.

James Price, TfW CEO, said: “From 2024 we’ll be providing a smoother, greener, modern public transport service which will open up a range of opportunities for people living in Butetown and the wider Cardiff Bay area.”

1The Scottish Government has promised that by the end of the year it will publish the secondary legislation needed to ensure that developers provide electric vehicle charge points in new residential and non-residential buildings.

2 companyInvestmentAEW UKREIT has completed the sale of a student accommodation scheme at Bath Street in Glasgow’s Principal Office Area to a subsidiary company of IQ Student Accommodation (IQSA).

3Developer MRP has secured a forward funding deal with student accommodation provider VITA to develop 271 student flats in Belfast.

4Residents and Conwy County Borough Council have long campaigned for the return of their sandy beach, arguing that it would give the town a major economic boost. However, hopes of bringing sand back to Llandudno’s main beach have suffered a setback – because of the estimated £24 million price tag.

The Planner reports every week on planning news from across the UK and Ireland. Scan the codes for the latest news feed for each country, or to sign up to our weekly News By Nation newsletter.

5Housing minister Darragh O’Brien has sent the report from senior counsel Remy Farrell about former deputy chair of An Bord Pleanála (ABP) Paul Hyde, who has resigned following allegations of a conflict of interest. The Office of the Planning Regulator has also started a statutory two-part review of An Bord Pleanála (ABP). Former Scottish officials Paul Cackette, ex-head of the Scottish Government’s legal directorate and John McNairney, formerly Scotland’s chief planner – will help examine the allocation of case files to board members and the ABP’s decision-making.

The Planning Inspectorate will consider Greater Manchester’s Places for Everyone plan at a public examination in November.

INSIDE VIEWS GOOCH TO ROAM

Inside out

So then, a few changes around these parts. We’re building The Planner better, we hope, and perhaps building it beautifully too – although ultimately, you’ll be the judge of that.

Our redesign exercise comprises newsletters,magazine,website, and, soon, our audio and visual reporting. The reasoning for all this is laid out on page 4, but the timing of it? Well, needless to say, we could not have known that our first new-format print edition would land just days after the most significant event in our national life for, well, most of our lifetimes. The death of Her Majesty is the reason for the slightly longer delay between editions than had been our original intention.

We also have a new Prime Minister, of course. I was struck by the speed at which the RTPI engaged with Liz Truss over planning reform. With inflation at a generational high

and an energy funding crisis taking all of the attention, it is understandable for the institute to be concerned that planning’s already absurd levels of underfunding at local authority level – a 43% cut since 2010 – will become buried down the priority order, as so much of planning’s potentially transformational input into national debates has over the years.

Our new mix of print and online content formats will help us better present this and many other arguments in favour of contributionplanning’stosomuch of the national debate. We’re looking forward to adding fresh depth to our reporting on levelling up, housing, climate change and every topic in-between. And naturally, we’re keen to know what you think of it all. Please, do get in touch.

Martin Read is editor of The Planner — read@theplanner.co.ukmartin.

Let’s talk about the best laid plans. On Thursday 8 September we werealmost literally - about to press the ‘go’ button for this first issue of the revamped Planner when The Queen’s death was announced. If any event can justify putting everything on hold it’s this.

It’s not my place to carry a tribute to The Queen here. But there is something to be said about public service that has a meaningful relationship with this magazine and its contents. Queen Elizabeth II was, after all, the ultimate public servant.

Our interviewee for this issue, as you’ll see, is Joanna Averley, England’s chief planner; also a public servant. The original version of this column had used the interview to muse on the benefits of service and the qualities that make a good civil servant. I felt after meeting her that Joanna Averley has these in abundance. She made it clearer on the evening of The Queen’s death: at close to

10pm, as we were all glued to televised tributes to Elizabeth II, she emailed me to express her concern about being in the media at a time of national mourning. It wouldn’t be appropriate; the spotlight was not hers to take.

Of course we were happy to delay publication; there was no question of that. So this magazine comes to you a few days later than first planned.

My original message in this column was that, for all that some politicians may denigrate civil servants, their conscientiousness is the mortar that holds the edifice of stateJoannatogether.Averley’s thoughtful note confirmed this for me: putting self second is what public servants do. It is often thankless, but it’s what they do. Just for once, let’s applaud them for it. It feels appropriate.

Simon Wicks is deputy editor of The Planner — theplanner.co.uksimon.wicks@

The Planner is changing so that we can better present this criticalprofession’swork

In which our writers reflect on what they’ve learned while creating stories for The Planner over the past two months.

Let’s take a moment servantsourappreciatetopublicaoec

At a time of national renewal, our fundamental message remains constant: policy success demands the adequate resourcing of planning

he passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III to the throne gives us cause to reflect on the meaning and purpose of our work. The RTPI is among the trade guilds, learned societies and professional bodies distinguished by a royal charter. This recognises our stewardship of the profession by granting us the right to award qualifications and professional accreditation. It also reminds us that we have a duty to act in the public interest. Our royal charter is fundamental to our purpose and ethics as an organisation; it is a mark of quality and good faith.

Understandably, these extraordinary matters of state have temporarily steered the national debate away from that other major milestone, the coming to office of a new Prime Minister. But it is in the spirit of our stewardship role that we cannot sit idly by as Liz Truss and her new cabinet sets to work on planning reform –because immediate progress is required.

Back in May, when the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was first published, we were optimistic about the digital transformation, regulation and standards for places outlined. But we were also cautious, aware that the bill would presage fundamental changes to policy and practice, with its agenda compromised by

our under-resourced planning system.

So we want to see more details on the National Planning Policy Framework and national development management policies, the Infrastructure Levy, environmental assessments and rising planning fees. We want to see greater incentives for cooperation across councils. Mayors and local leaders will need to be incentivised to use their planning powers and make important spatial decisions alongside neighbouring authorities to maximise the value of new infrastructure and local assets.

As legislative scrutiny has resumed, we’re continuing our work to improve new planning mechanisms to effect local plans, working hard to challenge

the unnecessary and bureaucratic examinations of new Infrastructure Levy charging schedules. We’re also campaigning to reinstate virtual planning committees, introduce requirements for chartered chief planning officers and include wider health and developmentsustainableoutcomes in new environmental reports.

For all the recognition that planning has received since May, we keep returning to our core message: that policy success depends on the

adequate resourcing and recognition of planning. An RTPI report this month shows how local authorities are spending 43 per cent less on planning today than they were a decade ago. The message from our chief executive was simple: “without better quality planning services, communities will miss opportunities to level up, deliver vital housing and tackle climatePrimechange.”ministers come to office with their own suitcase of priorities, but if those of Liz Truss include levelling up the country, then planners will need the right backing if they’re to provide homes, encourage inward investment and enable community life. It’s a message that we feel duty-bound to convey.

QUARTERMAINOPINION

Now then.

I want to talk about saying “yes” to things: the plan-led system and climate change.

Having a plan to set out what needs to be done, where and when, seems a pretty sensible thing to do. And there is little that you hear that suggests that not having a plan is a better idea. The problem seems to be the mechanics of getting your approach,”andwemeinplansinvolvedwork.thethenopinionsintoevidence-based,thinkingtakingaccounttheofothersandshowinghowplanwillactuallyButwhenIwasinwritingIusedtobuildflexibility.“Giveaplanthatshowsarethinkingaheadhaveaplan-ledIwouldsay

to the team.

“But allow enough flex that if we want to say yes to something we’ve not thought of we still can.” Eyebrows were inevitably raised…

The 2012 NPPF tried to emphasise that planning was a positive activity. We became used to describing ‘development control’ as ‘development

management’ – but the plans were still driven by ideas embedded in old PPGs where the government would let you know what policies you needed. You just had to make sure you had them. So, out popped plans with 170-plus policies, many of which were just rewordings of national advice and little used from day to day. Perhaps some national development management policies might actually be helpful.Oneof the biggest issues with a plan-led system is that it can tie you to a “Computer says no” mentality. It can stop you being the planner youTakeare.climate change; we know that we must do something about retrofitting existing houses to help reduce their carbon footprint. Between 30 and 40 per cent of carbon emissions come from housing stock. We also know that every day someone near you is banging up a loft extension under permitted development rights.

Where there is a need for planning permission, we find that our plan has policies fit for the thinking of

the time – whereby to gain approval, extensions needed to be ‘subservient’ or not to change the roofline. But, to be effective, an extension needs to ‘cap’ the existing footprint; and it needs enough space for internal insulation.

Taking the ‘be positive’ advice in the original NPPF, there is an opportunity for planners to revisit their policies and ask: “What is more important – the view of a street in a non-conservation area/listed building environment, or saving the planet?” (with proper regard for any amenity issue directly affecting neighbours, of course).

Decisions must be taken in line with the plan unless material circumstances indicate otherwise. Surely, saving the planet counts as an exceptional circumstance? The money spent on those permitted development roof extensions could be better managed to have more positive outcomes.

STEVE QUARTERMAIN was formerly chief planner of England and is now director of Quartermain Ltd

“Decisions must be taken in line with the plan unless circumstancesmaterialindicateotherwise”

“One of the biggest issues with a plan-led system is that it can tie you to a ‘Computer says no’ mentality. It can stop you being the planner you are”

NICOLA GOOCH is a partner in the planning team at Irwin Mitchell

It’s been hard to escape the nostalgia pervading public discourse of late. Between the Conservative leadership election, strikes, heatwaves, threatened energy shortages and rising inflation, the sense of a return to the past is overwhelming.

Nostalgia can be a wonderful thing. It’s comforting and can produce fantastic film and television – from Stranger Things to IT, revisiting the cultural icons of our childhood can inspire great creativity. But it can also slide into pastiche. For every trip to the Upside Down, there is an unnecessary prequel or failed reboot. This is as true for planning policy as it is forIt’stelevision.depressing how easily tired old tropes can be revived. Over the course of the summer, Rishi Sunak pledged to ban green belt development, uphold the bar on onshore wind and prevent land banking through ‘use it or lose it’ planning permissions. Liz Truss promised to restrict provision of solar farms, abolish ‘Stalinist’ top-down

housing numbers and expand free ports and enterprise zones.

None of these ideas is new and none will actually tackle the problems facing our planning system. The lack of investment in local government has disproportionately impacted planning departments, bogging down a system that is not set up to tackle difficult cross-border issues yet has an increasing number of them to wrestleNutrientwith.and water neutrality, concerns about grid capacity and energy insecurity issues all need resolving – and there is still a housing crisis and climate change to contend with.

the solutions to our current problems will not be found there.

The planning system is, by definition, forwardlooking. Given suffi vision and a way to strategically plan, it could be the key to resolving many of these challenges. In order to move forward, however, we need to stop harking back to the past.

,

One unfortunate side-effect of being born in 1984 is that I don’t remember the 1970s. I am, however, fairly sure that

definition, forward ufficient resources, to ey to many es. In order to move r, we need to stop he past ate side-effect of hat I don’t however, sure that

Solar and wind farms are good for the environment and the quickest route to improving energy security. We need more, not fewer. Investment in water and electrical infrastructure will reduce pollution and improve security of supply – increasingly important as more of us transition to electric vehicles. A more holistic approach to cross-border issues – including meeting demand for housing and employment land – could unlock supply in a more sustainable way, if we have the courage to let it. With a little creativity, even planning for our changing demographics could become an opportunity for revitalised communities.Thechallenges we face are not insurmountable. But to tackle them we need fresh thinking, not another reboot of a failed policy platform. Nostalgia may make for great TV, but it leads to terrible planning policy.

“For every trip to the Upside Down, there is an prequelunnecessaryorfailedreboot”

“From Stranger Things to IT, nostalgia may make for great television, but it leads to terrible planning policy”

Dr Morag Rose lectures on human geography at the University of Liverpool, founded the Loiterers Resistance Movement and collaborates on the Walking Publics/ Walking Arts research project

There is walking.pedestriannothingaboutIamnot

alone in finding joy, respite, inspiration, connection, discovery and so much more in the simple act of moving through space. I live in Manchester and the local waterways are particularly special to me as they cut through the urban, bringing a connection to nature.

The Covid-19 pandemic heightened the importance of walkable neighbourhoods as research by the Walking Publics/Walking Arts project found. Walking matters for many reasons. To realise its benefits, certain conditions should be considered by planners. These include physical, material and infrastructure factors to integrate access. They also include maintaining public rights of way.

I am involved with #OurIrwell, a campaign to save what may appear to be a relatively small and insignificant stretch of towpath in Salford. An application to stop up the path

is connected to a planning application to redevelop the site of a former tax office into a hotel complex. The strength of public support has been overwhelming. Diverse individuals and community groups have come together to assert the value of this historic place. They can see the potential for creating an improved walkway.

Too many developments turn their back on the neighbourhoods they are built in, often making placemaking claims that ignore people already in place. Blocking pathways, enclosing towpaths and removing rights of way takes away a dignity of choice and free movement.

The right to roam is fundamentally important. It must apply in towns and cities. Our streets should be a common treasury for encounter, play, connection, greenery and more.

The future of the towpath at Ralli Quays remains undecided. Whatever the resolution, this case highlights how precious public space and rights of way are.

Iown a house (circa 1910) in a conservation area which faces south-west. My energy bills are going through the roof and I would like to both do my bit and save some money by installing solar panels where they would most likely be a viable investment.

It’s a semi-detached house and the face of the roof which would produce a worthwhile investment is at the front, which gets the most sun. However, I find in the annual General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) that street-facing panels are not merely not allowed without a permission in a conservation area, they are expressly said to be not allowed at all.

As a one-time planning assistant I recall there was the ‘planning balance’ which tried to measure the planning loss or gain against other factors in a policy question. On one hand, solar panels on the front of a house are visible, 21st-century items standing

60mm above the roof covering and can extend right across a roof. On the other, they represent a householder’s attempt to move to a more sustainable mix of energy sources and make fewer demands on the NationalDouble-glazedGrid. windows framed in PVC feature prominently in the street here, as do front gardens paved over to cater for the car, or Velux-rooflights.

The resilience of the semi-detached house has usually allowed them to adapt to the needs of the day. To ‘conserve’ means to safeguard, and a more sustainable energy supply is surely a part of that.

Most people I speak to are incredulous that solar panels on the fronts of houses are banned in conservation areas. What do town planners think should be done?

Can you answer Peter? ofandeditorial@theplanner.co.ukEmailwe’llpublishaselectionyourresponsesonline

Peter Waugh is a homeowner in Greenwich, south-east London

“Our streets should be a common treasury for encounter, play, connection, greenery and more”

“Most people I speak to are incredulous that solar panels on the fronts of houses are banned”

Walking is democratic; we must preserve rights of way

Why no solar panels in a conservation area?

Having been part of the bid team in 2017, and been involved in delivery of infrastructure to support the Commonwealth Games and its legacy, we have been lucky to experience both the challenges and bold decisions involved. We’ve seen the huge role that the local built environment sector had in delivering the event.

Temporary seating and flexible spaces mean that the Alexander Stadium complex has a sustainable future – it can host major events and be a home for sport, education, community and leisure uses. The Games also enabled a more ambitious approach to regeneration in Perry Barr. New homes, a school, rail station and bus interchange, and public spaces, including two parks – delivered as a result of CPO, direct delivery by the council and its partners, and £750 million in public sector investment – have transformed the area. This can become a model for Birmingham as it seeks to deliver more challenging growth targets.

Smithfield’s use as a venue at the heart of the city showed the art of the possible in terms of meanwhile uses, and the potential to maximise activity alongside new development.

Our permanent buildings and spaces shone, too: fireworks from the top of the Council House and Rotunda; the iconic Bull in Centenary Square; the marathon in the tree-lined streets of Bournville – we loved the lot.

The city provided the backdrop for perhaps the first post-Covid opportunity for people to come together in a celebration of global sport and culture. This resulted in an atmosphere the early bid team could never have imagined.

Birmingham is alive with a new confidence. The Games have set a benchmark for what the city can do, and we can expect more as we look forward to HS2, the continued development of the city centre, the statement of ambition in Our Future City Plan, and more sporting and cultural events. With planning, of course, at the heart of it all.

If sustainable urbanisation is the goal, then inclusive, safe, and secure communities must be the priority. Unplanned and poorly

Ian McLeod is director of planning and Rebecca Farr is development planning manager at Birmingham City Council

Olafiyin Taiwo is co-chair of Planners for Climate Action at UN Habitat and convener of the Commonwealth Association of Planners’ young planners network

“The Games enabled more ambitious regeneration; new public spaces have transformed the area”

“Unplanned urbanisation poses an increased threat of social unrest and insecurity”

Planning was central to the Birmingham Games

Planning is key to making towns and cities safer

forSubmittedApproval

’Firm As A Rock We Stand’

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage is also part of ‘left-field ambient rock’ band LYR, whose latest offering is a ‘concept EP’ based on the 1951 decision by County Durham local authorities to categorise 121 of its 357 towns as “not having an economically viable future” (‘Category D’) and thus so should be starved of public funding. It’s stark, punchy stuff. Education with a brass section.

There’s a rich seam of American podcasts with a focus on urban design and development, and in this one host Chuck Marohn and guests discuss everything from the economic power of walkable neighbourhoods to “exploring the arbitrariness of zoning codes”. Marohn describes the Strong Towns approach as “a Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity”. One particular TED talk focuses on how local authorities tend not to realise that the poorest neighbourhoods subsidise the richest.

“This idea of transforming things, grand visions – it creates things quickly, but it fails to produce wealth and prosperity.”

The National Planning Conference, Birmingham, 17-18 November

The fifth conference for the Planning Portal, and the first in collaboration with the RTPI. This two-day event brings together more than 40 speakers focused on “how the industry can embrace the opportunities in planning reforms taking place across the UK’’. Early bird discounts may well be gone by the time you read this, but there are still discounted rates for RTPI members and public sector delegates.

The Plan To Literally Expand New York City

A land reclamation project to extend New York City by 2.6 miles from the current tip of Manhattan had been causing ripples. Reported by Cheddar News (‘a network for forward thinkers’), the process naturally comes with a massive cost. Those promoting the idea of ‘New Mannahatta’ say that the new land would easily pay for its own creation (‘the very fact it exists would make it incredibly valuable’).

’The Strong Towns Podcast’

Reforming UK Public Policy Through Elected Regional Government – Avoiding Further Catastrophe in Public Services

The authors of this one concede to its “controversial title”, but say that more over-centralised approaches to public policy and so-called ‘levelling-up’ policies “‘will just not work”. Instead, they call for radical measures involving the creation of elected regional governments in England similar to the devolved arrangements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Publisher: Routledge ISBN 9781032063560

That’s the theme, not a comment on the conference, BTW – we’re sure it’ll be an enjoyable affair. ‘What makes a place a utopia or dystopia?’ is the question underpinning it all. The event is in Milton Keynes, which is keener these days to be known as the midway point in the OxfordCambridge Arc than for those concrete cows. It takes place on 21-22 October. Two-day ticket = £170.

American planner reviews Lego city sets

an planner reviews Lego sets

“These sets clearly promote dense, walkable urbanism,” suggests our host in City Beautiful’s tongue-in-cheek review of Lego’s city set products (Americans say ‘Lay-go’, apparently.). Sets are ruthlessly critiqued while there is musing on what the balance of kit components says of the toy-maker’s broader intent. “The lack of housing could be corporate Lego holding a mirror to our real-life housing crisis, suggesting this apocalyptic hellscape is what will happen if we don’t get serious about providing affordable housing in our cities”.

What PlannersTownDo

As our 2019 2.0 government gets to work, with the virtues of planning and planners likely again to come under the microscope, it may well be a good time for a book using ethnographic study techniques to offer “‘a unique insight into the everyday lives of planners and those in associated built profession”’.aof“exceptionalWe’reoccupations”.environmentpromisedanaccountthemicro-politicsofknowledge-intensiveIntriguing.

Publisher: Bristol University Press ISBN: 9781447365976

YouTube’s Map Men – Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones –manage to cram so much education into so few theirpronunciationsonworthminutesvideosdisappointsminutesjoke-packedthatitalwayswhentheirend.Thiseightgivesaday’sofschoolingplace-nameandhistoricreasons. their historic reasons.

‘Utopia or Dystopia?

– RTPI Planners’YoungConference

Why are British place names so hard pronounce?to

We understand that Local Planning Authorities will play a fundamental role in delivering biodiversity net gain. On constrained sites it may not always be possible to provide onsite net gain. The Green Offset platform can help identify land for the potential provision of net gain enhancements.

We already have over 39,000 hectares of land registered by Offset Providers who are interested in the opportunities that BNG could offer.

For more information please call 07584 707 294 or email

What’s needed to be the chief planner for England? There can only be one holder of this office at any time so that person is by definition unique. But what qualities get you into the most senior planning role in the nation?

After two hours in the company of Joanna Averley – over a photoshoot, an interview and small-talk – my feeling is that one of her most pronounced features is an advanced situational intelligence. She is, in spite of a natural tendency to openness, very aware of what’s going on around her and of how her words and behaviour might be perceived.

Averley herself refers to her liking for the “three-dimensionality” of places – and there is something allencompassing about her understanding of the world and planning. Her CV confirms the impression: her work has ranged from private consultancy through the third and public sectors; it includes planning, masterplanning, urban design, regeneration and major infrastructure.

Design is the golden thread, from a childhood among artistic people, via the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, to her present role where she is overseeing the rollout of national and local design codes. And when she talks about design, Averley means design in a comprehensive sense.

“In my job it’s placemaking and it’s everything – that’s function, form and

delight and everything,” she explains.

“I have this sense of…I like threedimensionality of places and I enjoy thinking about form and function at different scales.

“I like the fact that as planners we think about the city. We might even think about the region, about the country, but then ‘Let me bring it down to the

doorstep’ – that sort of range of spatial scales. I enjoy it because you then put in the economic analysis, you put in all these other things. The great thing about planning and being a planner is that you’re there to navigate complexity, and you’re also there to find the right solution and bring parties together to do that.”

There is an ‘all-togetherness’ that seems

“It’s a privilege to sit in the role and see the entirety of the stewardship of planning”

to underpin Averley’s understanding of how planning is done. She speaks of “collaboration”, “curiosity”, “being a people person”, a “problem-solver”, managing change; of the capacity for planning to encompass an interest in economics, history, architecture, design; of the fact that it addresses social challenges, environmental challenges. It has, she tells me, something for everyone.

“It’s a privilege to sit in this role and be able to see the entirety of the stewardship of all aspects of planning – and planning touches everything,” she insists. “That’s a complete joy because on any given day the range I might be talking about or thinking about is vast. You can never get bored because you might be talking about energy policy and planning, or housing policy and planning, or literally the letter of the law, and that’s really exciting.”

I also find Averley to be artistic and creative (we talk about Irish poetry

and she shows a good eye during the photoshoot), tactful, straightforward, humane and grounded. It doesn’t take much to be a chief planner, then.

Creative beginnings

Born in Kenya to an architect/planner father and art teacher mother, Averley was raised in her father’s home town of Lurgan in Northern Ireland. During The Troubles in the 1970s and 80s, this was within the so-called ‘murder triangle’ where sectarian violence was at its worst.

She doesn’t shy from talking about this, but you sense it’s an experience that has taught her to appreciate neutrality – and much more besides: “That was a pretty intense time with lots going on,” she recalls. “You accepted things as normal which are clearly abnormal.

“Generally, the Northern Irish community are incredibly resilient and good-natured and funny. So you get this astonishing cultural legacy. But you also realise that you were in a context that was both dealing with a huge amount and was quite traditional in outlook. It’s not like growing up in Surrey and going to the pub when you’re 15. It’s a very different experience.”

Living in that environment, she reveals, “informed me that place matters and community matters and the quality of your environment”. She elaborates: “If the community is under stress, places can genuinely become physically divided, socially divided and culturally divided. Without overextending it, what it’s about is the ownership of place and people’s sense of Northernbelonging.”Ireland also gave a young Averley a more explicit appreciation of the impact of the built environment on places and people. The new town of Craigavon was built between Lurgan and Portadown from the mid-1960s. “You could see in Craigavon a planned town with all its foibles and its economic and social failings. But then layered on top of

In an early role, Averley managed the

that the divided community which has experienced trauma…”.

Yet her intention had been to study law. It was only on her father’s advice that she applied to a single planning course when making university applications. She was invited to interview and “I loved it.”

“I liked the range – it’s pretty broad across maths, English at a school level. I’m pretty broad. I’m not a pure scientist and I’m not pure humanities. I span that sort of range.”

Design for living

Though Averley’s CV might suggest a certain restlessness, that’s probably unfair. Much of what she’s done has circulated around public good/s, plus she spent more than 10 years at CABE.

This “really special decade” working for a non-departmental government body seems pivotal in her professional evolution, deepening her understanding of design, but also her appreciation of how government works and how organisations are managed and grow. .

Averley’s role at CABE was initially to “help clients appoint good architects”. But “what we created was a way to support all public sector clients to commission well, stretching into planning and housing, schools and hospitals and public space – and doing that as a virtuous circle working with government spending departments and creating a learning and sharing and advocacy programme with the client.”

In 2011, the Coalition Government merged CABE into the Design Council. Averley is remarkably diplomatic about a move that cost her a job she loved. “I do genuinely think that the industry had shifted quite fundamentally over that period,” she reflects. By 2011 “the big commercial developers, they absolutely at that point realised the value of design and the value of placemaking to that underlying value of their assets”.

Averley on… public service

“I’m the senior town planner in government, the senior adviser to ministers when they’re making big planning decisions. That’s very particularly about casework – so, proposals that come across ministers’ desks that are going through the Planning Inspectorate or being called in and recovered.

“I also lead on design policy in the built environment and, with colleagues, I support thinking about how we steward the system of law, regulation, and other things through which local authorities deliver local planning at local level.

“We were on a journey from the white paper almost exactly

two years ago through to the bill in June. That evolution of policy is very iterative. It’s about headline propositions, developing detailed policy propositions underneath that, iterating that for ministers because all decisions are ultimately theirs to make, and then mobilising that – in this case a bill. But the bill is just a start because the planning system is reliant on legislation, regulation and aspects that sit in other parts of policy.

“... It’s simple to say it, but it is the reality: we advise and ministers decide. We’re here to enable their decision making and we do that to the best of our ability.”

Job done, you might think. But the emphasis on design has intensified again of late. As such, Averley could be said to be the right person in the right place at the right time. Another quality associated with success, of course, is good timing.

To date as chief planner she’s overseen NPPF updates on design, the roll-out of the National Model Design Code and a pilot programme for creating local design codes from this national one. “I think [it] is a very powerful menu, which sits there behind local authority policy and in the absence of local authority policy, to say these are the aspects of good placemaking that people should be taking into consideration,” she says.

“Because it does talk about resources. It does talk about the role of public space, it does talk about nature. It’s brought all the very current issues into one place.”

In Averley’s vision, design weaves together the threads of life that circulate around and through planning. It’s more than just a pattern on a page, but a way of thinking about the world. We’re back to ‘three dimensionality’, the conception of

CVJoanna Averley

Born: Kenya, 1969

Education: Lurgan College, 1984-88; University,NewcastleBATown and Country Planning, MA Town Planning, 1988-93

1991-1995highlightsCareerAssociate, Llewellyn Davies

1996-2000 Associate director, EDAW –including management of masterplanning for rebuilding of Manchester City Centre

2000-2011 Deputy chief executive and director of design and planning advice, CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment)

2006-2015 Trustee, Centre for Cities (including period as interim chief executive)

2011-2020 Chair of design review panel, Wandsworth Borough Council

2012-2014 Chief executive, LandAid Charitable Trust

2014-2016 Director, planning, development and regeneration, Bilfinger GVA

2014-2018 Trustee, Museum of ArchaeologyLondon

2016-2018 Strategic manager, growth and development, Crossrail 2 2017-2020 Mayor’s design advocate, Greater London Authority

2018-2020 Head of urban design and integration, HS2 September 2020-present Chief planner for England

a place and its parts arranged to function well for the people that live there.

A plan for change

By her own admission Averley is “socially conscious” and “driven by this being a profession that’s about good outcomes for people”. Planning is an “active social science” that seeks to enable “good things to happen for communities and the environment and places”.

When I ask what she would like to be able to say she’s achieved when her tenure as chief planner comes to an end, Averley is emphatic. “A fully integrated set of environmental outcomes for planning and that planning is pulling its weight on climate change, climate adaptation, the journey to net zero.”

She also mentions local plans that are “more agile to the changing needs of the community”. Planning is about recurring adaptation to a world in flux. It’s about change. That means planners, too, have to change, says Averley; they have to learn new skills and fields of knowledge, “things like biodiversity net gain, local nature recovery, digital engagement”. Overseeing this, too, she considers to be among her responsibilities.Butthat’sokbecause, as we’ve established, planning is founded on breadth and variety. “It’s got everything you want. If you want a bit of politics, a bit of creativity, if you want a bit of economics, of market, you want a bit of public/private interface, it touches all of those things. That’s what I like about it.”

Simon Wicks is deputy editor of The Planner

Find out more Read more of Joanna Averley’s thoughts on planning in our Q&A on The Planner’s website

Active travel commissioners are leading a walking and cycling revolution across the UK. But, Catherine Early asks, what do they do and how do planning and politics in fl uence their work?

Up and down the UK, change is in motion. Backed by political leadership, new funding and more policy,ambitiousagroupof

people passionate about walking and cycling have been tasked to induce a step change in transport. Their aim? To boost mental and physical health, reduce congestion, air pollution and emissions – and tackle inequality.

The role of active travel commissioner has evolved over a few years. In 2013, London Mayor Boris Johnson appointed former journalist Andrew Gilligan as cycling commissioner, to oversee a cycling transformation in the capital.

In 2017, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham appointed ex-professional cyclist Chris Boardman as cycling and walking commissioner for the city region. During four years in the post, Boardman led the creation of a £1.5 billion, 1,800 mile cycling and walking network to be delivered over 10 Commissionersyears. have also sprung up in the combined authorities of Liverpool, the West Midlands and South Yorkshire. Scotland has a new ambassador for active travel, while

Wales has an active travel board, with a part-time chair fulfilling a similar role to a commissioner.Theyaremore likely to be former Olympians than from a technical or policy background, and the celebrity effect certainly helps gain attention to their cause. But they are more than merely champions of walking, cycling and wheeling (use of wheelchairs).

All have been appointed by politicians supportive of walking and cycling, so have political power behind them. All also intervene in the technical world of planning, funding and engineering, explains Phil Jones, chair of PJA transport planning. “Politics and technical matters meet in the commissioners,” he stresses.

Regional approaches

In tandem with commissioners, policies supporting walking and cycling have become more ambitious. The government in July published its second walking and cycling strategy, which includes targets to boost the percentage of short journeys in towns and cities from 41 per cent in 201819 to 46 per cent in 2025, and increase the percentage of children aged five to 10 who walk to school from 49 per cent in 2014 to 55 per cent in 2025.

City regions set their own transport

strategies, which can underpin specific walking and cycling policies. Funding comes from the £200 million Department for Transport active travel fund, the £4.2 billion city region sustainable transport settlement and, in the capital, Transport for London.

The Welsh Government last year published a revised transport strategy, including putting walkers and cyclists at the top of a new hierarchy, 20mph speed limits for all residential roads and a ban on pavement parking. It has raised funding for active travel from £5 million in 2016 to £75 million in 2021.

The Scottish Government, meanwhile, sees active travel underpinning its commitment to reducing car kilometres travelled by 20 per cent by 2030, and updated its active travel framework in 2021. It will spend at least £320 million, or 10 per cent of the total transport budget, on active travel by 2024-25, up from £39 million in 2017/18.

Commissioners can be very influential, Jones believes. “I don’t think we would have had the cycle superhighways in London without Andrew really pushing the agenda. I can also see that Adam (Tranter) has influence because he carries the weight of the regional mayor, Andy Street, in pushing not just for different solutions, but different ways of Thworking.”espread of commissioners nationally is helping to push the whole agenda forward, says Will Norman, walking and cycling commissioner for London. This was especially important during Covid-19 lockdowns, when the commissioners met virtually to share experiences of rolling out temporary infrastructure. Despite differences in politics and the way structures are set up in each region, the commissioners share similar ambitions and challenges, he says.

“It’s very helpful in terms of getting insight and ideas. But also, it’s pretty nice on a personal level having that peer support network across the country.”

Nevertheless, each commissioner has different priorities. In the West Midlands,

With many thanks to Goku Cycles in Tooting, London, for lending us some items for our photoshoot. Cheers!

travelActive

2.6M 37%

Up to 2.6 million cars are taken off the road every day by walking and cycling

the goal is to lock in the rise in walking and cycling incentivised during the recent Commonwealth Games. For example, Birmingham’s bike hire scheme was made free for two rides a day.

This was the first time that active travel had been made part of the transport infrastructure for a major event, explained Adam Tranter, commissioner for the West Midlands. It “really opened their eyes” and higher usage of the bikes has been sustained, even now they’re not free. “Often you just need to give something a go and then realise how convenient it is compared to other transport,” he adds.

In Wales, the Active Travel Board has decided to focus on inclusive active travel, school travel and behaviour change, says chair Dr Dafydd Trystan Davies. He wants to see “whole system” design – not just route infrastructure, but environmental improvements and communications. “If you design the whole system, you embed it in a way that makes it permanent. If you do bits here and there, there’s a danger you slip back.”

In Greater Manchester, commissioner Sarah Storey wants to see walking regarded more as transport, rather than just a leisure activity. Storey was previously South Yorkshire’s commissioner, where her big focus was accessibility. She intends this to be a priority in Greater Manchester too.

“Around 20 per cent of the population are estimated to have a disability or a long-term health condition that affects their mobility,” she explains. “If you make infrastructure usable for all types of adaptive cycles and wheelchair users, they will be fully integrated, but the rest of the population won’t even notice.”

Planning’s role

All the commissioners have had to collaborate with local authorities, planners and developers to implement changes. The key has been to begin discussions on active travel infrastructure as early as possible in planning processes, Tranter says. “If you can champion what ‘good’ looks like, you can actually hold the pen a little more, to shape what designs and plans look like,” he emphasises.

Attitudes have changed in the five years Norman has been in his role, he maintains. “When I first came into the job, some of what we were trying to do was met with hostility from some developers. That’s changed. Developers are now embracing this.”

Davies reports challenges in overcoming differences between local authority highways and planning departments, with highways viewing planning issues as being about car parking spaces and vehicle access. “Government policy has shifted pretty dramatically. But there are officers who have been doing things in a particular way for some time, shall we say.”

Tranter, Storey and Jones all point to

of residents cycle, but only 17% do so once a week

of all residents walk, but only 50% of residents walk at least five days a week

the fact that a new government agency set up to lead on the agenda is about to gain statutory consultee status in the planning process. Headed by Boardman, Active Travel England will have powers to call in planning applications and even penalise local authorities who are not sufficiently ambitious on active travel.

Tranter believes this will change attitudes. “Ultimately, people don’t want to have to have a planning permission challenged or refused – they want to make it as easy as possible,” he insists.

A lack of resources in planning departments can be a hurdle for commissioners. Local authorities have reported not having enough officers to deliver on active travel, nor the expertise to deliver effective schemes, says Davies.

“This hasn’t been a professional development pathway previously. It’s a whole new world of engineering and planning,” he points out.

Tranter echoes this. “There’s reliance on consultants, which helps accelerate delivery but ultimately, a fundamental reset is needed in the opportunities we provide in the public sector, where a local authority pays quite a lot of money

of walking trips were for enjoyment or fitness; 51% were to access work, school or shopping, 7% of children’s walks were to get to school

SOURCE: SUSTRANS WALKING AND CYCLING INDEX 2021. DATA REFERS TO 17 MAJOR CITIES IN THE UK.

25% of trips are for leisure, 31% are to get to work, 33% are for shopping and socialising, 8% of adult trips are to access school or university, while 4% of children’s trips are to school

Who are the activeUK’s commissioners?travel

to get a graduate from a private sector consultancy to do a job that should probably be done by somebody in-house.”

In London, Norman’s biggest problem is funding. The majority is from Transport for London, which has had to be repeatedly bailed out by government because of the impact of Covid-19. The last settlement in June left nothing for active travel, meaning all new schemes are on hold, even cycle training. “A six-month funding deal is no way to plan a city. I am running on vapour,” he says.

Although Norman is confident the impasse with the Department for Transport will be solved, the situation demonstrates the reality of delivering on walking and cycling, which often comes down to politics.

“The problem is not technical – we know what to do as engineers and planners. It’s whether politically we’re allowed to do it. It comes down to choices over what transport mode is given the space, which is inherently political,” says Phil Jones.

In Wales, Davies praises Lee Waters, deputy minister of climate change, who is “very supportive and driving change”. However, ministers “come and go”, and a new minister could have a different view.

Sufficient funding and political backing for commissioners is the ultimate key to the success of the role, Tranter believes. “Commissioners aren’t a silver bullet in their own right. But with good support, good policy, good political leadership, and funding, they can do what’s needed to push change at scale.”

Chris Boardman, national active travel commissioner

Former Olympian Boardman was appointed Greater Manchester’s cycling and walking commissioner in 2017, and then became transport commissioner. He was formerly policy adviser to British Cycling and now heads up Active Travel England, a government agency established this year to lead on walking and cycling.

Will Norman, London

Norman became London’s first walking and cycling commissioner in 2016. Previously director of global partnerships at Nike, he also worked with not-for-profits, governments, United Nations’ agencies and European institutions on tackling inactivity through strategies to design physical activity into everyday life.

Dame Sarah Storey, Manchester City Region

Storey is Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s most successful Paralympian, with 28 medals, including 17 gold medals in swimming and track cycling. In 2019 she was appointed active travel commissioner for South Yorkshire. In May 2022, she was appointed the active travel commissioner for the Manchester city region.

Adam Tranter, West Midlands

Tranter was appointed cycling and walking commissioner in December 2021. He also runs Fusion Media, a digital agency for cycling, running and endurance sport, and The Running Channel, a YouTube channel for runners. He held the voluntary post of bicycle mayor of Coventry from 2020-21, and was editor of cycling events and news website Cyclosport.org.

Simon O’Brien, Liverpool City Region

O’Brien was appointed cycling and walking commissioner in 2019. Previously an actor and presenter, with roles in Brookside and Find It, Fix It, Flog It, O’Brien ran a cycling café in Liverpool for a number of years.

Lee Craigie, Scotland

Craigie served a three-year post as Scotland’s Active Nation Commissioner until June 2022, and was then made ambassador for active travel. A former professional cyclist, Craigie won the British Cross Country Championship and competed in the Commonwealth Games. She founded Cycletherapy to deliver cycle training to marginalised young people in the Scottish Highlands.

Dr Dafydd Trystan Davies, Wales

Davies has been part-time chair of Active Travel Wales since September 2020. He previously served as an advisor to Sustrans in Wales and director of Cycle Training Wales. As chair of governors of Ysgol Hamadryad in Cardiff, he helped develop what transport minister Lee Waters called “one of the most radical school travel plans in the country”.

Landscapes matter to people. They create and enrich our personal and cultural identity and rarely matter more to us than when threatened. Unfolding global events have revitalised our relationship with the rural landscape and millions of us – some for the first time – have visited and watched the agricultural landscapes transform as the seasons progressed.

For many, our understanding of the landscape also transformed as we gained a deeper understanding of our own place within it and realised that there was far more to it than just the view. However, the places we have only just become properly acquainted with are now under threat from the dynamic and unrelenting pressure of development as communities come to terms with demands for more food, more homes, and more nature.

Since the government published its Health and Harmony vision for the future of agricultural policy more than four-and-a-half years ago, much has changed in our countryside. Agricultural businesses face increasingly tough commercial prospects following our exit from the EU and the devastating effects of the pandemic on the supply chain. Add to these the current global economic crisis and it means that the clear flight path for an economically, environmentally, and socially just transition to an independent agricultural sector by 2028 remains elusive.

Environmental targets

However, the world turns, and the government’s new flagship Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMs) rolls out this year. This follows several pilot projects testing support packages for the rural economy to deliver sustainable farming methods, support for local nature recovery and help to stimulate landscape and ecosystem recovery.

In return for the new funding settlement, government expects our farming community to reimagine a more appropriate use of land to deliver better outcomes for communities, the environment and for a greener economy.

Current targets include:

Net zero by 2050 30,000 trees planted per year 30 per cent of land and sea protected by New2030 flood and coastal defences

Halving the effects of air pollution

Exceeding biodiversity net gain and water quality objectives

Restoring 75 per cent of protected wildlife sites

70 per cent of farms in the Sustainable Farming Initiative

Sustainable soil management

Enhancing natural scenery

Designating new National Parks, AONBs and recreational routes.

Although ELMs was never intended to be a like-for-like replacement for the previous agricultural subsidies, we know from our own analysis that a key part of the scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), is likely to offer little commercial incentive for mass engagement at scale.

Defra agrees that the degree of impact of the loss of subsidies will vary across and within sectors; but it is very apparent that for most farms to successfully use

government support in the future they will inevitably need to be integrated with other sources of income and vice versa.

To encourage farmer engagement in supplying environmental goods, strong support from the planning system and public investment in an enabling institutional architecture at the local level are needed. An important function of such a policy framework might be to prevent perverse outcomes, such as the singular focus on the provision of a particular environmental good, like landscape amenity, at the expense of other outcomes like biodiversity, water quality or food production.

Farming systems are highly varied, and the agricultural sector encompasses businesses operating at different spatial scales and land tenure agreements. Thus, a key role of planning should be to ensure that environmental market delivery models can operate effectively alongside productive agricultural systems. For instance, any works or infrastructure to allow

carbon, biodiversity and water quality improvements on farms should be included in part 6A of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) and be allowable for any size agricultural unit to drive scalable investment.

For large landholdings,owner-occupiedtheopportunity to deliver investable nature-based solutions is clearer; for smaller farms and those with tenanted land, there are significant challenges regarding how efficient, long-term and investable nature-based solutions may be delivered into private markets. The two lacklustre paragraphs given over in the NPPF to cover the UK’s largest manufacturing sector are for most the only evidence needed to tell us that planning policy is no longer fit for purpose in the countryside.

Land losses

Global events have drawn attention to the importance of domestic food security. Towns and cities continue to grow and we expect significant

Agriculture is worth about £120 billion to the UK economy

Agriculture takes up around

“A key role of planning should be to ensure that environmental market delivery models can operate effectively alongside productive agricultural systems”

It employs more than four million people across the UK in 149,000 businesses

densification and restructuring to accommodate an expected nine million extra adults moving to the UK by 2050. Housing demand is likely to remain concentrated in London and the South East, but other population centres will be under pressure, too. This new population will require a fresh, healthy, affordable and secure food supply if it is to prosper.

As England’s population continues to grow, local plan-makers will be required to identify land not only for housing, but biodiversity net gain and local nature recovery, water and wastewater infrastructure, new schools, employment, health and recreation, civic infrastructure, strategic travel, energy, and communication infrastructure.

The NPPF sets out a reasonably clear policy on the effective use of land and directs local authorities to give substantial weight to the remediation and reuse of brownfield land and

UK agriculture produces around 64 per cent of the food eaten in the UK, down from 76 per cent in 2016 64%

buildings; but it is clear from adopted local plans that almost all identified development land will come from existing agricultural land.

The NFU estimates that if all the government’s targets are met, 2.1 million hectares – 25 per cent of available agricultural land in England – will be lost to development by 2050. This will place incredible stress on the sector to maintain even its relatively low level of self-sufficiency in domestic food.

Growing enough to support a 16 per cent larger population while maintaining the aspirations of a viable export economy using 25 per cent less agricultural land seems at best unlikely. Many marginal businesses not already sunk under the weight of Brexit will disappear as they find it impossible to make the economies of scale needed.

Larger enterprises will fill the gaps and bring investment in production

self-sufTowards

ficiency

“Imports will always play a crucial role in our food system, but our own self-sufficiency must be paid more attention by government. We sit now at only 64 per cent self-sufficiency, having fallen from over 75 per cent in the mid-1980s.

“The entire economy is now aiming to build back better, to build back greener. British farming can be central to that green recovery. We have a golden opportunity to place food security at the centre of our food system and become a global leader in sustainable food Minetteproduction.”Batters, NFU president

technology and infrastructure, job creation and critical mass in rural settlements. But they will also create unprecedented demand for new buildings to process and distribute products, accommodate skilled workers and provide leisure, education and health facilities for new rural populations.

Local planning authorities have little hope of keeping up with the demand this kind of development will generate. The relatively modest increases in planning fees likely to accompany the levelling up and regeneration bill may go some way towards developing capacity in the affected local planning authorities.

Changes to the GPDO schedule 2 may prove useful in solving the capacity issue. For instance, dairy and other livestock units must have adequate secure storage for slurry. Currently, the GPDO permits developments of up to 465 square metres following prior approval. Harmonising this limit with the size limits for class Q or R conversions, set at 1,000 square metres, would take care of most potential applications.

Thankfully, the planning system does pretty much what it says on the tin for agricultural businesses in England. There are always exceptions but these are rare. I am not so sanguine about the future. For decades, our urban-centric governments have kept their eyes firmly on the performance of our towns and cities and viewed the rural landscape as a resource that can be used to fill any environmental gaps that happened by. Farmers are now being asked to put the wheels back on our failing environment and being offered little more than goodwill and opportunity for doing it. I wonder how much the landscape really matters to people when it all boils down?

JONATHAN GORHAM is senior adviser (planning) to the National Farmers’ Union

PRESSURE ON LAND

apparentHectares

According to government statistics, England has 13,257,434 hectares of land. Of this, 8,322,409 ha, or 62.77 per cent, is used for agriculture in all its forms.

The NFU estimates that if all the government’s targets relating to different forms of development are met, just over 2.1 million hectares or roughly 25 per cent of all available agricultural land in England will be lost to development between 2022 and 2050.

Here’s how that c.25 per cent breaks down (figures are estimates extrapolated from available plans, policies and data).

HOUSING

POLICY

Residential blocks allowed in historic Liverpool docks

An inspector has allowed a development of one fourstorey and two nine-storey residential blocks, having concluded that the scheme’s public benefits outweighed its impact on nearby heritage.

The proposal for a site within the Central Docks area of the Liverpool Waters regeneration scheme, would provide 330 homes, retail units, parking and open spaces on 1.2 hectares of brownfield land on the bank of the River Mersey. The Liverpool Waters regeneration is a redevelopment of approximately 60 hectares of former working docks, which will provide 1.7 million square metres of development over the next 40 signifiitsinSiteWorldgrantedLiverpoolyears.wasUNESCOHeritage(WHS)status2004becauseofhistoricandmaritimecance.Butthecity was

stripped of this status in 2021, with the Liverpool Waters project and its impact on heritage identified as a factor. When the city gave permission to the proposed new Everton Football Club stadium, which would sit on the historic Bramley Moore Dock within the Liverpool

Waters site, this triggered UNESCO to revoke its WHS status. Liverpool City Council had refused permission for the development at appeal, citing the proposal’s effect on the area’s appearance, harm to heritage assets and inappropriate mix of housing types.

On design, inspector R Catchpole observed that the new building would aim to complement the “warehouse aesthetic” of nearby qualitydevelopment“thatCatchpolebuildings.wassatisfiedthatthedesignoftheproposalwasstrong,suggestingthatitwouldfulfillocalpoliciesdemandingallwaterfrontisofahigh-designthatrespects

its historic surroundings”, despite one of the buildings lacking an active frontage – also required in the local plan.

Catchpole then turned to the heritage impact of the proposal. Both parties had agreed that there would be some harm caused to the Stanley Dock Conservation Area and the Waterloo Warehouse, a grade II listed Victorian

Location: Liverpool Authority: Liverpool City Council Inspector: R Catchpole Procedure: Inquiry Decision: Allowed Reference: Z4310/W/21/3289762APP/

former warehouse. Part of the West Waterloo dock would be infilled, but the inspector said that this area of open water made only a “modest contribution” to the setting of nearby heritage assets.

The two parties disagreed on the level of visual harm that the new buildings would cause to Waterloo Warehouse. Catchpole, after a site visit, decided that the proposal would cause a “moderate level of less than substantial harm”.

The inspector accepted that the development could not provide a higher number of two-bedroom units than onebedroom, as required in the development plan, and remain financially viable and dismissed concerns about parking and noise

Acknowledgingdisturbances.the benefits of the scheme, including public space and the regeneration of brownfield land, the inspector ruled that the benefits cancelled out the harm it would cause to heritage sites.

ANALYSED BY BEN GOSLING AND HUW MORRIS /

COMMENT

Insight

We write upwards of 40 appeal reports each month. You can access them at www.theplanner.co.uk/decisions (or scan the code, left) and you can subscribe to our weekly Decisions Digest newsletter, sent out on Monday mornings. Sign up: bit.ly/planner-newsletters

‘Significant’ urbanising effect thwarts rural scheme near Stansted Airport

A mixed-use scheme of homes and employment space in an Essex village has been turned down because it would urbanise the countryside while infringing on the setting of a cluster of listed buildings and a scheduled monument.

Weston Homes plc proposed 188 homes and 3,568 square metres of flexible use class E employment space for a 25.15-hectare site between Takeley and Stansted Airport, less than two miles away.

Uttlesford District Council had opposed the development, alleging that it would harm the countryside, heritage buildings and ancient woodlands.Inspector

Richard McCoy decided that the development would have a “significant” harmful and urbanising effect on the countryside, reducing the area’s rural character.

Furthermore, McCoy found that the development would impact the Countryside Protection Zone (CPZ), an area designated around Stansted Airport to stop coalescence between the airport and settlements and maintain the countryside. McCoy observed that the scheme would reduce the openness of the CPZ.

McCoy concluded that the proposal’s negative impact on several nearby listed buildings, including the scheduled monument, Takeley Priory, and its countryside setting outweighed the proposal’s contribution to local housing land supply, and the appeal was dismissed.

Location: Land at Warish Hall

Farm, Smiths Green, Takeley

Authority: Uttlesford District Council

Inspector: Richard McCoy

Procedure: Inquiry

Decision: Dismissed

Reference: bit.ly/planner0910-stanstedC1570/W/22/3291524APP/

Gavin SocietyMerseysideDavenport,Civic [Merseyside Civic Society]

Gavin Davenport is chair of the Merseyside Civic Society

Inspector rejects Sainsbury’s appeal to close public toilets

A bid by Sainsbury’s to remove a planning condition and close public toilets which are the source of antisocial behaviour at one of its supermarkets in Southampton has failed after an inspector found it would lead to the loss of a vital community benefit.

Sainsbury’s Supermarkets had challenged Southampton City Council’s refusal to scrap the condition, which had been part of the original permission for the shopping centre development. A core strategy policy states that proposals which result in the loss of a community facility will not be supported if it is viable for the commercial, public or community sector to operate it and if there is no similar or replacement facility in the same neighbourhood. Inspector F Wilkinson noted that the National Planning Policy Framework

glossary does not include public toilets within the definition of main town centre uses. Public toilets are also not specifically listed in the core strategy policy.

However, for a centre at this level in the town centre hierarchy, members of the public would have “a reasonable expectation of public toilets being available”, said Wilkinson, and so “a public toilet within the town centre could therefore reasonably be considered as an important community facility”.

The appeal was dismissed.

Location: Southampton

Authority: Southampton City Council

Inspector: F Wilkinson

Procedure: representationsWritten

Decision: Dismissed

Reference: D1780/W/22/3297240APP/

Scottish ministers have agreed with a reporter that outline permission should be given to a riverside housing tower in Yoker, Glasgow, in spite of concerns that the site could be prone to flooding.

The appeal was called in by ministers in October 2021, because of potential conflict with national flood risk policy.

Carmichael Homes Scotland Ltd had sought permission for a 36-apartment tower at the 0.23-hectare brownfield site next to the River Clyde. The Scottish Environment

Protection Agency (SEPA) had initially opposed the plans because of flood risk. But SEPA had identified that there was a risk of flooding at the site, a risk that was accepted by the appellant. The appellant had suggested that an undercroft could be used to store flood water, meaning the lowest residential unit would still be above flood level. SEPA accepted these proposals, after being assured that the undercroft would be unused and regularly inspected.

Reporter Stephen Hall was satisfied that the undercroft would have the capacity to deal with flood events. “The proposed approach of constructing

an elevated building on this site above a permeable undercroft would be capable of avoiding any significant loss of flood storage capacity,” Hall observed. Planning permission was granted.

Location: 64-66 Yoker Ferry Road Glasgow

Authority: Glasgow City Council

Inspector:Stephen Hall

Procedure: RepresentationWritten

Decision: Allowed

Reference: bit.ly/planner0910-yokerbit.ly/planner0910-toilets21/00028/LOCAL

Ministers con that flats would not lead to flood risk

Club conversion fails basement construction and office space tests

A proposal to convert a central London office building into a private members’ club/hotel with a huge basement has been dismissed. An inspector ruled that the appellant could not justify the loss of such floor space and that the building works would harm neighbours’ living conditions. bit.ly/planner0910-privatemembers

Inspector rejects conversion of Liverpool office to SEND school

Plans to convert a Liverpool office building into a school for children with special educational needs have been dismissed after an inspector decided that the scheme would not outweigh the economic harm from the loss of employment land. bit.ly/planner0910-specialneeds

Flats cannot replace Art Deco cinema because of heritage impact Planning permission and listed building consent for a development of 20 apartments at a historic cinema in Edinburgh has been refused after a reporter determined that the proposal would fail to preserve the listed building.

bit.ly/planner0910-artdeco

Tall buildings would disturb ‘quiet enjoyment’ of allotments

A proposal for 178 homes and nonresidential floor space in the London Borough of Harrow has been refused after an inspector determined that it would harm the appearance of the surrounding area and disrupt the peaceful use of neighbouring allotments. bit.ly/planner0910-harrow

Retirement apartments would harm village heritage

A development of 33 retirement apartments and a 4,000 sq ft convenience store in Angmering, West Sussex, has been refused after an inspector determined that it would unacceptably harm heritage in the area. bit.ly/planner0910-angmering

Heritage benefit outweighs green belt harms in Great Moreton Hall scheme

An inspector has allowed three new homes in the grounds of the grade II* listed Great Moreton Hall in Cheshire, alongside renovation of walled gardens on the estate.

bit.ly/planner0910-moreton

Loss of playing field renders school’s housing scheme unworkable

A development of 33 homes at a school playing field has been refused after an inspector ruled that the loss of the playing field was unjustified. bit.ly/planner0910-birkenhead

Apartments would ‘undermine the attractiveness’ of Croydon street

Permission for a five-storey building providing homes and a commercial unit has been refused after an inspector determined that it would have an adverse effect on the area’s appearance. bit.ly/planner0910-croydon

24-metre radar tower would not harm bats or living conditions

A radar tower in the Norfolk countryside has been allowed after an inspector decided that the proposal would not impact living conditions for nearby residents or local wildlife.

bit.ly/planner0910-radar

RESEARCH BRIEFS

Planning Standards and Spatial (in)Justice

Mee Kam Ng’s essay in Planning Theory and Practice considers inequalities in Hong Kong’s built environment as a result of its colonial past and a planning framework that applies regulations indiscriminately.

Read the article: bit.ly/planner0910-theory-practice

From Smart Urban Forests to Edible Cities: New Approaches in Urban Planning and Design

This themed issue of Urban Planning Journal considers the impacts of urban forestry on sustainable city planning. Think urban food forests ecosystems services, environmental justice. Read the journal: bit.ly/planner0910-urbanplanning

Right to own

It’s not just Lichfields who have used census data to map the relationship between housebuilding and population growth, but their analysis is wellpresented and clear.

The data indicates that actual population growth in England since 2011 (6.6%) has been lower than the projected growth (8%) on which local plan making rests. Growth in the number of households has also been lower – but there’s not an easy correlation with lower population growth.

In fact, Lichfields finds, household size has increased,

Read the research: sensushttps://bit.ly/planner0910-

This Centre for Policy Studies paper “demolishes many of the myths that have grown up around the Right to Buy” in support of the restoration of RtB to two million housing association households. Read the paper: bit.ly/planner0910-righttoown

Centre for Cities High Street Recovery Tracker

This routinely updated online tool from the urban thinktank provides a useful source of data for urban planners looking to compare the economic performance of towns and cities across the UK.

Use the tool: bit.ly/planner0910-recoverytracker

TECHNICAL CONSULTATION ON THE BIODIVERSITY METRIC Policy & legislation THE NATIONS

It’s one of the most important aspects of one of the most significant bits of legislation affecting land use in recent years. The Environment Act 2021 mandates biodiversity net gain as a factor in development, but it doesn’t spell out quite how the intended 10 per cent gain is to be calculated for different habitat types. Along with a slew of other details, it’s due to be determined by the environment secretary and come into force in November 2023.

It’s mostly there already, as ‘biodiversity metric 3.1’, but this consultation offers the chance to influence last refinements to the measuring tool before it becomes statutory. As such, the eight questions ask about the ‘spatial risk multiplier’ and guidance for users – but they also invite thoughts on how the metric can be improved in the future.

The consultation closes on 27 September: bit.ly/planner0910-biodiversitymetric

DEVOLUTIONYORKS/YORKEnglandANDNORTHEASTMIDLANDSDEALS

Amid all the talk of levelling up, the recent approach to devolution continues apace. Published on 1 and 30 August respectively, the proposed North and North Yorkshire and East Midlands devolution deals detail the creation of new mayoral combined authorities with devolved powers and responsibilities. The East Midlands deal is being trumpeted as the first such county deal. devolutiondealsbit.ly/planner0910-

WALESENVIRONMENTHISTORICWalesBILL

Introduced on 4 July 2022, the bill “provides for the protection of monuments, buildings and conservation areas by bringing together and restating alreadyexisting legislation in one bit.ly/planner0910-walesbillplace”.

CONTROLSHORT-TERMEDINBURGH’SScotlandLETAREA

Back on 1 August, the Scottish Government approved changes to planning requirements to help Edinburgh control the proliferation of short-term lets that are altering the character of neighbourhoods. From now on, homeowners will almost certainly require planning permission to let their property. The move follows the introduction of a mandatory licensing scheme for Scotland which takes effect on 1 October. Other UK cities will be watching with bit.ly/planner0910-shortletsinterest.

insightLegal

neutrality and amending the general duty for public authorities to comply with the relevant EU directives.

That is just the beginning. The green paper also notes a commitment to reforming EIA and SEA through primary legislation.

For many in the development sector, protected sites and species represent problems to solve, rather than solutions – not least those whose projects are subject to Natural England’s latest nutrientneutrality advice.

But as highlighted in the Nature Recovery Green Paper: Protected Sites and Species in March 2022, the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with just 38 per cent of protected sites on land in good condition.

The government is committed to a statutory target under the Environment Act 2021 to halt decline in species abundance by 2030. It has said change is needed to meet that goal. PostBrexit, significant departure from the existing EU-derived regulatory system is now genuinely possible. The question is what to do and when.

The green paper is the first clear indication of intentions for reforms to protected sites, species and the habitats regulations assessment (HRA) process. The current system, with its mix of EU and domestic roots, is said to be “too complex”, “ad hoc”, “technocratic”, “piecemeal” and not tailored to the UK’s

specific conditions.

As for solutions, a number of themes emerge, even at this early stage. First, the government wants above all to simplify environmental regulation. Second, it wants more focus on individual scientific judgements case by case and less on inflexible legal processes. Third, all of this is to be achieved while not only maintaining existing levels of environmental protection, but with a new focus on nature’s recovery

The green paper proposes a range of options for reform –some quite radical. One suggestion is to replace the system of SPAs, SSSIs, SACs, Ramsars and so on with a simple protected,designation:three-tieredhighlyprotected,

and not protected. A similar structure is proposed for protected species. The secretary of state would decide which sites get which designations, with input from statutory advisers.

As for HRA, the green paper makes clear a desire to “fundamentally change” this into a single simplified process, with more space for case officer judgments, clearer expectations of the evidence base required, more scope for strategic approaches to issues like nutrient

The proposals have raised eyebrows. If the real aim is to stop decline in species abundance by 2030, this is arguably not the time to upend the entire regulatory system. The Office for Environmental Protection’s view is that we should focus instead on clarifying terminology, agreeing standards of evidence and improving access to data. Other consultees fear that doing away with legal process and instead focusing on individual judgments of case officers will lead to inconsistency – a recipe for more, rather than less, legal challenge.

Reading between the lines, the real target is perhaps not (just) species decline, but undoing residual EU influence on the domestic legal system.

In the short to medium term, what might better help decision-makers, developers and nature itself is substantial investment to restore waters, enable local authorities to make better and faster decisions and tackle systemic issues affecting designated sites and species.

Streamlining a complex system is laudable. But so far there is no evidence that the proposals will result in better outcomes for people or planet. The risk is more uncertainty, and more work for planning and environmental lawyers.

ODETTE CHALABY is a pupil in the planning and environment team at No.5 Barristers Chambers

“Theenvironmentalallwantsgovernmentabovetosimplifyregulation”

The beginning of the end for assessments?regulationshabitats

The nature recovery green paper posits a way to halt species decline. But it may create more problems than it solves, says Odette Chalaby

‘Man cave’ millionaire Graham Wildin jailed for six weeks

Wildin has been in a long-running dispute with Forest of Dean Council over the unauthorised complex in his back garden. The facility, dubbed a ‘man cave’ by local media, was completed in 2014, without planning permission, and contains a cinema, casino, bar and bowling alley.

An enforcement notice had been issued in 2014, but Wildin had claimed that planning permission was not required for the structure. The dispute culminated in 2018, when the council gained an injunction against Wildin, ordering him to remove the building by April 2020.

The High Court sentenced him to six weeks in prison in 2021, suspended for 12 months on the condition that the structure was stripped within 18 weeks. Wildin appealed unsuccessfully and was granted until March 2022 to obey the order. He has now been jailed, after once again refusing to get rid of the back garden facility.

On 15th August 2022, BBC news reported that Wildin’s neighbours in Cinderford had been left ‘distressed’ by the accountant’s collection of vintage cars taking up parking spaces on the street, blocking dirveways and preventing bin lorries unable from accessing waste.

Following Wildin’s sentencing, on August 12th, Paul Hiett, deputy leader of the council said: “The enforcement case against Mr Wildin has been a long and complex road. In what should have been a completely avoidable situation, Mr Wildin has continually ignored planning law and policies that are there to protect local communities”.

Legal briefs

Sevenoaks director fined over illegal development

A company director in Kent has been fined £13,400 following enforcement action by Sevenoaks District Council after refusing to remove scaffolding yards developed on green belt land.

bit.ly/planner0910-highquest

Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill criticised by MPs

The Labour MP Clive Betts, chair of the Commons committee that monitors the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has suggested that planning law is too complex to be easily understood, going on to criticise the Government’s Levelling Up Bill for its failure to address this issue, reports Local Government Lawyer.

bit.ly/planner0910-levellingupbill

RTPI Planning Enforcement Conference 2022 Bristol will host the RTPI’s 2022 planning enforcement conference, on October 5th. RTPI President Timothy Crawshaw and NAPE Chair Craig Allison will open the conference, which will deal with a range of topics, including heritage training, conflict resolution, a planning law update, and more.

bit.ly/planner0910-rtpienforce

Government considering new standards for rented homes

A consultation has been launched on the prospect of introducing a ‘Decent Homes Standard’ in the rented sector. This would mean that landlords would be legally bound to ensure that their properties reached these standards. The consultation will run for six weeks, and take in views from tenants, landlords and others in the sector.

bit.ly/planner0910-rentalstandards

Centre for Cities chief executive writes to new PM

Andrew Carter, chief executive of the Centre for Cities, wrote an open letter to the two candidates in the Conservative Leadership election prior to Liz Truss’ confirmation as leader and new prime minister. Carter advised the new prime minister levelling up must be accelerated, for the “greater good” of the country.

bit.ly/planner0910-openletter

Housing association awarded £10 million in cladding case

Local Government Lawyer has reported that Hyde Group has been awarded £10.8m in damages and costs, after succeeding in High Court legal action over combustible cladding that was present on five residential buildings.

bit.ly/planner0910-cladding

Gloucestershire accountant Graham Wildin has been imprisoned for contempt of court after refusing to comply with a court order to demolish his extensive ‘man cave’.

How do you both protect and plan for the future of a vitally important heritage estate? With a neighbourhood plan, of course. Rachel Masker looks at a pioneering project at York Minster which could create a blueprint for heritage elsewhere

1

nglican cathedrals are famously hierarchical. York Minster, however, is shaking up the establishment with the first community-led masterplan for a heritage estate.

The Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York, or York Minster, is a Gothic masterpiece of stone and stained glass. Completed in 1472, it attracts up to 700,000 visitors

a year. Like all Church of England cathedrals, York Minster is governed by its dean and chapter with ecisionmaking conducted behind closed doors. But with planning policy increasingly giving locals the right to have a say on development on their doorstep, York Chapter responded by setting up an independent neighbourhood forum made up of those working or living in York Minster Precinct.

In May, this forum voted overwhelmingly (83 per cent) in favour of the York Minster Precinct Neighbourhood Plan (YMPNP). Key projects include a new public square dedicated to the Queen – the first in the city for 200 years – and an ambitious bid to create an internationally renowned centre for heritage crafts.

This is the first time a neighbourhood plan has been used to map the future of a heritage estate or cathedral. The 800-year-old Minster is a grade I listed building. Within the seven-hectare

Minster Precinct there are more than 60 other listed buildings. The Precinct also sits at the heart of a conservation area and is designated below ground as a scheduled monument.

FILLING THE POLICY VACUUM

York is famously difficult to navigate when it comes to planning and development. The city hasn’t had an adopted local plan since the 1950s, with the latest version currently being examined in public. The final hearing is due this month (September 2022).

When it came to developing a masterplan vision for York Minster there was little choice but to forge their own path, albeit in close partnership with City of York Council and Historic England, says Alex McCallion, director of works and McCallion,precinct.asurveyor and former director at Savills, advised York Chapter that they needed planning certainty to guide change within such a complex

At a glance

heritage estate, and that this could not be achieved in the “current planning policy vacuum”. McCallion’s novel idea was to use a neighbourhood plan to provide “a route map” for the next 15 years.

“I would have suggested we go down the SPD (supplementary planning document) route,” explains McCallion, “but this wasn’t an option with no adopted plan; so the only route was to use the Localism Act 2011 to create our own policies through the neighbourhood plan. The challenge was that a neighbourhood plan had never been used in this way before”

Formally. adopted by York

City Council on June 16, YMPNP now forms part of the statutory development plan for the city.

KEY ELEMENTS

YMPNP aims to tackle challenges affecting York Minster. Key projects include:

Improved visitor facilities, including a new refectory in the converted grade II listed former Minster School building.Anew international centre of excellence for heritage craft and estate management, including stonemasonry and stained glass making. It will house and train apprentices.

A dedicated museum to better protect the cathedral’s collection, including a 1,000-year-old elaborately engraved elephant’s tusk, a

gift from a Viking lord. It costs £22,000 a day to care for the Minster, but York Chapter receives no ongoing government funding or central Church of England cash. Instead, it relies on income from visitors, funding bodies and donors.

Securing planning permission and providing certainty to funders and future donors is essential, says Richard Shaw, chairman of York Minster Fund. The charity raises up to £2 million a year for the fabric of the cathedral and has pledged £5 million for the centre of excellence.“Wecan’t raise money if we don’t know we can deliver a project. This is the core principle of having an adopted neighbourhood plan 4

Five steps to neighbourhooda plan

1

Be transparent. We started the consultation with an issues and options exercise, asking the public and statutory bodies for their thoughts. Our first draft reflected all of the ideas.

2

Be patient. Developing a neighbourhood plan takes time and effort. Do not underestimate the amount of consultation you will need to do.

3 Prepare. A stakeholder map is vital to minimise the risk of not consulting a key group.

4

5

Share. A good statement of community involvement at each stage is essential.

Be bold. Your vision must excite and engage people. Push the boundaries.

Alex McCallion is director of works and precinct at York Minster

– our masterplan is embedded in the development plan for the city, so we can now work out funding strategies to deliver that vision. The detail of each project will follow through individual planning applications, but the principle of development is agreed in the plan.”

DEMOCRACY IN ACTION

Overall, the process pulled together a steering group of 78 people ranging from local residents, business owners and Minster staff. “The neighbourhood plan has been shaped by 32 weeks of public consultation and over four years of close partnership working with City of York Council, Historic England and other city stakeholders,” McCallion explains. “It was

vital that local people had an opportunity to shape the policies which would deliver the biggest changes in the Precinct since the 1850s.”

nsultations focused on issues and options, preferred options, pre-submission and submission. Presentations were made to stakeholders including the Civic York Trust and Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England.

“Each stage started with a launch event, press interviews and two days of on-site, dropin exhibitions,” McCallion

recalls. “A six-week exhibition inside the Minster, outside on boards in the Precinct and online followed, with an opportunity for the public to giveAsfeedback.”neighbourhood plans must accord with the principal authorities’ strategic priorities, and with both the city council’s and Church

of England’s goal being to be net zero by 2030, a key element was how York Minster could become a low-carbon estate while protecting its heritage assets. Sustainability runs through YMPNP “like a golden thread”, says McCallion, comprising three core strands: financial, environmental and heritage craft skills.

“We now have adopted a planning policy to guide the delivery of the biggest changes in the Precinct since the 1850s. The plan is now supporting the chapter in the way I hoped it would.”

Case studies and The Planner

The Planner regularly produces case studies on projects showcasing fresh and award-winning thinking. Visit our web site for more.

“We now have adopted a planning policy to guide the delivery of the biggest changes in the Precinct since the 1850s”

talentyourGrowingown

RTPI news pages are edited by Ashley Lampard at the RTPI, 41 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DL

By Andrew Close, Director of Education & Profession

Apprenticeships change lives. They provide opportunities to those who may not have been, or are not currently in, a position to go into further or higher education in the traditional way.

The RTPI developed a foundationlevel Town Planning Assistant apprenticeship and the Chartered Town

Planner degree apprenticeship to support this generation, and the next, to get into planning and qualify as a professional with the RTPI.

The importance of apprenticeships for employers Apprenticeships provide employers with another way to engage, support and retain staff in the sector. Employers can also actively ‘grow their own’ and introduce local

residents and school-leavers to a new career by providing an opportunity to upskill and get involved in different aspects of planning.

We hope it becomes an alternative route – especially for local planning authorities – to broaden opportunities in their communities.  We are pleased that university partners are delivering the degree apprenticeship and we want to see more training providers delivering the assistant scheme alongside Chichester College. It will be a case of demand, therefore, any employer interested in this new scheme should knock on the door of local providers to find out whether this route is available.

The future pipeline

We know there is a current skills shortage in the planning sector. Although apprenticeships can help, they are not a quick fix. It takes time and investment to make them work. That’s why the RTPI continues to champion the profession and to look to expand education opportunities in other ways. For example, the institute itself is in the process of reviewing its university accreditation policies and has been asking all members to share their views on planning education and skills in professional practice.

Results will directly inform projects to update learning outcomes for core spatial and specialist planning qualifications and meet agreed Corporate Strategy targets. Removing unintended barriers to the development of professional planners, for universities and employers, is a key aim. The review is looking at opportunities to expand fully accredited and specialist planning at three-year undergraduate level, alongside the current master’s level.

RTPI

RTPI Ashley Lampard the RTPI, 41 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DL

Registered charity no. 262865 charity in Scotland SCO37841

We continue to engage with the public and prospective ‘future planners’. The excellent voluntary work and community education role of various Planning Aid services is doing it from one angle. Our new careers promotion hub ‘Planning Your World’ and our first work experience programme ‘EXPLORE’ are also helping to raise the profile of the profession.

The institute has been engaging with administrations in Holyrood, Cardiff and Westminster on surveys and research into the skills, support and wellbeing of planning services.

Inspiring a future planner

Being a Chartered Town Planner is a relevant and rewarding career for young people. Opportunities to communicate the benefits and value of the profession is crucial particularly given that the UN has identified ‘urban planning’ as one of the top five ‘green careers’.

You may not be aware, but education provision is a devolved matter in the UK and currently our apprenticeship schemes are running in England.

The Institute’s Education Team and National Directors are pursuing options to get agreement from the rest of the country, and also looking at ways to extend and expand our bursaries programme – watch this space for the next academic year!

Find out more Access details about apprenticeships and our work on education bit.ly/planner0910-futureplanneronline:

KATIE MRTPIWALKER

is an PlanningplannerassociatewithET

How my father inspired me to become a planner

Talking to your children about a career in planning

As students weigh up their options for GCSE, A-level and degree courses, Katie Walker tells us about what inspired her

Tell us about your dad.

Katie Walker (KW): His name is Chris Brett. He was a partner at Barton Willmore in London and worked the majority of his career there. He’s now retired and turns 70 on 25 October. He’s left great legacy projects, such as Vauxhall Tower and St. George’s Wharf. He inspired me to follow in his footsteps through his genuine belief in the importance of planners in shaping the built environment and, therefore, quality of life.

How exactly did he inspire you?

KW: He was the first and only person in his family to go to university. He has always spoken about the planning system as allowing one to do a good and right thing, whether helping someone to achieve an extension so that they can stay in their family home, or delivering a development to provide homes and communities.

And on a professional level?

KW: He explained to me the intellectual challenge of the job and its importance in not just shaping the built environment, but the further-reaching importance. He once lectured to a young planner event I organised and said planning will

save the world. It was a slightly flippant comment regarding the carbon-neutral shift, but actually he has always believed in the wider importance of planning and placemaking. He showed me an intellectually rewarding career where you can make a difference to people’s quality of life and practice your morals and values.

Would you recommend planning to students currently thinking about their options?

KW: Absolutely. There is so much variety: You can work in government or the private sector, but within those sectors there are so many different roles within planning. You can influence the built environment, communities and protect our historic and natural environments too. It’s not just a job; it’s an intellectually challenging and rewarding profession; you can make a meaningful difference to people’s lives.

ACTIVITYRTPIPIPELINE

Current RTPI work and events – what the institute is doing, and how you can get involved

RTPI in action: How plannersgenerationtheencouragingwe’renextof

By Machel Bogues, Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Manager

In January the RTPI launched its EXPLORE work experience pilot. Starting out with the goal of encouraging young people – particularly those from Asian, Black, and minority ethnic communities and lower socioeconomic backgrounds – to consider a career in planning, the pilot set itself a target of 100 students.

In August it was able to report that 93 per cent of students who attended would consider a career in town planning – up from 37 per cent at the start of the programme.

Students from Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Cambridge took part in placements at employers ranging from private

Stand in the local RTPI elections

If you’re interested in making a difference in your region or nation you could consider putting yourself forward for a role on one of the boards or committees in our local and Regional Activities Committees, starting from January 2023.

If you’re passionate about making a positive change – this is the time to put yourself forward

consultancies and public bodies like Lambeth and Milton Keynes through to the Planning Inspectorate and Department for Education.

Working with social responsibility and outreach specialist Clever Egg, the RTPI has to date placed 80 students. The programme will continue until it meets its 100 student target, with another round of placements planned later this EXPLOREyear.

is a part of the CHANGE action plan, which sets out how we will create a planning profession as diverse as the communities it represents – work which we must do if we are to deliver the best possible outcomes for society.

Read about EXPLORE and our CHANGE action plan: bit.ly/planner0910-change

Book ConferencePlanners’Youngnow:

This year’s conference is hosted by the Thames Valley Young Planners Committee in Milton Keynes on 21-22 October. The theme is ’Utopia or Dystopia’, with debate as to what makes a place one or the other. Study tours and networking and interactive breakout sessions. The conference is supported by sponsors Landmark Chambers, Rapport infrastructure and Tetraconsultants,environmentalandTech. View the programmeconferenceandbook: out more:

RTPI shorts:

RTPI completes eighth year of Awards for Research Excellence

The RTPI recently ran its eighth year of the Awards for Research Excellence, recognising and celebrating leading spatial planning research from RTPI accredited planning schools and RTPI members.

The quality of entries was exceptionally high this year, and we thank all the entrants for their submissions. We received 53 submissions across the four award categories: the Sir Peter Hall Award for Excellence in Research and Engagement, Early Career Researcher Award, Student Award, and the Planning Practitioner Award.

The finalists were being judged as we went to press. To find out who won, visit researchawardsbit.ly/planner0910-

RTPI Conduct and Discipline Panel Decision

Peter MacLeod, previously known as Drinkwater,Kingsleyhasbeen found to have breached the Code of Professional Conduct.

The panel found that Mr MacLeod had breached clause 19, which requires members to hold PII when they are engaged in professional practice, and clause 23 which requires them to conduct themselves in a manner that does not prejudice their professional status or the reputation of the Institute. Mr MacLeod’s membership is no longer entitled to refer to himself as a Chartered Town Planner or use the postnominals

Tips to success:

Creating places to grow

This summer we published the Children and Town Planning: Creating Places to Grow eAcademy course. This course brings together dozens of links, websites, videos, reports, and other relevant information into a single, contextual eLearning resource. The course can be studied as a whole programme or can be taken a module at a time.

Children and Town Planning: Creating Places to Grow brings together good town planning practice with an aim to meet children’s needs as part of an inclusive and integrated society.

MembersMRTPI.with any queries about the code should ruth.richards@rtpi.org.uk.contact: Training Manager

The importance of this piece of work cannot be overstated; planning for children and young people encompasses good planning principles for other demographics such as those who are physically or mentally diverse, our ageing population, people with mobility challenges, and people who suffer from isolation or exclusion from society. When applied in practice, these principles create and influence healthy, resilient, and inclusive communities for all.

Top tips for making the most of a Masterclass course:

Treat your Personal Development Plan (PDP) as a dynamic, live programme of work – update it frequently.

RTPI Scotland Annual conference

This year’s event takes place on 6 October in Aberdeen, exploring how planners can help to achieve Scotland’s target of net-zero carbon by 2045. Sessions focus on renewable energy, how we build our homes and buildings, and how we design our places.

Among the speakers are Kirstin Gardner of Scottish Gas Networks; Morag Watson of Scottish Renewables; Scottish Young Planner of the Year Rhiannon Moore; Liz Hamilton of Homes for Scotland; and Caroline Brown of Heriot Watt University. Book your place at www.rtpi.org.uk

Everyone has their own preferred learning style – identify yours, and be excited to explore alternatives.

Update your CPD record as you attend training, events, seminars and other applicable activities.

Find out more To enrol on the course, go to the eAcademy at bit.ly/planner0910-CreatingPlacestoGrow

New memberschartered

Congratulations to the following planners who were recently elected to the Chartered membership of the RTPI

London Collingwood-

RachaelMaryamEmmaCourtneyMichaelPenningtonDinnEvasonDysonWatsonLeather

South West

Isabel LiamJoshuaGeorgeFinnClaireAlexandraDaoneDonesHicksHeberletVossJanesFisher

West Midlands

Grace StephanieJamesGrantChetanAlexanderAngieAndrewAndrewStevensBroughGittinsMatthewsOxleySolankiBaylisDunnKitto

South East

Alexander Inglis

East Midlands

Anita EllaCharlieTaylorTaylorCasey Yorkshire Beth LaurenKatherineCaseyAmeliaNicholasMarkBrianJessicaFeeneyKnightKavanaghBoydReevesCarterSmithMilnesBirkwood

North West

North East

Emma Callaghan

Adam Ewart

Emily Floeser

Wales/Cymru Rachel Davis

Amber Morris

Emily Avery West Scotlandof

Byron Sharp

James McCafferty

Kim de Buiteléir

England

Frances Keenan

Natalie Elworthy

Ryan Gooney Ireland Adam Kearney

IrelandNorthern Mark McLaughlin

International

Chun Yan Robin Chan

Haniel Li

Wai Kan Lau

Yee Lok Enoch Lam

Zita Leung

East of

Clover LauraEleanorLongRawsthorneAmy

Hoi Yan CHIONG

Ka Chun Kong Man Kit Li

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PERFECTLY PLACEDFOR SUCCESS

Wrexham is Wales’ newest City –would you like to help us shape it?

We are very proud of our newly awarded City Status. With a new Place Shaping Strategy being developed and many interesting regeneration projects in the pipeline, busy and exciting times are ahead. Whether you are at the start of your planning career or you are wanting to take the next step, we currently have a range of interesting opportunities for enthusiastic and talented planning professionals at all levels.

Heads of Service

We are looking for two highly motivated and experienced Town Planning professionals with proven leadership qualities to be integral members of the Senior Management Team within our newly created Economy and Planning Service:

Head of Development Management

G15 – £56,063 to £59,828 per annum (2022 pay award pending)

A key role in the delivery of service improvement; leading all aspects of the Council’s Development Management and Enforcement functions, managing a team of professional Officers and liaising with Elected Members.

Head of Service, Planning Policy

G14 – £52,063 to £54,935 per annum (2022 pay award pending)

A key role in the delivery of service improvement; leading all aspects of the delivery and monitoring the final version of our Local Development Plan and the production of Supplementary Planning Guidance, managing the Policy Team and Environmental Specialists and liaising with Elected Members.

Planning Policy Lead

G11 – £38,553 to £41,591 per annum (2022 pay aware pending)

Providing direct managerial and professional support to the Head of Planning Policy, whilst supporting and mentoring junior members of the Team.

Senior Planning Officer x 2 –Development Management

G10 – £34,373 to £37,568 per annum (2022 pay award pending)

Dealing with a full range of the more complex planning enquiries, planning applications and related appeals whilst supporting and mentoring junior members of the Team.

Planning Assistant x 2 – Development Management

G08 – £27,514 to £30,095 per annum (2022 pay award pending)

Supporting Senior Planning Officers whilst dealing with a caseload of planning enquiries and related planning applications – the complexity of which will grow steadily with your experience.

For all roles, positive behaviours will need to be demonstrated which align with the Council’s values – Trust, Respect, Innovation, Flexibility, Integrity and WeCommitment.areproud to hold a Gold Award for Corporate Health and our culture is based on empowerment, support and trust. We move to a modern, newly refurbished office in the centre of the City before Christmas and we work in a flexible and agile way. Benefits include membership of the Local Government pension scheme, a generous leave allowance and ongoing, structured training.

For an informal discussion contact David Fitzsimon, Chief Officer Economy and Planning, on 01978 298930 or email david.fitzsimon@wrexham.gov.uk

To find out more and apply visit: www.wrexham.gov.uk/jobs

Closing date: 9 October 2022

The Council is committed to developing its bilingual workforce and welcomes applications from candidates who can demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh. We welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates regardless of race, gender, disability, sexuality, religious belief or age.