The Planner - April 2020

APRIL 2020 RESHUFFLE: NEW FACES, NEW DIRECTION? // p.4 • HOUSING DELIVERY FAILURES // p.6 • BIODIVERSITY CHALLENGE // p.22 • AIRBNB BLUES // p.26 • DESIGNING IN SPACE FOR CYCLING // p.31 • NATIONS & REGIONS: YORKSHIRE // p.34

T H E B U S I N ES S M O N T H LY FO R P L A N N I N G P R O F ES S IO N A LS

N A T I O N A L CHARACTER

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CONTENTS

APRIL

09 NEWS 4 Government signals its controlling interest: Last month’s reshuffle means more power centralised in Downing Street 6 Eight councils face presumption in favour of sustainable development 8 Wales launches trailblazing DIY homebuilding scheme 9 Northern Ireland environment minister pledges massive treeplanting drive 10 An Bord Pleanála makes headway with planning casework

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“EVERY ERA HAS ITS OWN IMAGINATION. IF AN AREA HAS THAT CHARACTER, THEN WE SHOULD DO WHAT WE CAN TO PRESERVE IT”

OPINION

14 Louise BrookeSmith: Valuing values should be the talk of the town C O V E R I M A G E | PA L H A N S E N

16 Tom Curtin: Will the Red Wall save Help to Buy? 16 Gillian Morgan: Hot food takeaways – wake up and smell the grease!

17 Jo Ferguson: Make the built environment a stronghold for our bats 17 Ashley Leiper: Let’s not allow a zealous approach to noise to shut down development

QUOTE UNQUOTE

“A CONCERTED EFFORT FROM THE PROPERTY INDUSTRY IS NEEDED TO ENSURE THAT THIS POCKET PARK PROJECT IS JUST THE BEGINNING” FÉLICIE KRIKLER, DIRECTOR OF ASSAEL ARCHITECTURE, TALKING ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT’S FUNDING OF 68 NEW URBAN PARKS

FEATURES

INSIGHT

18 Griff Rhys Jones made his name in comedy, but the president of Civic Voice is serious about public engagement with the built environment, as he tells Laura Edgar

31 Tech Landscape: Road design favours the demands of large vehicles. Newly released software aims to ensure that cyclists get the same level of priority

22 Biodiversity net gain is to be enshrined in law, but while the will is there, concerns about its implementation persist, says Matt Moody

34 Nations & Regions: Yorkshire

26 Short-term lets via the ‘platform economy’ has had a series of effects on towns and cities. It’s time for coherent regulation, argues Andrew Coleman

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38 Cases & decisions: Development decisions, round-up and analysis 42 Legal Landscape: Opinions, blogs and news from the legal side of planning 44 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 51 What to read, what to watch and where to go

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NEWS

Report { PLANNING POLITICS

Government signals its controlling interest The latest ministerial reshuffle revealed that ‘taking back control’ means more power centralised in Downing Street. Huw Morris reports

It was supposed to be a limited cent of gross domestic product – last reshuffle. In the end, a considerable year it was 2 per cent. amount of ministerial blood was on In the planning sector, the second the carpet. Several major figures were major departure was Esther McVey’s left reflecting on the old dictum that all sacking as housing minister after just political careers end in failure. Most of seven months following internal rows all, the revolving doors associated with with Robert Jenrick, who stays as ministers who hold key planning roles communities and housing secretary. continued.

Observers are not surprised at the Much of the focus was on former parting of the ways after McVey communities and housing secretary pressed for more council housing while Sajid Javid’s resignation as chancellor Jenrick wanted to pursue traditional amid a row over the merging of Treasury Conservative policies favouring home advisers with those of Prime Minister ownership – witness the consultation on Boris Johnson. Two issues within the latest flagship initiative, First Homes. this dispute will be crucial for McVey made way for Christopher infrastructure spending as well Pincher, the Tamworth MP who as the forthcoming National has become the 10th housing Infrastructure Strategy. minister in the past decade, Javid’s replacement, and the 19th politician to Rishi Sunak, will have hold the role in 21 years. A to decide whether the former minister of state for green book – the rules Europe and the Americas for judging whether public and a deputy chief whip, projects should go ahead Pincher has little form on – discriminated against the housing and planning other North. A second issue is whether than House of Commons speeches Robert fiscal rules for limiting government criticising High Speed Two, which Jenrick borrowing are too restrictive. runs through his constituency, and Javid had already launched a Treasury the Planning Inspectorate over a local review into the green book. This will appeal. Unlike McVey, he will not attend decide whether the rules allow enough cabinet meetings. flexibility on infrastructure investment, Theresa Villiers did not survive especially in the light of Johnson’s wish the reshuffle and was replaced as to “level up” the North. In the general environment secretary by George election campaign, Javid committed Eustice. That makes eight environment to £100 billion extra infrastructure secretaries within 10 years. Eustice spending over five years while ensuring joined the Department for Environment, that such spending did not exceed 3 per Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2013 and

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Does the reshuffle presage Whitehall ‘taking back control’ by leeching planning powers away from local authorities?

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO DIVERSITY?

Boris Johnson boasted at the start of his government of the most diverse team of cabinet ministers. After his first reshuffle, his top team has one fewer woman, one fewer ethnic minority member and is more male, white and privately educated.

Seventy-three per cent of the cabinet are male, 45 per cent attended Oxbridge, 68 per cent attended private schools and 86 per cent are white.

The wider group of ministers who attend cabinet meetings remains a quarter female but in a slimmer top team six fewer women will be there.

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PLAN UPFRONT

MINISTERIAL SACKINGS AND APPOINTMENTS

of November’s COP26 following the sacking of former energy minister Claire O’Neil before the reshuffle. The carnage was greatest at the Department for Transport, which saw the removal of transport minister Nusrat Ghani, who made history as the first Muslim woman to speak from the Commons despatch box. But George Freeman’s dismissal as minister for the future of transport prompted a particularly pointed response.

In a letter to Johnson, he warned that the prime minister’s “take back control” slogan would fail to “unleash enterprise, innovation and regeneration by centralised command and control”.

He added: “To stand a chance of tackling the failures of successive governments to deliver both infrastructure and lasting local regeneration we will also need new models of delivery, and a government that supports its ministers (and mayors and council leaders) in driving serious reform.

“If ‘taking back control’ means iron-clad centralisations via Whitehall control it will fail to deliver the real empowerment we need and promised.”

Aside from the ministerial arrivals and departures, one change happened behind the scenes. Jack Airey, the head of housing for Policy Exchange, has has not served in another government become Johnson’s housing and planning department. Steering the environment special adviser. bill through Parliament will be a The think tank recently called priority but top of his infor detailed land-use allocations tray will be preparing the to be scrapped, a review of farming industry for the green belt and, most the end of the Brexit controversially of all, for transition period and councillors to lose their delivering a new system powers to decide planning of payments to replace applications. This is not a the common agricultural million miles away from policy.

Jenrick’s holding direction Elsewhere, Alok Sharma, preventing South Oxfordshire another former housing and planning minister and a Christopher District Council from withdrawing its Pincher local plan from examination, which supporter of airport expansion some observers see as further evidence at Heathrow and Gatwick, was of centralisation. appointed business secretary, but with Speculation is now intensifying that the added brief of summit president I M A G E S | I S T O C K / C H R I S M C A N D R E W U K PA R L I A M E N T / R I C H A R D T O W N S E N D P H O T O G R A P H Y

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Sajid Javid resigned as chancellor and was replaced

by Rishi Sunak.

Esther McVey was sacked as housing minister and replaced by Christopher Pincher.

Theresa Villiers was sacked from her position as environment secretary and replaced by George Eustice.

Andrea Leadsom was sacked as business secretary and replaced by Alok Sharma, who will also preside over COP26 later this year.

Nusrat Ghani and George Freeman sacked as transport ministers.

the forthcoming planning white paper will heavily feature zonal planning.

Under this concept, land would be zoned either for development, where there is a presumption in favour of new development, or non-development where there is no such presumption and minor schemes are possible.

How much of the idea survives into the white paper is a moot point. Then there is the little matter of it reaching the statute book.

BUDGET 2020 This edition of The Planner went to press immediately prior to The Budget. For full details and response from the profession, visit www.theplanner.co.uk

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NEWS

Analysis { HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Eight councils face presumption in favour of sustainable development

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Basildon Council – 44% City of London Corporation – 32% Eastbourne Borough Council – 38% The London Borough of Havering – 33% New Forest District Council – 43% North Hertfordshire District Council – 44% Thanet District Council – 35%

By Laura Edgar The government has published the 2019 results of the Housing Delivery Test, which shows that eight local authorities failed to deliver more than 45 per cent of their housing target.

These local authorities now face a presumption in favour of sustainable development (see table 1). The 2018 results, the first year of the test, did not see any council facing this situation.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2018 revision explained that local authorities must deliver 95 per cent of assessed need to pass the Housing Delivery Test.

Local authorities that deliver between 85 per cent and 95 per cent of their assessed need must develop an action plan in line with national planning guidance to assess why they underdelivered. It should outline how delivery will be increased.

Local authorities that deliver between 45 per cent and 85 per cent of their assessed need must identify a buffer of 20 per cent more land (on top of their five-year housing land supply) to help to deliver more housing, as well as develop an action plan.

If delivery fell below 45 per cent in 2019, the presumption in favour

Table 1: Councils that delivered less than 45 per cent of their housing target and now face the presumption in favour of sustainable development:

Three Rivers District Council – 41%

of sustainable development kicks in. This was set at 25 per cent in 2018, but rises significantly to 75 per cent for 2020.

Worst performers

In 2018, the test results found that New Forest District Council delivered the least housing (35 per cent) against its target, followed by Calderdale and Redbridge councils, which delivered 36 per cent and 38 per cent respectively.

New Forest District Council is facing the presumption in favour of sustainable development despite raising housing output to deliver 43 per cent of its target. Calderdale and Redbridge boosted their housing delivery to 48 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.

The test shows that 75 local authorities will need to implement an additional 20 per cent buffer of land supply on top of that already allocated, as well as the eight falling below the presumption threshold.

A total of 26 local authorities delivered 85 per cent to 95 per cent of their housing targets and they, along with the 83 delivering below 85 per cent of their targets, will have to devise an action plan.

In total, 218 local councils face no penalty at all.

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST 2019 CONSEQUENCES Number of councils

2% (8)

23% (75) 67% (218)

8% (26)

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST 2020 CONSEQUENCES Number of councils 16.8% (55)

8.6% (28)

66.7% (218)

8% (26)

Consequence None Action plan Buffer Presumption in favour of sustainable development

I M AG E | G E T T Y

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PLAN UPFRONT

RTPI regions Considered by RTPI region, the eight councils facing the presumption consequence are in the South East (2), South

2019 Housing Delivery Test consequence by region

West (1), London (2) or East of England (3).

Most councils that are required to provide an additional 20 per cent buffer of land

supply are in these four regions, as well as the North West. If 2019 delivery levels are maintained, in 2020, when the presumption

KEY AP – Action plan B - Buffer P - Presumption in favour of sustainable development

North East AP 1 B 1 P0 North West AP 0 B 9 P 0 Yorkshire: AP 2 B 4 P 0

threshold rises to 75 per cent, at least one council in every region will be in this situation.

Yorkshire and the North East regions will

2020 Housing Delivery Test consequence by region when the presumption threshold rises to 75 per cent, if delivery levels are maintained

Yorkshire AP 2 B 3 P 1

East Midlands AP 2 B 1 P 3

East of England AP 4 B 15 P 3

West Midlands AP 0 B 3 P 2

East of England AP 4 B 4 P 14

London AP 5 B 4 P 8

London AP 5 B 10 P2

South West AP 3 B 8 P 1

KEY AP – Action plan B - Buffer P - Presumption in favour of sustainable development

North East AP 1 B0 P1 North West AP 0 B 3 P6

East Midlands AP 2 B 4 P 0 West Midlands: AP 0 B 5 P 0

have one council each facing the presumption, while the South East and the East of England will face 15 and 14 respectively.

South East AP 9 B 19 P 2

South East AP 9 B 6 P 15

South West AP 3 B 4 P 5

Council responses City of London Corporation A spokesperson said its test result doesn’t take into account a development at Sugar Quay, which provided 165 new homes during 2018/19.

“Our performance delivery is over 90 per cent when this scheme is recognised in the figures.

“We are requesting an amendment to ensure that the results fully reflect housing delivery in the city during the three years to March 2019.

“Our projections show

that we will exceed the government’s requirements in the next Housing Delivery Test.”

Eastbourne Borough Council Leigh Palmer, interim head of planning at Eastbourne Borough Council, told The Planner that the test is a “mathematical formula that does not take into account local context”.

The results were “not a surprise and the underdelivery is a direct result of limited land availability within a constrained seaside town”.

“We recognise the government’s housing-led growth agenda and have developed a number of initiatives around forging public sector partnerships over land assembly and evolving a wholly owned development company.

“As an authority we have a planning application approval rate in excess of 95 per cent but these relate to schemes that are not of the size and scale required to deliver the affordable housing.

“We will continue to monitor our housing delivery but it’s

acknowledged that the target can only be aspirational.”

London Borough of Havering A spokesperson for Havering council told The Planner that it “has a robust housing plan through our three jointventure partnerships to ensure we deliver homes for Havering residents”.

“Through our joint venture partnership with Wates Residential, we are building up to 3,500 homes within the next 12 to 15 years, 1,956 of which have either already

received planning consent or are expected to this year.

“It is true that Havering has not met the housing delivery targets imposed upon it.

However, of the homes we have granted permission for through private development, some have not begun development as they said they would. We are working to address the issue of land banking and get them built including exploring options to take over development on such land.”

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NEWS

News { Wales launches trailblazing DIY homebuilding scheme A pioneering scheme to help people to build their own home – thereby boosting the supply of housing and fostering the Welsh construction industry – was launched in March.

Self-Build Wales, which is financed to the tune of £40 million by the Welsh Government and managed by the Development Bank of Wales, will provide people with ‘oven-ready’ plots and a loan that covers 75 per cent of the cost of a building plot and 100 per cent of the cost of building a home.

To help self-builders meet everyday living costs there are no repayments until the new home is completed.

The scheme, believed to be the first of its kind in the world, should remove the barriers and uncertainty surrounding

self-builds and custom-builds – such as finding a plot, planning and finance – so enabling more homes to be built.

Hannah Blythyn, deputy minister for housing, said: “We know finding the land, navigating planning consents and

being able to afford to self-build while covering the cost of living can be real barriers. Self-Build Wales removes these barriers, and makes it far easier for people to build their own home. It will also be a significant boost to building firms across Wales.”

Through the recycling of lending, the initiative is projected to provide £210 million of financial support during its lifetime.

Under the scheme, local authorities and housing associations will make plots available with planning and site requirements as complete as possible.

They can also set priorities for applicants. The scheme’s website allows applicants to find plots with planning permission in place.

Key milestone for north-east Scotland LDPs Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council have formally endorsed their respective local development plans (LDP).

The Granite City’s proposed plan includes several policy changes to encourage more tourism and cultural activities in the city – as well as residential development – and includes seven so-called city centre masterplan intervention areas.

In addition, it is changing the Union Street retail frontage policy to an active frontage policy, which would allow for a greater range of uses such as services, leisure, and food and drink if an open, public and active frontage is maintained.

The plan also features a proposed so-called energy transition zone beside the new Aberdeen South Harbour. This is designed to capitalise on Aberdeen’s expertise and location as the global energy sector shifts from fossil-based fuels to renewable energy sources such as wind, tidal and solar power.

Two sites have been identified for this at

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St Fittick’s Park and Doonies and a new policy would allow for the development, production, assembly, storage and/or distribution of infrastructure required to support low-carbon and renewable energy-related industries.

There will now be a 12-week consultation period for the draft plan.

Aberdeenshire Council will begin consulting on its draft LDP on 27 April, following members’ approval of the document at a full council meeting in March.

The council wishes to see it formally adopted by the end of 2021. It will submit its proposals to ministers for examination later this year.

The content of the plan remains largely unchanged from the existing plan, with a focus on helping to

develop a strong and resilient economy, promoting a high quality of life and sustainable, low-carbon places.

New housing opportunities have been identified across Aberdeenshire including sites at Banchory, Echt, Fetterangus, Fyvie, Gourdon, Inverurie, Newburgh, Pitmedden, St Combs and Turriff among others.

Development continues to be focused on the three strategic growth areas along the A90 north and south and the A96.

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Urban dwellers ‘want more investment in cycling’

Northern Ireland environment minister pledges massive treeplanting drive

Residents of major urban areas in the UK want more investment in cycling and walking, according to a report spearheaded by national charity Sustrans.

The Bike Life research surveyed 16,923 residents aged 16 and over, on their travel habits.

It found that 58 per cent of residents in urban areas support more investment for cycling, while 59 per cent think restricting through-traffic on local residential streets would improve the areas in which they live and work.

2032

If the UK is to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2032, it is “imperative” to reduce emissions from road transport.

73 per cent of respondents would like to see more investment in public transport.

77 per cent of respondents think more cycle tracks that are separated from road traffic and pedestrians would help them cycle more.

Source: Sustrans – bit.ly/planner0420-Sustrans

Agriculture and environment minister Edwin Poots has announced a programme to plant 18 million trees over the next decade – 10 for every person in Northern Ireland.

The ‘Forests for our Future’ programme represents the country’s most ambitious plan to develop the province’s forests and contribute to sustainable economic growth.

Forest cover in Northern Ireland currently sits at 8 per cent – well behind the UK average of 13 per cent.

Poots said: “We plant only 200 hectares of woodland per year, instead of the 900 hectares recommended recently by the Committee on Climate Change.

“More forests and more trees will help to mitigate climate change.

“Furthermore, planting more trees will make a significant contribution to Northern Ireland’s sustainable economic

I M AG E S | I STO C K / A L A M Y

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growth – the forestry sector generates about £60 million per annum from timber production activity, sustaining approximately 1,000 rural jobs.

A further £60-£80 million is generated in the local economy from forest-based recreation and tourism. I want to further enhance that through this programme.”

The minister explained that existing publicly owned land, including local government land, has the “greatest potential” for woodland creation in the short term.

"I have written to ministerial colleagues and chief executives of local councils seeking their support and commitment to make public land available for tree planting.”

Poots announced he would set up an Afforestation Forum to develop an action plan for increasing afforestation that he would oversee personally.

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NEWS

News { An Bord Pleanála makes headway with casework An Bord Pleanála’s end-of-year casework statistics for 2019, just published, highlight a significant improvement in performance.

Despite a 7 per cent increase in the caseload and 4 per cent more cases determined, over two-thirds of normal planning appeals (69 per cent) were disposed of within the 18-week statutory objective period compared with a 39 per cent compliance in 2018.

Now the body has cleared the weighty backlog of cases that arose during 2018, the average number of weeks to decide normal appeal cases was 18.4 weeks in 2019, down from the 2018 average of 22.4 weeks – marginally over the 18-week target.

By the end of December 2019, 168 valid applications for strategic housing developments had been

received by An Bord Pleanála, with 118 of those being received during 2019 (a tripling of application intake over 2018).

A total of 82 valid applications were decided in 2019, with permission refused for 15 cases and permission granted in 67 cases for a total of 16,771 residential units (4,327 houses and 12,444 flats), 200 shared accommodation bed spaces and 4,331 student bed spaces. The mandatory timeline of 16 weeks (or 24 weeks for cases where an oral hearing is held) was met for all decisions issued.

Chair Dave Walsh said: “The challenge now is to maintain this strong performance, while also exploring how we can further streamline processes and improve our communication and interaction with everyone who engages with us.”

Scotland publishes highlevel environment strategy Scottish ministers have published an environment strategy for Scotland that provides a high-level overarching framework to help to protect and restore the country’s natural environment.

The blueprint sets out how the administration will handle challenges posed by climate change. It stresses that the government “will seek to maintain or exceed EU environmental standards.

We will ensure that international environmental principles continue to sit at the heart of our approach to environmental law and policy. And we will ensure that

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we have robust governance arrangements to implement and enforce those laws”.

An independent public body to oversee compliance with environmental law will be established to maintain standards once the Brexit transition period ends.

The strategy will sit alongside other existing Scottish Government policy frameworks, including Scotland’s Economic Strategy, the Fairer Scotland Action Plan, the National Transport Strategy and the National Planning Framework. n bit.ly/planner0420-ScotVision

A headline round-up: Scheme to protect great crested newts extended Natural England has rolled out a ‘strategic approach’ to great crested newt licensing across 37 local authorities to better protect the amphibian.

The scheme is for Essex, Wiltshire, Shropshire, Greater Manchester, south Midlands and parts of Somerset and Gloucestershire. n Read more on The Planner website: bit.ly/planner0420-Newts

2,000-home developments take over eight years to deliver Research has suggested that housing sites comprising 2,000 or more homes take longer than eight years on average from application to completion.

According to research by planning consultancy Lichfields, this means that large schemes tend not to deliver within the time window for local authorities to meet their five-year land supply statements. However, the delivery of large schemes speeds up after year five of development. n Read more on The Planner website: bit.ly/planner0420-Delivery

SoS removes holding direction on South Oxfordshire plan but still intervenes Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has written to South Oxfordshire District Council to remove the holding direction on the area’s local plan.

However, Jenrick considers there to be a “clear case” for him to intervene in the production of the local plan and has directed the council to progress the plan and adopt it by December this year. n Read more on The Planner website: bit.ly/planner0420-Jenrick

I M AG E S | I STO C K

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LEADER COMMENT

Opinion onn Spatial inequalities and their levelling – Deadlines determine that this column is prepared directly ahead of the Budget, but it was clear ahead of time that ‘levelling up’ the economy would be one of the chancellor’s principal themes as campaign rhetoric is fleshed out into policy intent. A major allocation of funds for road, rail and digital infrastructure seems certain as investment in infrastructure breathes life into the prime minister’s heavily trailed agenda. The last-minute introduction of anti-COVID-19 measures to protect a suddenly fragile and potentially recession-hit economy may push back start dates, but the overall intent should be there.

As a phrase, ‘levelling up’ is a belter – concise, punchy and immediate.

But it is interesting to consider it alongside the Budget announcements in the light of the UK 2070 Commission’s final report, Make No Little Plans: Acting

Martin Read at Scale for a Fairer and Stronger Future. Because in essence the commission’s work has had ‘levelling up’ as its aim from the beginning.

In his summary of the report’s findings Lord Kerslake took on the Phrase of the Moment, suggesting that if it was as committed to levelling up as it claimed, the government would need to “go big or go home”.

The commission, set up to conduct an independent inquiry into city and regional inequalities, considered all

associated policy and spatial issues. Its conclusion – that the UK is currently “one of the most spatially unequal economies in the developed world” – is pretty stark.

This unwelcome position is, it says, the result of an overly centralised political system together with short-lived policies too insufficiently resourced to take root. Result: disjointed growth and social division.

The UK2070 suggestion of a national spatial plan for England forms part of a 10-point action strategy that is as expansive as these things come (“a comprehensive framework for inclusive devolution”; “new global centres of excellence”; “a connectivity revolution”; a “spatially just

“THE UK2070 FLAVOUR OF ‘LEVELLING UP’ SOUNDS, ON THE FACE OF IT, SIMILAR TO THE GOVERNMENT’S”

transition to zero-carbon…”)

The country’s wellbeing is also considered; pressure on public services and resources resulting from an “unequal pattern of economic performance and its consequences in productivity and investment rates”.

Both government and commission have arrived at broadly similar conclusions about the issues. Where there will doubtless be difference is in the proposed solutions. Whether an end to “divisive rhetoric” and the further devolution of powers to local communities forms part of government thinking will make the coming months interesting indeed; and a national spatial plan for England? What a decision that would be.

Speaking of the Budget, our print deadlines may not have been kind but The Planner’s team has been reporting on the events and reaction to them in our newsletters and on our web site. Visit www.theplanner. co.uk for the very latest.

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THIS MONTH’S THEME:

The Planner Live and our zero-carbon future This June’s Planner Live event covers all aspects of planning, with environmental concerns prominent across the two days.

Here are what those sessions cover, with links to recent related Planner content to help you get up to speed.

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Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had a tremendous response to our call for sharp, ďŹ ve-minute sessions - and you can ďŹ nd out whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been chosen by going to the Planner website. b www.theplanner.co.uk

Learn from Norwich City Council about how planners can reduce energy demand through initial building design in this interactive group discussion session. b Read more about Norwichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Goldsmith Street development and good housing design in this Planner feature: bit.ly/planner0420-GoldsmithSt

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29 JUNE '$< 21 ( -81( Political keynotes Planning radicals

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London's County Hall, Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 June 2020

Jeremy Purseglove, Author, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Working with Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Focus sessions: n Zero-carbon building n The future of heritage n Planning for children's everyday freedom n Zero-carbon transport n Planners and Architects n Stress test: how neuroscience can help planners Live interview: Modular and oďŹ&#x20AC;site construction Ask the Chief Planners

Grey, blue, green and everything in-between Â&#x153; 0251,1* '$< Heather Claridge MRTPI tells us about Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst ever â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;smart canalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; scheme in Glasgow and will be joined by environmentalist Jeremy Purseglove to explore how infrastructure can work for both people and nature. b Read our recent interview with Jeremy

Zero-carbon transport $)7(51221 '$< To achieve zero-carbon targets, planners will need to work with urban designers, developers and politicians to create public transport that people will use. This panel discussion considers all elements. b How new developments should consider sustainable transport options: bit.ly/planner0420-SustainableTravel

30 JUNE '$< 7: 2 -81( Planning radicals Focus sessions: n Planning â&#x20AC;&#x201C;a profession open to all?

n Watch your thoughts n Coping with ethical dilemmas n Rewilding our greenbelts n The future of high streets n Technology and the

Purseglove: bit.ly/planner0420-Purseglove

future role of a planner

Rewilding our greenbelts 0251,1* '$< Listen in as a range of experts discuss the potential for more rewilding projects across the country and whether it can be tried in greenbelts too. b Read our recent feature and case study: bit.ly/planner0420-Rewilding bit.ly/planner0420-Greenways

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Sustainable Development Goals - lessons from overseas $)7(51221 '$< How can planners implement the UNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sustainable Development Goals?

This session considers lessons from around the world, including the USA where the APA is implementing SDGs into the planning system. b Read our feature: bit.ly/planner0420-SDGs

Plenary sessions: n SDGs n Infrastructure Political keynote: The value of planning across the UK Live interview: Planning at the top table

3/ 86 Exhibition, refreshments & networking and Presidential gala dinner.

11/03/2020 11:37

LO U I S E B R O O K E ­ S M I T H O B E

O Opinion

Valuing values should be the talk of the town My mum told me about a show she and dad saw just before I was born.

It was Judy Garland at London’s Talk of the Town. She went on to say how sad it was to see her clearly struggling and at the end of her career. That stuck with me.

Anyone who has seen Renee Zellweger in her Oscarwinning performance in Judy will perhaps understand. I certainly found Judy to be a desperately sad character, a product of a challenging and constraining environment. In her case it was the Hollywood bubble and the manipulation of a money-grabbing industry that inevitably took its toll.

Sometimes no matter what career you take or what stage you reach, the pressure can show and you can’t paper over the cracks. The good news is that it’s OK not to have to pretend. Being honest about mental health isn’t quite a badge of honour to illustrate the scars of a challenging career, but it’s coming close and that’s no bad thing.

What has this got to do with planning? It’s all about environment –how we plan for a positive environment then create it, manage it and invest in it. Health and wellbeing are the current buzzwords and the links to physical and mental health are rightly being held up to be of paramount importance.

After all, if we continue to plan, design and then end up building an environment that results in damaging our society – physically or mentally – we

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should be called to account.

Some investors are beginning to call it out. US management consultant McKinsey isn’t the only commentator reporting that the money markets are recognising more than just the bottom line. They are valuing ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) and true social value that is more that just the easy boxticking exercise. Organisations across the property, land use and construction sector are seeing investors support them for ‘doing the right thing’ and being true to their values rather than always following the money.

It’s as if there’s a perfect meal of embedded sustainability with a sautéed appreciation of quality design, accompanied by side orders

“THERE SEEMS TO BE A GENUINE PUSH TO DO THE RIGHT THING” of innovation, inclusivity and ethics. It’s a healthy diet of clever architecture, practical and effective landscaping and infrastructure that actually does what its meant to do. It doesn’t come cheap, especially if you add HS2 to the mix, but there seems to be a genuine push to do the right thing and really plan for people.

Nor is it at the expense of profit, as Blackrock and L&G are showing.

If we adopt a healthy and ethical approach to planning and design policy that results in attractive, sustainable,

practical, affordable and liveable places that have a positive impact on our community’s physical and mental wellbeing then, as built environment professionals, we will have hit the jackpot.

Like me, you may have attended those well-meaning conferences with articulate and persuasive speakers.

Sometimes it can be hard to move forward with effective and innovative land-use planning strategy when we hit the desk and realise that politics or lack of money or incompetence get in the way.

But the time has for us to get on and do the right thing and put our values at the forefront.

As Judy and many others have shown, we are influenced by our environment. If those environments are challenging, unimaginative, socially divisive and bleak then the human spirit can understandably end up damaged. But if we can encourage invigorating environments that support the human spirit we can create fabulous stages for some incredible performances.

Dr Louise Brooke-Smith is a development and strategic planning consultant and a built environment non-executive director I L L U S T R AT I O N | Z A R A P I C K E N

10/03/2020 14:15

Quote unquote FROM THE RTPI AND THE WEB

“The limitations come from the built environment; it’s the built environment that’s disabling people rather than their behaviours”

I S T O C K / S H U T T E R S T O C K / PA L H A N S E N

SUSTRANS’ GUILO FERRINI ON THE NEED FOR CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS FIT FOR 21ST CENTURY PURPOSES

“The 18 months the fund was open rapidly expanded the community housing movement. Nearly 1,000 groups have projects, many ‘oven-ready’.”

CATHERINE HARRINGTON, CO CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST NETWORK ON THE VIRTUE OF THE NOW CLOSED £163 MILLION COMMUNITY HOUSING FUND AND THE VALUE OF EXTENDING IT

“We will all want different things from our homes in the future, but this means new ideas and innovation now to make it happen”

“I’ve gone on in a funny sort of way, being a doer-upper.

Sometimes on quite a big scale”

“The commemoration of fictional characters and places would devalue the historic plaques scheme, which commemorates actual events and people”

GRIFF RHYS JONES SQUEEZES HIS VARIOUS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES INTO A SINGLE PITHY PHRASE

A PLANNING INSPECTOR, DECIDING AGAINST THE USE OF BLUE PLAQUES FOR FICTIONAL CHARACTERS. BECAUSE SOMEONE GENUINELY SUGGESTED IT.

I M AG E S |

THE DESIGN COUNCIL’S ELLI THOMAS ON THE HOME OF 2030 PROJECT, AN MHCLG COMPETITION TO ATTRACT FRESH TALENT INTO THE HOUSING INDUSTRY

“A concerted effort from the property industry is needed to ensure that this pocket park project is just the beginning” FÉLICIE KRIKLER, DIRECTOR OF ASSAEL ARCHITECTURE, REACTING TO THE GOVERNMENT’S FUNDING OF 68 NEW PARKS TO INJECT GREEN SPACE INTO URBAN AREAS

“Government must think big, plan big and act at scale.

Bluntly, if it can’t go big, it should go home.”

LORD KERSLAKE, CHAIR OF THE UK2070 COMMISSION, TALKING ABOUT LEVELLING UP THE COUNTRY

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B E S T O F T H E B LO G S

O Opinion

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Tom Curtin is a specialist in environmental, social and governance issues for the development industry

Will the Red Wall save Help to Buy?

When the CEO of a volume housebuilder wakes up in a cold sweat, there is only one recurring nightmare: the government has decided to abolish Help to Buy. But should he (they’re all men) be worried? I don’t think so, and here’s why. The DCLG produced research showing the value of Help to Buy by local authority area. The big money (£100 million to £250 million per authority) is going to five main areas: the Midlands, the North West, Yorkshire (Leeds/ Bradford), Bristol hinterland and London.

The next level of the scheme (£50m-£100m) is also heavily concentrated in these areas, as well as the North East.

So how about the politics? The general election saw the collapse of the ‘Red Wall’ of Labour seats.

Across the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber, and the East and West Midlands, the Conservatives gained 44 seats and Labour lost 45.

In simple terms, this is Boris Johnson’s majority – and I bet he knows it. Lose them back and we have a hung Parliament.

Up to June 2017, when statistics stopped being compiled, almost half of all Help to Buy recipients were in these five areas. And the mean property price was under £150,000. Did I hear someone

Gillian Morgan MRTPI is planning lead with Sustain

Hot food takeaways – wake up and smell the grease!

say ‘working-class’ houses?

These constituencies’ Tory MPs know that their majorities probably rest on people who have benefited from Help to Buy and realised Mrs Thatcher’s dream of home ownership.

Their younger siblings will expect the same perk.

Help to Buy is set to end in March 2023, which is just over a year from the 2024 general election. The scheme will be overhauled, particularly as it relates to London. But London is in the hands of Labour or the Lib Dems, so why should Boris Johnson care?

What he will care about is those 44 MPs from the Midlands and North who give him his majority.

And he’ll listen to them.

Suppose you were the new Tory MP for any of these former Labour seats: Bury North (majority of 105); Bolton North East (378) or Bury South (402), how would you feel now? Elated at having been elected – and nervous as a kitten about 2024.

Would you want to abolish Help to Buy? Removing such a key ‘regional benefit’ would be electoral suicide.

So when the two Davids (Barratt and Persimmon) and Peter (Taylor Wimpey) and the rest of the volume builder CEOs go to sleep they can be fairly sure they won’t have any bad dreams – not about that anyway.

“THIS IS BORIS JOHNSON’S MAJORITY – AND I BET HE KNOWS IT. LOSE THEM BACK AND WE HAVE A HUNG PARLIAMENT”

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2 BLOG

BLOG

Hot food takeaway businesses are cheap to start up and run, especially if they are using nutrient-poor empty calories to sell in areas where the multiple deprivation index is already prevalent.

Bold planners are tackling this. Policies to restrict new hot food takeaways near schools form one of the few concrete ways local authorities have to stop their areas becoming saturated with unhealthy food.

Yet even these tools are coming under attack, as local authorities lack capacity to provide adequate evidence to stand up to the resources of global chains.

If we are serious about tackling child obesity, we should also look at existing takeaways and other outlets selling to kids around school hours. Many aggressively market school kids’ discounts or ‘uniform deals’.

Central government recommends that councils should use planning policies to control access to unhealthy food, but draft policies are being withdrawn under pressure from objections by takeaway chains and many more councils fear the financial implications of pursuing these policies before they even begin.

Worse still, some councils value the economic benefits of small takeaway businesses and

some planners think they are being elitist in restricting more hot food takeaways opening in what are often poorer areas.

Wake up and smell the grease!

People in food poverty or living in conditions lacking basic amenities don’t want to rely on junk food; it’s not a choice but a necessity.

In Nottingham, the policy was challenged by the big fast-food chains and the planning inspector decided there was insufficient “locally specific evidence” to keep it. Why would the evidence be different in Nottingham? Are children’s bodies in some parts of the UK more resistant to diabetes and heart disease?

In Gateshead, the quality of food on sale is no different from any other area – but the council has gone to the expense of having takeaway meals analysed. Since putting in place planning policy to restrict them, there has been an overall fall in the number of hot food takeaways. This was a joint effort between planning, public health and environmental health.

Despite national targets for obesity reduction, there is only so much local councils can do with their existing powers. The government must look into more radical options to improve the healthiness of what is on offer if it is committed to tackling child obesity.

“DRAFT POLICIES ARE BEING WITHDRAWN UNDER PRESSURE FROM OBJECTIONS

BY TAKEAWAY CHAINS”

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10/03/2020 14:15

Have your say Would you like to see yourself in these pages?

Get in touch by email – editorial@theplanner.co.uk Topical, inspirational, angry or amusing – we consider all relevant comment

3 BLOG

Jo Ferguson is the built environment manager for the Bat Conservation Trust

Make the built environment a stronghold for our bats

The relationship between bats and human beings is in many ways unique. As natural roost sites such as trees and caves have declined, many of the UK’s 18 bat species have turned to man-made structures as summer and winter roosts.

Our most widespread species are all strongly associated with buildings, using features that replicate natural ones that have been lost: lifted tiles instead of lifted bark, or cavity walls instead of tree cavities.

Which of our 18 resident species could be present depends on where you are.

Greater and lesser horseshoe bats are nationally rare, yet locally common in the South West.

But common and soprano pipistrelles and brown long-eared bats are found in houses throughout the British Isles.

Bats don’t use the same site to roost in all year round, but move as they require. In summer, female bats gather in a maternity roost to have babies.

In winter, bats use hibernation roosts.

When hibernating, they’ll use damp, cool areas such as cellars or an ice house; meanwhile, summer maternity roosts are warm and dry.

As they are ‘roost faithful’, the loss of a single roost site can have a massive impact on bat populations. Loss of roosts and foraging areas have caused huge

4 BLOG

Ashley Leiper is a senior acoustic consultant with EnviroCentre Ltd in Glasgow

Let’s not allow a zealous approach to noise to shut down development

declines in UK bat populations over the past century.

This is bad news for bats, but also for us – because a good bat population indicates a functioning ecosystem. This means somewhere healthy for plants and animals to live, but also directly benefits our own environment and our own physical and mental wellbeing.

In addition, all of our bat species eat insects, helping to cut pest damage to crops and gardens.

To restore our bat populations, all British bat species and their roosts are fully protected under the law, including when roosts aren’t occupied.

Due diligence must be given to protected species at the start of any development project. This will also avoid delays and/or increased costs, including fines for breaking the law. There’s a wealth of ecological expertise available to guide the project while protecting bats. It’s a myth that bats prevent building or development works; it’s all about planning well ahead.

Enhancement measures for wildlife are now often required by local planning departments for new developments and appreciated by many homeowners. Bats want what we want – a safe place to raise their young or see out the winters, and a good meal. Find out more at www.bats.org.uk

“THIS IS BAD NEWS FOR BATS, BUT ALSO FOR US – BECAUSE A GOOD BAT POPULATION INDICATES A FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEM”

Scottish local authorities are increasingly making recommendations on noise based on a briefing note prepared for environmental health officers by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, which is creating uncertainty in the housing industry.

It is now common for a planning authority to request that whole sites meet internal noise targets with open windows, unless the site meets wider objectives, such as reducing uptake of greenfield sites, promoting higher densities near transport hubs and local centres or meeting needs of the local development plan.

C o n v e r s e l y, adopted national guidance accepts that, while open windows are preferred, closed windows may be required to cut internal levels depending on the locality.

In reality it is difficult for whole sites to meet the nighttime criterion with open windows if sited directly next to even quiet roads. The volume of traffic that would result in exceedances, even at low traffic speeds, is surprisingly low. It can be hard to mitigate these levels without the need for intrusive noise barriers.

This often leads to impasses where the planning authority has

requested urban design features that inhibit the ability of internal noise limits to be met. The briefing note offers no guidance on balancing these competing factors, as this should be the planners’ remit. But planners often hesitate to oppose advice from environmental health professionals, even where it lacks the necessary wider context.

A necessity for whole sites to meet internal noise levels with open windows can often render large areas of land undevelopable, even when the number of properties that would require closed windows to meet the limits might be low. This has a direct impact on Scotland’s ability to meet housing targets.

Sophisticated assessment methods are on the horizon, such as the Acoustics Ventilation and Overheating Guide, which seeks to balance the magnitude of internal noise levels against the likelihood of residents opening windows to avoid overheating.

Several appeals have successfully challenged decisions based on the note, but the effect on timescales and budget is significant given that these sites often meet adopted policy and national standards.

Early engagement with environmental health officers is crucial to set sensible target limits.

“A NECESSITY FOR WHOLE SITES TO MEET INTERNAL NOISE LEVELS WITH OPEN WINDOWS CAN RENDER LARGE AREAS OF LAND UNDEVELOPABLE”

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10/03/2020 16:48

INTERVIEW: GRIFF RHYS JONES

THE PEOPLE'S GRIFF RHYS JONES MAY HAVE MADE HIS NAME AS A COMEDIAN, ACTOR AND BROADCASTER, BUT THE PRESIDENT OF CIVIC VOICE HAS A LONG­STANDING PASSION FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, AS HE TELLS LAURA EDGAR

T

his year marks 10 years since the formal launch of Civic Voice, the national charity for the civic movement in England.

Comedian, actor and television presenter Griff Rhys Jones has been its president from the beginning. In many ways he was a natural choice, given his high profile among communities who care about their built environment as a result of the BBC TV series Restoration.

This led to his being asked to act as figurehead for the charity’s predecessor Civic Trust, before that organisation ceased operations in 2009.

Civic Voice itself emerged from a wide consultation with civic and amenity societies, their members and more than 100 other organisations on the future of the civic movement. Conducted by The Civic Society Initiative, it coincided with David Cameron’s ‘big society’ drive to empower communities in shaping housing projects and transport services.

Ten years since its launch in Blackpool, Civic Voice is returning to the city in early May for a conference that will consider how to put public participation at the heart of placemaking.

Rhys Jones, as enthusiastic about his role today as he was when he accepted it, will be speaking, of course. Before this, though, he met The Planner at his Fitzrovia home on a fresh and sunny afternoon in early February.

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As I sat on the Tube from The Planner’s East London HQ, I reflected on my time as a local journalist. I had heard many residents complain about not being listened to. At one consultation, a group of women told me they would not submit a response on a proposed development behind their houses because “the council doesn’t care and the developers don’t care what we think”.

Given this attitude, and Civic Voice’s concern with giving communities a voice at every stage of the planning process, what would Rhys Jones say? I had my questions at the ready as I knocked on his front door.

RESTORATION MAN

“I’ve experienced planning from every side,” he tells me. That’s as a developer, a conservationist, a campaigner, and from the “point of view of hoping, wishing”.

At the outset of his built environment career, he thought of planning as the “enemy”, he confesses. But he soon found this was not the case and now “absolutely believes” in it.

His own property journey from considering “unlivable tiny sort of cupboards” in Hampstead to a grade I-listed Fitzrovia townhouse has been diverse. In the early days of his success on sketch show Not the Nine O’Clock News, he bought a home in Kilburn on an Equity minimum (“We found if we crossed the road into Kilburn, took Hampstead out of

the name, suddenly you could buy a slightly bigger place”), which opened his eyes to the potential of run-down areas.

In the late 1980s, he turned a factory into flats in Clerkenwell. He went on to raise funds for and develop the threatened Hackney Empire. He bought and restored barns on a farm near St David’s in Pembrokeshire (Rhys Jones was born in Wales, but raised in Sussex and Essex).

Then there was Restoration, the BBC television series that ran from 2003 to 2009 and which invited viewers to choose listed buildings most in need of Heritage Lottery Funding to preserve and improve them. The show helped to shape his perspective both on the built environment and the history behind it. Today he is president of several organisations, including the Victorian Society, and says he likes to be “hands on”.

Through all of this, planning has proved to be complicated.

“What I’ve discovered is that one size doesn’t fit all,” Rhys Jones explains. “It’s very difficult to make universal statements about what is right and what is wrong. Each issue is decided on the floor and it is one of the reasons why planning becomes so fractious, complicated, so involving.”

I’m about to jump in with a question about how to address this, but the broadcaster launches into the story about his aforementioned education and the projects he has worked on. My carefully

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INTERVIEW: GRIFF RHYS JONES

curated questions lie untouched on the coffee table.

Bat surveys are frustrating, though necessary, he maintains. Planning departments are understaffed.

He’s well versed in the writings of Jane Jacobs, Peter Hall and Sir Simon Jenkins, it turns out. Through Restoration, he knows that people really do care about their community.

His enthusiasm and passion for conservation, buildings and community is limitless, it seems. He tells me, too, of his fascination with cities and in particular how urban areas develop in ways that can be welcoming, or not.

THE SENSE OF CITIES

As he tours as a performer, he is conscious that there are many “wonderful towns, places like Shrewsbury and Hereford”, but that they are not all suitable places for people to live in anymore.

“The truth is that when this government first published its new planning guidelines (the NPPF), they sort of left that out,” he stresses. “They said it’s all about business, it’s all about commerciality. If the centres of towns live solely by commerciality, they will also die by commerciality. And we’re seeing that happen now.”

C A R EER

HIG HL IG HTS

G R I F F R HY S J ONE S Born: Cardiff, November 1953 Education: Schools in Sussex and Essex; University of Cambridge (history and English)

1979­ 1982 Comes to fame via BBC TV series Not the Nine O’Clock News

1981 Founds Talkback Productions with Mel Smith

Conservation Award in 1990

2001­ 2004 Alongside the theatre’s artistic director, Roland Muldoon, he leads a restoration fundraising campaign for Hackney Empire

1987– 1989 Converts 2003­ 2009 a factory in Clerkenwell into flats. The scheme wins the Islington Society’s first Geoffrey Gribble Memorial

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Host of BBC TV series Restoration

2005 Creates his own

production company, Modern Television

2010­ present President, Civic Voice

2018­ present President, The Victorian Society

2019 Receives an OBE for services to charity and entertainment

Rhys Jones continues: “When people say ‘What’s going to happen to our high street?’, the answer is ‘Well, a lot of these high streets have over-extended’. In the ’70s they believed that retail and commerciality was king.

And now they’re going, ‘Oh, wait a minute. All these places are going but you’ve bashed down perfectly good urban fabric’.”

On Oxford Street, people live “right amongst it” but the flats have become “fabulously expensive. Too expensive” and thus available to an exclusive group only. In Ipswich, by contrast, few people live in the centre and those that do are poorer.

He describes the area between the town’s docks, dotted with 16th and 18th century houses as “beautiful” but overlooked. “If those had been preserved as a living area, like the cathedral close, then somehow Ipswich and those towns would have to worry less about the high street dying because the high street would be sustained as part of an urban centre which isn’t all about commerce.”

And no one needs to hop in a car, I chip in. Yes, Rhys Jones agrees. “But the attitude has always been ‘Can we build more car parks? Can we get more into the centre?’

And you’ve got to say ‘How do we keep this just nice.

How do we keep it nice for people to be in?’”

Perking up the high street, therefore, isn’t about more and bigger shops. “Stop. Stop: Have a small high street and make it more amenable for people to actually live there.”

This also means getting to grips with cars. While Rhys Jones favours using cars less, he doesn’t believe in banning them from town and city centres. Indeed, he was part of the campaign against the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, where he says there wasn’t any due consideration for where the cars or buses would go. They would have been pushed into side streets where people live. “That’s saying that shopping is more important in central London than anything else,” he complains.

By his own admission, he is a “big believer” in city living – but well-planned city living that strikes a balance between the built and natural environment, enabling good access to the latter. He advocates bigger, taller properties and gives Stockholm as an example. It’s still “very beautiful” but when you walk through the streets you are walking through seven-storey mansion blocks.

“More mansions would allow less of a scramble for space across the suburban landscape,” he argues. “But it is very difficult to do. It means you have to own large blocks, doesn’t it?”

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Suffice to say, he does not see green belt development as an answer to the challenges of finding space for homes in built-up areas.

OPEN ENGAGEMENT

In advance of the December 2019 general election, Civic Voice called for all political parties to commit to ensuring that the planning system is accessible, balanced and collaborative. Conversations, it believes, should be had with everyone – not just those who are already engaged.

The charity’s president thinks people care but perhaps don’t understand how things happen. You never see a debate about what is happening with development on Question Time, Rhys Jones points out. “Never, never, never. Planning and architecture are two slightly closed books to society in general.”

He adds: “I think it is a good idea to open it up to ignoramuses like me. No seriously, because I think it is important to hear voices and what people think about things.”

Tech is one tool for giving people a voice and amplifying it. But he also advises civic societies and community groups to be completely familiar with planning regulations, to bring experts onside and to keep their battles within the law, preferably using the law to their advantage. “I'm a believer in the existing laws being well applied,” he observes.

He cautions against civic societies becoming coteries of self-identified experts and insists that his priority with Civic Voice is to make “this business” – consultation and meaningful engagement – interesting, heartfelt and understandable. The community must ask questions about what is going on, says Rhys Jones. “Is this the right way of doing things? That seems to me, an important level for Civic Voice to be involved in.”

Above all, Rhys Jones asserts that civic societies, local authorities, developers, politicians et al should remember that engagement is all about “not being frightened about letting people into the debate”.

n Laura Edgar is news editor of The Planner

CIVIC VOICE 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

1 -2 May 2020, Winter Garden, Blackpool The conference will consider how to put public participation at the heart of placemaking and decisionmaking. Sue Manns FRTPI, president of the RTPI, will be exploring how to give community representatives a more meaningful voice in the planning system.

Professor Gavin Parker FRTPI will consider how planning can introduce ‘Pre-Application I M A G E S | PA L H A N S E N

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Community Consultation’, while professor Matthew Carmona will consider how design review can be more transparent and accessible to communities.

Civic Voice’s 2020 Woman of Influence, Sarah James MRTPI, will share her thoughts on the benefits of introducing a limited community right of appeal into the system while Griff Rhys Jones will be the afterdinner speaker on day one. www.civicvoiceconference.com

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B I O D I V E R S I T Y N ET G A I N

N ATU R A L AN X IE T Y THE FORTHCOMING ENVIRONMENT BILL WILL ENSHRINE IN LAW THE CONCEPT OF BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BUT WHILE THE PRINCIPLE IS WIDELY SUPPORTED, THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT ITS IMPLEMENTATION, AS MATT MOODY FINDS OUT

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Biodiversity net gain: How does it work?

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n May 2019, a report published by the UN declared that human activity is causing an unprecedented decline in biodiversity, with more than a million species across the planet threatened with extinction.

In the UK, a legal requirement mooted for nearly a decade will soon come into force to help to tackle the problem: new developments will need to improve a site’s biodiversity value by at least 10 per cent to get consent.

The coalition government began encouraging biodiversity improvements through planning in the original national planning policy framework (NPPF), published in 2012, which advised that developers “should seek net gain where possible”. A pilot scheme set up that year saw six councils tasked with developing and testing a system for enforcing net gain.

Meanwhile, large developers were trialling the idea themselves, and by 2016 Berkeley Homes had pledged to deliver net gain at all future developments.

In 2018, the government announced that a new bill intended to facilitate its 25-year environment plan would make biodiversity net gain a legal requirement.

After various setbacks caused by turmoil in Westminster, the environment bill is expected to receive royal assent in the coming months. The bill has been hailed as “the final piece in the puzzle” for net gain, but not everyone is satisfied with the government’s approach.

Money worries Since it was announced that biodiversity net gain (BNG) would become law, there has been concern from all sides over the burdens that enforcing it will place on already under-resourced local authorities.

In its response to Defra’s consultation on its plans to implement BNG, the RTPI stressed that “proper resourcing for planners and access to ecological expertise is key”.

“Around a quarter of local authorities are thought to have in-house ecology expertise due to pressure on resources, so they’re

1. The Defra metric The idea of ‘net gain’ is based on a calculation known as the Defra metric, which has been under development by the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) for a number of years. The precise make-up of the metric was out for consultation until the end of February, and is expected to be finalised

by September. It will, it is hoped, become the single national standard for biodiversity calculations and improve consistency across the UK. Existing habitats are assessed against four criteria – distinctiveness, condition, strategic significance, and connectivity – which act as multipliers in a formula used to calculate a site’s ‘baseline’ biodiversity value.

Similarly, factors including distance from the development (if offsite), time for the habitat to mature, and the difficulty involved in creating it are used to calculate the site’s post-development score.

The final score is found by subtracting the baseline score from the postdevelopment score. It must be 10 per cent greater than the baseline score to meet the policy test.

2. The mitigation hierarchy Defra rules also include a “mitigation hierarchy”, which explains what to do if the primary aim of avoiding any biodiversity loss is not possible. If unavoidable, habitat loss should be

minimised, and any damage should be restored as much as possible. Otherwise, lost habitats can be “compensated for” in other locations.

The government plans to operate a “last resort” scheme in which developers will be able to fund nationally important habitat areas by buying biodiversity credits, if local offsetting is not feasible. However, details of this scheme, including how much the credits will cost, are still to be confirmed.

The government has confirmed that some “irreplaceable habitats”, such as ancient woodland, will not be eligible for offsetting.

Importantly, existing mechanisms for protecting ecology will remain in place, and BNG will not apply at sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), for example.

The net gain policy will act as an initial hurdle for proposals to clear, but doing it will not guarantee a grant of permission.

Site maintenance Developers will be required to maintain their improvements for at least 30 years. Defra aims to enforce this through the use of “conservation covenants”, described as voluntary legal agreements between a landowner and a “responsible body” – such as a conservation group – that safeguard land for conservation. They will be legally binding and will continue to apply even if land changes hands.

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B I O D I V E R S I T Y N ET G A I N

having to source that expertise externally, which obviously has financial implications in itself,” says Rosalie Callway, project officer at the Partnership for Biodiversity in Planning.

“The government is expecting local authorities and local nature partnerships to prepare local nature recovery strategies, including maps of existing nature assets, in time for the end of the two-year transition period that will follow the environment bill becoming law,” Callway continues.

“But it remains unclear where the new resources will come from to enable them to do that.”

Labour MP Helen Hayes echoed these concerns in Parliament in February, calling on the government to properly fund nature recovery strategies so that they are “deliverable as well as descriptive”.

For consultant James Streets of OS Ecology, it’s a similar story. “In the North East, we have quite a lot of local authorities with ecologists, but it’s a different dynamic if an authority doesn’t have one, because then the planners have to take the developer’s word.

“I can’t see how authorities without an in-house ecologist will be able to deliver

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the long-term monitoring required for BNG to be successful without more resources.”

In some areas, local authorities that do employ ecologists have been operating a ‘sharing model’, sending their staff ‘on loan’ to neighbouring councils to meet need on an ad hoc basis.

In January, then-environment secretary Theresa Villiers appeared to address these concerns. In a policy statement sent to all local authorities, she wrote that the government would “fully fund all new burdens on local authorities arising from the environment bill”, which would “provide new opportunities for innovation as well as stimulating new economic markets”. However, Villiers has since been replaced, and precisely what funding the government will provide remains to be seen.

Teething problems Others have voiced concerns that making BNG a legal requirement might

have implications for viability, and thus housebuilding targets and affordable housing delivery.

“It might well have an impact on viability,” says Andrew Taylor FRTPI, head of planning at major housebuilder Countryside Developments. “If you’re changing the number of homes to be built on a site or changing the density, something gets squeezed, whether it’s affordable housing or infrastructure or something else.”

The transition period is likely to be especially difficult, says Taylor, because “it’s difficult to negotiate these trade-offs when you’re dealing with sites that are already allocated or already have outline consent – assumptions have been made and retrofitting policy is difficult. If you know from the start, you can price it in”.

According to Spencer Clubb, head of policy at the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, the “pace and scale of change” from “a voluntary thing being done by perhaps betterresourced developers and local authorities into something that everybody has to do” is likely to cause some “teething problems”.

“It could potentially lead to a more risk-averse treatment of planning applications

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“IT COULD POTENTIALLY LEAD TO A MORE RISK AVERSE TREATMENT OF PLANNING APPLICATIONS IN AREAS WITH LESS ECOLOGICAL EXPERTISE”

in areas with less ecological expertise,” Clubb stresses. Extra costs could possibly make a marginally viable affordable housing project less desirable for a developer, he adds, but “in the context of all the other factors that play into whether or not affordable housing projects go ahead, it may or may not prove material”.

Additionally, the prospect of developers being allowed to offset habitat harm in a different location – or avoid direct responsibility altogether by purchasing credits from the government – has caused some concern.

Advocates claim that the final rung of the mitigation hierarchy will act as a failsafe, speeding up the planning process and allocating resources to major biodiversity projects. Others,

including Friends of the Earth, have called it a “licence to trash” that puts a monetary value on irreplaceable habitats.

“At most of our large-scale urban extensions and new settlements we’re contributing on site, but if you’ve got lots of smaller schemes it might be better paying into a fund that can be used to provide a properly managed wildlife area off-site,” says Taylor.

“Obviously, developers will be looking to maximise their biodiversity credits and minimise the amount of land lost within the development area,” says Streets. As a result, there are concerns that the most cost-efficient habitats – such as speciesrich grassland – are chosen every time, leading to “very monotonous” habitats that are not sensitive to their context.

However, Callway notes: “The BNG approach has real potential if it is applied in addition to existing species and habitats protections, and with an emphasis on promoting multiple ecosystem benefits on site, rather than developers always opting for quick wins or offsetting options. It will require local planning authorities to have strong ecological capacity to negotiate good BNG plans from developers.”

The future of biodiversity One development that may provide a foundation for proper implementation of BNG is the environment bill’s commitment to create a new Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). This would, post-Brexit, enforce rules that previously fell under the jurisdiction of the EU. However, while the bill states that the watchdog will be able to take legal action against both public and private sector bodies that breach environmental law, it also states that it will not have the power to issue fines. The Wildlife Trust has questioned the body’s independence from government, and the BBC has suggested it could be “muzzled, tamed and stripped of funding”.

As the environment bill makes its way through Parliament, developers and local authorities alike will continue their best efforts to prepare for the changes that mandated net gain will bring.

“Things are changing all the time,” says Streets, “and I think we’ll have to wait and see how government policy evolves over the first few years. It’s a ‘suck-it-and-see’ situation.”

Clubb adds: “The objective of biodiversity net gain is not only to benefit the environment but to benefit the planning system too, and make it more streamlined. This is a huge challenge, and there will be tensions in trying to deliver those competing outcomes.”

n Matt Moody is section

editor at The Planner

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S H O R T ­ T E R M L ET S

SHORT CHANGE THE POPULARITY OF SHORT­TERM LETS VIA THE ‘PLATFORM ECONOMY’ HAS HAD A SERIES OF IMPACTS ON TOWNS AND CITIES. IT COULD BE TIME FOR COHERENT REGULATION, ARGUES ANDREW COLEMAN

W

hether it’s an influx of tourists dragging cases, raucous groups of stag parties or gentrification of run-down areas, short-term letting via the ‘sharing platform’ economy is having a significant effect in towns and cities worldwide.

Until relatively recently, holiday lets were accessed through ‘analogue’ methods such as newspapers. However, the emergence of internet sites such as Airbnb, Owners Direct and HomeAway – has generated an explosion in rooms and properties to rent.

These sites connect ‘hosts’ with ‘guests’ in return for a proportion of the rental fee. Airbnb was set up to enable property owners and renters to share an empty room; but it has developed into a radically different model. Now the emphasis is on renting whole properties, and commercial operators have portfolios of properties that operate like hotels, but without having to comply with regulatory requirements.

In Jersey City in the US, 91 per cent of Airbnb revenue goes to commercial operators. In London, between 2015 and 2019, 280 ‘super-hosts’ with more than

26

10 property listings managed 15 per cent of the active short-term lets listed on Airbnb. Earlier this year the Greater London Authority reported that the number of Airbnb listings had quadrupled in four years. Outer London had experienced a fifteenfold increase.

Is this a problem? Academics Shirley Nieuwland and Rianne van Melik of Radboud University in the Netherlands, and Renia Ehrenfreucht (University of New Mexico) and Marla Nelson (University of New Orleans) have summarised the claimed positive and negative impacts: Positives: n Increased range, type, location and price range of visitor accommodation; n Increased tax takings from business

“REGULATORY APPROACHES HAVE DEVELOPED IN AN UNCOORDINATED WAY, WHERE PRESSURE OF SHORT TERM LETS IS HAVING THE GREATEST EFFECT”

rates, tourist taxes and income tax; n More ‘genuine’ visitor experience; n New source of income for ‘hosts’ can help subsidise low-income families; n Increased visitor numbers; n Investment in physical fabric of areas with many short-term lets (STLs); n Employment in STL) ‘service’ industry.

Negatives: n Closures of hotels and guest houses; n Rise in home rental prices, leading to

evictions and shortage of long-term rentals; n Increased property prices; n Change in character of areas, to the

dissatisfaction of established population; n Reduction of community engagement

with local facilities; n Noise and disturbance; n Waste from STLs less likely to be

recycled or managed as commercial waste; n STLs used as ‘pop-up’ brothels.

Regulatory responses Regulators have not yet reached consensus on short-term lets, not least because of the complexities of political attitudes to regulation and the differing legal,

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institutional and financial frameworks available to governments and cities.

Cities contemplating regulation must also factor in opposition from the platforms, particularly Airbnb. Then there are direct and indirect costs of regulation.

While it can be tempting to propose regulation in response to complaints, this may simply push STLs to lower-income areas where complaints are less likely .

Academics have identified six basic approaches to regulating STLs (see box ‘Short-term lets: approaches to regulation’).

Another approach is to limit the number of days a year that STLs can operate. As it stands, UK local authorities have several regulatory options to control impacts of STLs before turning to planning powers: n Environmental health legislation n Taxation – i.e. business rates n Housing legislation – local authority or social landlords can limit rights of tenants to sublet or use a property for business n Waste legislation – waste authorities can ask for a commercial waste licence n Registration of tourist accommodation allows minimum standards to be imposed n Health and safety legislation – the I M AG E | I STO C K

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“IN JERSEY CITY IN THE US, 91 PER CENT OF AIRBNB REVENUE GOES TO COMMERCIAL OPERATORS”

Housing Act 2008 requires private sector landlords to have gas and electrical safety certificates. Such requirements haven’t been applied to STLs. Few English councils have implemented a regulatory approach. The planning position is not clear, but determined as a question of fact and degree where there is no obvious legislative or policy answer.

Until now, too, it has been assumed that properties in use class C3(b), sleeping up to six people, may be rented as STLs – but the legal position may be shifting.

To date, appeal decisions are guided by a 2012 Court of Appeal case (Moore v SoS for Communities and Local Government), which established ‘fact and degree’ ground rules. This case found using a large property

as commercial leisure accommodation was sufficiently different from a single-family dwelling to constitute a material change of use from C3 to sui generis.

A December 2018 enforcement appeal in Cambridge shifted the goalposts, because it concerned a smaller property refused planning permission on grounds other than noise and disturbance. The inspector said the transient pattern of occupancy associated with letting a three-bedroom property 60 times in a calendar year “is not something I would normally associate with a dwellinghouse, or even a house in multiple occupation” and was different enough from that of a house “such that, as a matter of fact and degree, I consider it amounts to a material change of use”.

Permission was refused because of the impact on policies preventing loss of residential accommodation, preventing harm to amenity and undermining community facilities.

A more recent enforcement appeal in Bath is illuminating for being refused for lack of parking and because the inspector considered that a change of use had occurred even if the appellant occupied

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S H O R T ­ T E R M R E N TA LS

the property part of the time.

In London, the Deregulation Act 2015 allows letting as “temporary sleeping accommodation” without planning permission for up to 90 nights a year. This is often interpreted as meaning a material change of use has occurred if it is proved the limit has been exceeded. Airbnb has capped the number of nights that it will rent properties for, but other businesses help landlords circumnavigate the rules.

STL owners can also advertise properties on multiple platforms and through local agencies, making it hard to monitor the real occupancy rate. The Mayor of London has called for compulsory STL registration.

In Scotland, the draft planning bill would have brought STLs under planning control, but it was amended before enactment.

The RTPI and others had concerns about resource implications for planning departments; Airbnb also lobbied against the change. The Scottish government will now give councils the power to introduce licensing for STLs. In Glasgow, supplementary planning guidance requires a change of use for flats used as short-stay accommodation and provides criteria against which planning applications will be considered. It “strongly resists” STLs in certain areas.

In the Republic of Ireland, a change in planning law means that since 1 July 2019 a planning application is needed to rent out a residential property for more than 90 days a year in areas with high rents.

In Wales, RTPI Cymru is working with Gwynedd and Cardiff Councils to investigate the impact of using market housing for short-term holiday lets on the housing stock and public services.

A way forward?

Airbnb is preparing its own proposals for regulation. So it may be timely to draw conclusions and suggest an approach for councils for managing STLs. Their rise in the UK has coincided with anti-regulatory Conservative-led governments that have reduced planning controls in England. The STL sector has been able to thrive with little risk of intervention by central government. In the devolved administrations moves to increase regulation are still in early stages.

Financial gains and lack of regulation have encouraged investors into the STL market and led to negative effects.

Regulation has developed in an uncoordinated way, where pressure of STRs is having the greatest effect or where

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STLS IN BRIGHTON AND HOVE

Companies such as Airbnb have made short lets the norm across the world’s cities

campaigns have galvanised local politicians into action.

As a starting point for a coherent regulatory approach, planners and their legal advisers should agree on terminology to describe STL rentals. A good basis already exists in Londonspecific statute where “temporary sleeping accommodation” is “sleeping accommodation occupied by the same person for less than ninety consecutive nights and which is provided (with or without services) for a consideration arising either by way of trade for money or money’s worth, or by reason of the employment of the occupant, whether or not the relationship of landlord and tenant is thereby created”.

Planners should also recognise the potential for purpose-built student accommodation to out-compete houses of multiple occupation in university

In 2019 3,353 properties were listed in Brighton and Hove on STL data analytics site AirDNA; 2,236 were entire homes. Average daily rental was £121 and properties were occupied 70 per cent of the year. The median monthly income was £1,812.

Average local rents have increased between 2.6 and 6.1 per cent between 2018 and 2019. The average cost of buying a home fell by 1.3 per cent.

It may be assumed that 1,565 properties (2,236 x 70 per cent) could be available for permanent occupation if not being used as STLs – up to 1.6 years’ local housing land supply, and could house a third of households on the city’s housing register.

In 2014, a council ‘scrutiny panel’ recommended proposals to reduce the impact of ‘party houses’, including requiring owners to notify neighbours and to fund private noise patrols.

A 2018 council report concluded that the effects of STLs on hotels and guest houses was unlikely to justify regulation. The council is now committed to lobbying for a national registration scheme, and will develop a coordinated enforcement approach: its draft City Plan Part 2 makes it clear it may take action if a change of use from C3 has occurred.

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SHORT-TERM LETS: APPROACHES TO REGULATION

cities. Some councils use licensing and article 4 directions to limit the spread of HMOs, but landlords who find returns falling may look for a similar business model offering greater rental returns, rather than selling properties as family homes.

Planners also need to remember that appeal decisions suggest STLs are materially different from single residential uses because of their use pattern. Their impact on permanent housing stock, onstreet parking and community cohesion are also material planning considerations.

A suggested approach for planning

Planners must keep front of mind that short-term lets are materially different from single residential uses

Approach

What is it?

Where?

Promotional

Encourages growth of STLs

Seoul (South Korea) has developed a share site that aims to spread the benefits of STRs to local communities.

Fairbnb.coop will be launching in spring 2020, giving funds to community projects in six European cities.

Laissez-faire

No limitations on number, location or density

Currently most UK cities.

Quantitative

Limits number of STLs

London boroughs could limit the number of STLs they permit under the ‘90-day rule’.

Locational

Limits STLs to certain areas

Density restrictions

Limits the number of STLs in certain areas

Qualitative restrictions

Controls type of STL (or its impacts)

authorities would be: n Establish the aims of regulation (e.g. is

it to limit impacts on residential amenity, reduce loss of permanent housing, etc?). n Identify the appropriate approach. n Consider alternative forms of regulation and associated positives and negatives – is it better to have a multiteam approach or a dedicated officer(s)? n Consult with communities and businesses affected by the approach. n If choosing a planning regulation route, include it in a draft local plan or at least a

The non-planning regulatory opportunities outlined in this article fall into this category.

supplementary planning document. n Use existing planning definitions to identify a suitable threshold for STLs to be considered sui generis. n Consider how data will be collected on STLs – directly from platforms or indirectly through website searches. n Include regulatory activities in a local enforcement plan and annual reports. n Review effectiveness of the policy when local plan is reviewed.

The rise of Airbnb and similar platforms has not only incentivised the growth of the ‘informal’ sharing economy but resulted in a new form of tourist accommodation and venture capitalism. Worldwide, regulatory approaches have been slow to catch up and unintended consequences have generated community opposition.

The platforms are unlikely to acquiesce to any but the lightest regulation. However, there is an emerging consensus that STLs are different from single-family dwellings and several appeals provide local planning authorities with some confidence that they can develop a regulatory approach that will stand up to a challenge. n Andrew Coleman MRTPI is a senior lecturer in town planning at the University of Brighton and a planning and environmental consultant. The views expressed are personal.

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SEEING CYCLING IN THE ROUND FOR YEARS, ROAD DESIGN HAS FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON THE DEMANDS OF LARGE VEHICLES. NOW A NEW TOOL AIMS TO ENSURE THAT CYCLISTS GET THE SAME LEVEL OF PRIORITY, AS MARTIN READ REPORTS This month, software that can be easily added to existing AutoCAD packages will come to market, having been both informed and tested by Sustrans – the walking and cycling charity.

Its relatively simple aim is to make sure that the space designed into cycle routes adequately reflects the need for cyclists to turn and negotiate routes without obstacle.

The launch comes as the nation as a whole is seeing huge growth in cycle use for both commercial and recreational purposes. It also comes as Sustrans’ newly published Bike Life report, an assessment of cycling in 12 major cities and urban areas with more than 16,000 residents, shows that more than half (58 per cent) want more investment in cycling, as opposed to 42 per cent for driving. For planners,

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the software – Transoft’s AutoTurn 11 – would appear well timed.

Essentially, the tool takes swept path analysis – an assessment of the space required to ensure vehicle flow – out of the exclusively vehicular world it has inhabited until now.

Sustrans’ head of built environment Giulio Ferrini (pictured, right) initiated its development when speaking to Transoft about the possibilities of an adapted Autoturn. Ferrini has since, with colleagues, led the testing and inputting of cycle data necessary to help develop the new AutoTurn’s capabilities.

Ferrini is enthusiastic about AutoTurn

11’s potential. For highways engineers who don’t ride bikes themselves, it will show them the consequences of their actions. For local authorities, it should inform wider discussions about a scheme’s potential social inclusivity.

“This tool will help in the designing of cycle routes and tracks that can be used by all cycle users – from cargo bikes, tandems to people with trailers – and encourage an appropriate cycle speed to improve the safety of the most vulnerable users,” explains Ferrini.

What it does Where a standard cyclist might be able to make the turn, riders of other

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LANDSCAPE

TTech { L A N D S C A P E cycle types – cargo bikes, tandems, recumbents – could have difficulty.

AutoTurn allows users to simulate the impact of turns and show when in fact they will be too tight for cyclists to traverse, and it does so considering a range of cycle shapes, sizes and designs.

“In most cases we’ve been using the design vehicle from Highways England’s CD 195, which has a 1 metrelong, 1.2m-wide trailer,” says Ferrini.

“Tandems have also proven to be quite tricky to manoeuvre, so we tend to also run a simulation for them.”

Ferrini and his team wanted to see data such as lean angles incorporated, measuring different types of cycle users’ movements and reporting the data to Transoft for inclusion in the tool.

The impact of a total of 13 types of cycles from cargo cycles, tandems, tricycles, cycles with trailers, recumbent cycles and so on, can be measured.

In practice, the two main parameters that can be determined with the tool are the width of cycle paths (and the necessary gaps required between barriers) and the radii of curves that need to be built into the design.

“The thing it’s best at is visualisation,” explains Ferrini.

“Engineers can talk about minimum rate of curvature etc., but when it’s live there in AutoCAD you can literally just click and see how the vehicle swings out and handles the turn and what kind of conflict that could make. It facilitates engagement with decision-makers or those who may be opposed to the scheme initially or are less technical.”

The tool’s findings will possibly lead to tweaks rather than wholesale changes to a design, suggests Ferrini – but important tweaks nevertheless.

“The main opportunities we see are assessing whether any barriers prevent access to those using certain types of cycles.”

The tool can also show the space requirement of multiple cycles using the same space – “for example, someone overtaking another person cycling, with someone coming the

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other way – which are going to be increasingly relevant as cycle usage increases. It’s up to designers to estimate how likely these instances are going to be as cycling becomes more popular.”

Wider impact The hope is that the tool will lead to the elimination of barriers being designed onto paths, and, indeed, the removal of existing ones.

Ultimately, Ferrini is keen that planners should use the software to eliminate the inherent unfairness between vehicle and non-vehicle design, affording more opportunity for people to choose the latter mode.

It should help planners to understand more clearly the considerations necessary for cycling infrastructure as a whole, guaranteeing cyclists the same status as any other user of space when new transport

AutoTURN Pro bicycle simulation

“Part of the aim is definitely to bring cycles on a par with motorised vehicles when streets are designed,” says Ferrini. “Vehicle swept path analysis is always required before a design can be approved, and the same should be expected for cycles.

“It clearly shows how much more flexible and space-efficient cycles are compared with cars, and how reallocation of space from cars to cycles can lead to more people being able to travel along a street.”

During beta testing, Ferrini has worked with several local authorities providing pro bono checks on designs shared with his team.

The response “has been amazing, to be honest," says Ferrini. We’ve had emails from across the UK and from abroad asking for more information and how they can access the software”.

infrastructure is being designed.

“We hope that planners and local authorities will use the software to ensure the needs of people cycling are given the attention they deserve,” says Ferrini, “and that existing and future infrastructure be designed to be inclusive and accessible to all.”

While not a complex product, AutoTURN’s focus on cycling infrastructure is unusual and possibly unique. Unlike for vehicles, there is no design standard for cycling infrastructure. One hope for this tool is that such a standard might ultimately emerge.

n The software, AutoTURN Pro 11, is released this month. A webinar explaining it can be viewed on demand here: bit.ly/planner0420-AutoTURN

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N AT I O N S &REGIONS

W H AT ’ S H A P P E N I N G I N Y O R K S H I R E ?

HERE’S A ROUND­UP OF THE KEY PROJECTS AND EVENTS IN THE REGION IN 2020

Yorkshire IN THE PIPELINE

The Majestic, home to Channel 4’s HQ, City Square, Leeds Channel 4’s move to Leeds heralds a major upsurge in the cultural and creative life of Yorkshire‘s capital city. Development due to complete mid 2020. bit.ly/planner0420-C4

CITU Developments Climate Innovation District, Leeds + Kelham Island Sheffield Sustainable development company Citu is working on a Climate Innovation District in Leeds, comprising more than 500 lowcarbon homes with manufacturing, leisure, offices and climate-resilient public realm.

The £125 million scheme is a key part of the city’s development plans for South Bank Leeds – “the largest, most ambitious city centre regeneration project in Europe”.

CITU has also been a key developer in Kelham Island, Sheffield, an established and developing urban community. Lessons learnt from the Kelham work are informing the Leeds project. bit.ly/planner0420-Citu

Darley Street Market, Bradford Another piece of Bradford’s ongoing renewal jigsaw. The £21m market development will be the biggest project to date in the regeneration of Bradford city centre. bit.ly/planner0420-Darley

WoodSmith Potash Mine, Whitby The world’s biggest and highest-grade polyhalite* project is to be situated near Whitby in the North York Moors National Park. The mine is anticipated to reach a production capacity of 13 million tons per annum (Mtpa) in 2026 and 20Mtpa by 2029. (* Polyhalite is a mineral salt that can be used as a fertiliser and for other industrial applications.) bit.ly/planner0420-Whitby

Clockwise: Piece Hall, Halifax; Great Barn, Bolton Abbey; St George's Hall, Bradford; The Majestic, Leeds; Fruit Market, Hull

RECENT SUCCESSES

Fruit Market, Hull A joint venture between Wykeland Beal and Hull City Council to revitalise a historic area to create a thriving, cultural, creative hub within the city centre and build on the success of Hull’s 2017 year as City of Culture. (See p.36.) bit.ly/planner0420FruitMarket

Halifax, Piece Hall and Square Chapel Since 1779, the grade I listed Piece Hall has been a meeting point of Halifax’s commercial, civic and cultural life. In an

exciting new chapter, it has been reimagined as a new cultural and commercial centre as one of the UK’s most significant heritage projects.

The Square Chapel Arts Centre Winner of the RTPI Yorkshire Award for Planning Excellence 2019, judges called this project “an inspiring example of the sustainable reuse and creation of an imaginative, quality space between two nationally important buildings recognising how change can be instigated through persistent I M AG E S | S H U T T E RSTO C K / A L A M Y

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Regional contact details: yorkshire@rtpi.org.uk

and consistent engagement between community stakeholders, the council and heritage bodies”. bit.ly/planner0420SquareChapel

Restoration of St George’s Hall, Bradford Another RTPI Yorkshire Award for Planning Excellence 2019 winner: “A wonderful example of the restoration of a grade II listed public hall, so important to the cultural life of Bradford city centre.” bit.ly/planner0420-StGeorge

See more on Yorkshire at the Nations and Regions gateway: bit.ly/PlannerGateway

The Great Barn, Bolton Abbey

W h i tby

This grade II listed 16th No r t h Yo rk M o o r s century barn in North Na t i o n a l Pa rk Yorkshire has been S c a rb o ro u g h redeveloped from Yo rk s h i re D a l e s Na t i o n a l Pa rk derelict storage space into a wedding venue, H a r ro ga te which opened in 2018.

Yo rk Its timber structure has been restored and cluttered B ra d fo rd space cleared away to reveal the scale and simplicity of the H a l i fa x Leeds original building.

K i n gs to n u p o n Hu l l Hu d d e r s f i e l d Scunthorpe Sheffield

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N AT I O N S &REGIONS COMING UP

INSIGHT: HULL FRUIT MARKET

Hull City Council’s economic development and regeneration manager Alex Codd explains how a waterfront project has sparked wider awareness of the value of a commitment to design quality Hull’s Fruit Market, an eclectic mix of warehouse buildings that has been added to over the centuries, has become a good example of why maintaining an independent vision for a revitalisation project matters.

The project, a joint venture between Wykeland Beal and Hull City Council, is based around the city’s Humber Street, work on which won the Academy of Urbanism’s Great Street Award in 2018.

The Fruit Market sits between four entities: Marina Humber frontage, the River Hull and Castle Street.

It’s surrounded by water on three sides with a road into the port on its northern edge. “It’s almost like a little island in the city centre,” says Codd (pictured). ”We could have decided to build something entirely new. But instead we decided to retain as much as we could. It was about creating a unique reason for people to come down to this area.”

“We also took the decision that we didn’t want national chains as occupiers. We were determined that this was about growing independents.”

The success of Humber Street has had unexpected benefits that have elevated the project’s impact.

A new building for the Centre for Digital Industry (C4DI) digital hub persuaded locally based international safety equipment firm Arco to relocate its HQ to the Fruit Market; together, Arco and C4DI are bringing another thousand jobs into

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the heart of Hull city centre.

A £12 million footbridge will link the Fruit Market to the city centre core while £30 million is being spent on pedestrianisation and new surfacing; old goods railway rails have been uncovered and incorporated into new public realm.

Common to all of this has been the time spent on design quality.

“This project has been a major opportunity to alter people’s perception of Hull city centre,” says Codd, “Of course it has cost more, but the success we have had attracting restaurants, galleries and workshops has in turn meant more demand for high-quality office space in this location.”

Meanwhile, JV partner Beal Homes is part way through the site’s 100-unit housing development.

“The Fruit Market has always been this eclectic mix of buildings, so we’ve ensured that the housing has its own variety of roof and brick types, responding well to its setting.”

Hull’s status as European City of Culture in 2017 helped create a receptive environment for the Fruit Market’s revitalisation.

Success has led to greater private sector confidence in other city centre projects, with the council now bidding for money from the High Street Fund for a project on Whitefriargate.

Codd is keen to emphasise the value of having an urban designer on the council payroll.

“They are critical to the quality agenda. You can’t expect a planner working on a local plan or dealing with applications on a daily basis to be able to push it to the same degree. You need someone with that professional background to understand the nuance and detail.”

RTPI Yorkshire has just held its first 2020 conference, ‘Climate Emergency – what next for the UK?’ The event is part of the annual RTPI Yorkshire Conference series of events run since 1990. Here’s the list of remaining 2020 events:

Housing Supply, Affordability and Access to Land Thursday 16 April, Leeds

Development Management: Law and Practice Thursday 14 May, York

Sustainable Urban Design Thursday 11 June, Leeds

Emerging trends in the Residential Sector Wednesday 8 July, Sheffield

Sustainable Planning of Water Thursday 10 September, Leeds

Planning Policy: Process and Practice Thursday 15 October, Leeds

Annual Planning Law Update Thursday 12 November, Leeds

Reimagining our High Streets Wednesday 9 December, Sheffield The full RTPI Yorkshire Conference Series programme can be viewed here: bit.ly/planner0420-Conferences2020

Planning Policy: Process and Practice With a planning green paper on the horizon, more policy changes are on their way. This event on 15 October will consider the most recent reforms to planning policy with practical examples of planmaking and implementation.

RTPI Yorkshire Awards September: Date to be confirmed

Annual Planning Law Update An essential CPD event, this conference on 12 November provides an update on legislation, policy and case law over the previous 12 months and a look forward to anticipated changes. Provided with the support of Eversheds Sutherland LLP. NEXT MONTH:

South West

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CASES &DECISIONS

A N A LY S E D B Y M A T T M O O D Y / A P P E A L S @ T H E P L A N N E R . C O . U K

Traveller pitches allowed despite High Court injunction EXPERT COMMENT

An inspector has granted retrospective permission for 10 traveller pitches in the Hertfordshire countryside that were intentionally set up without authorisation, after deciding that they complied with the local development plan.

The appellants, a traveller group, sought retrospective permission to site 10 traveller pitches each comprising mobile homes, touring caravans and utility buildings on countryside land in Hertfordshire, near the village of Little Hadham, near Bishop’s Stortford.

The caravans all arrived on the site over a single bank holiday weekend in April 2019. The council immediately sought an injunction, and in September a High Court judge issued the settlers with a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

However, they were allowed to remain on the land pending the outcome of the present appeal, which was dealt with at an inquiry in November and December.

Inspector Claire Sherratt considered first whether the development complied with local policy, and then whether there were any material considerations that would justify deviating from it.

She found the location of the site acceptable, ruling that it was not isolated from services and facilities.

Although she found some harm to the character of the

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Bishop's Stortford Independent said the group had decided to start work over the Easter weekend in the hope that council planning and enforcement officers would be enjoying time off.

( However, officers contacted a

judge by phone on Easter Saturday and were able to secure an injunction.

When it was ignored, the council went to the High Court, which handed down a 12 month suspended prison sentence, subject to the outcome of the appeal.

( Since receiving inspector Claire

Sherratt's decision, a spokesperson told The Planner: “The council is seeking counsel’s urgent advice as to whether there are any grounds to challenge the decision of the Planning Inspectorate under s288 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990.

( "If there are strong arguable

LOCATION: Little Hadham AUTHORITY: East Hertfordshire District Council

INSPECTOR: Claire Sherratt PROCEDURE: Inquiry DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ J1915/W/19/3234671

area arising from the scale of the development, she ruled that this was “not undue harm” because the pitches

could be “assimilated into the landscape without significant adverse effect”.

A rule 6 party – Residents of Little Hadham – argued at the inquiry that the development was harmful to highway safety. The key consideration was whether sufficient visibility could be achieved at the site’s access. After considering evidence from both parties, the inspector ruled in favour of the appellant, finding no undue risk to road safety.

Sherratt noted that the occupiers of the site “were fully aware of the need to secure planning permission”, but had developed and occupied it anyway.

grounds, then the council will file a challenge in accordance with the six week statutory time frame.”

The case was therefore one of intentional unauthorised development, she said, which was “a material consideration of great weight” against the application.

However, she ruled, this was not enough to “tip the balance” against the scheme, having found that it accorded with the development plan. There was therefore no need to consider the personal circumstances of the appellants or any other material considerations that might weigh in favour of granting permission, and the appeal was allowed.

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These are just a few of the 40 or so appeal reports that we post each month on our website: www.theplanner.co.uk/decisions

Asylum seekers' accommodation allowed as a ‘care use’ Plans to use a former nursing home in Glasgow as accommodation for 200 asylum seekers would not be a change of use, a reporter has ruled, after considering the definition of the word ‘care’ in Scotland’s use classes.

‘World-class’ environmental assets at risk from golf course

I M AG E S | G E T T Y / I STO C K

Scottish ministers have refused plans to create an 18-hole golf course on sensitive coastal dunes in the Highlands, ruling that the scheme’s environmental harm outweighed its economic benefits.

Fourteen of the course’s 22 hectares would be built on sensitive coastal dunes near Dornoch that are subject to various environmental designations, including a special protection area (SPA), a Ramsar site, and a site of special scientific interest (SSSI).

Despite receiving more than 1,800 objections to the scheme and advice to refuse permission from its planning officers, the Highland Council voted to approve the scheme in June 2018. However, it was called in shortly after for determination by the Scottish Government.

A public inquiry led by two reporters, David Liddell and Timothy Brian, met in February 2019. They found evidence that the scheme could harm wintering birds and their habitats and impede the proper management of the SSSI. They recommended that the scheme should be dismissed.

In their decision, the Scottish ministers acknowledged that the scheme was “consistent with the Scottish Planning Policy (SPP)’s strong support for economic growth, rural development, growing communities and tourism, a key growth sector in the Scottish economy”.

LOCATION: Coul Links However, they noted that it ran contrary to AUTHORITY: The Highland Council the SPP’s emphasis on protecting natural heritage INSPECTOR: David Lidell & Timothy sites and “world-class Brian environmental assets”.

Overall, the ministers PROCEDURE: Recovered appeal ruled, “the likely detriment to natural heritage is not DECISION: Dismissed outweighed by the socioeconomic benefits of the REFERENCE: NA HLD 086 proposal”, such that it could not be described as sustainable development.

The appeal was therefore dismissed.

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The appeal concerned a former nursing home on the outskirts of Glasgow. The appellant, Mack Residential, sought a certificate of lawful use to convert the building into accommodation for people in the initial stages of a claim for refugee status, arguing that the change did not require planning permission because the facility would remain a residential institution under use class 8.

The council disagreed, arguing that the facility would be a sui generis use.

After considering the wording of the Scottish use classes order, reporter Dan Jackman ruled that the meaning of “care” for the purposes of interpreting use classes was not restricted to “purely physical care” – as might be implied by the everyday use of the term – and in fact covered “a broader range of activities, including providing advice”.

Turning to the plans, Jackman noted that as well as 200 bedspaces, the proposed floor layout showed

LOCATION: Glasgow AUTHORITY: Glasgow City Council INSPECTOR: Dan Jackman PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: CLUD 260 2012

accommodation for up to 30 full-time NHS and support staff.

“On a fair reading of the contracts, the staffing levels and the accommodation provided”, Jackman found “a clear intention to provide a programme of care in the sense defined by the use classes order”, at “a scale and level well above what could reasonably be considered ancillary”. Concluding that no change of use would occur as a result of the plans, he allowed the appeal.

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C&D { C Norfolk ‘Paragraph 79’ nitratefiltering eco-home is rejected

LOCATION: Letheringsett AUTHORITY: North Norfolk District Council

INSPECTOR: S J Papworth PROCEDURE: Hearing DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ Y2620/W/19/3236740

The appellant sought permission to build a bespoke four-bedroom eco-house in the North Norfolk countryside under NPPF paragraph 79, which allows for isolated homes in the countryside if they are innovative or of exceptional design quality.

The design included two main innovative features.

The first was a filtration and aeration system to filter pollutant agricultural nutrients from surface water, which would flow through the house.

The second comprised a

TV series plaques would devalue commemoration of real people An inspector has rejected Thame Town Council’s plans to install plaques marking filming locations for Midsomer Murders on six listed buildings in the town, ruling that they would devalue other plaques ‘commemorating real people and events’.

The appellant, Thame Town Council, sought permission from South Oxfordshire District Council to install plaques on six buildings in the town, to indicate locations that had appeared in the ITV series Midsomer Murders.

Four of the buildings were listed at grade II, and two at grade II*.

The appellant indicated that the popularity of the series had encouraged visitors to the area, leading to the establishment of tours and other tourism activities.

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It sought to identify the buildings with plaques to help visitors locate them.

The district council contended that the commemoration of fictional characters and places would devalue the historic plaques scheme, which “commemorates actual events

hibernacular façade – a wall with gaps of varying sizes allowing access to a void that would provide shelter for various creatures.

Considering the chemical filtering mechanism, inspector S J Papworth noted that only a small area of agricultural land would be decontaminated.

Notwithstanding the “symbiosis” between the form of the house and the filtration system that informed it, he considered the scale of the system “immaterial” as a testbed for new technology.

He agreed that it was innovative, but considered it “far from clear” that the system needed to be part of a residential development.

He reached a similar view on the hibernacular façade, saying that while there was scope for using it to mitigate the impact of buildings whose presence is essential, it did not justify the existence of a house. As the design “appeared predicated on solving problems that do not require residential development”, he dismissed the appeal.

and people”.

It referred to English Heritage guidance on commemorative plaques, which advises that while there are some examples of plaques commemorating fictitious characters, and that these “can be popular”, they can also devalue other plaques.

Inspector Tim Wood said the proposed plaques would relate to “an appearance as a location (or perhaps a few appearances) within a relatively recent fictional television drama”. This would “significantly devalue the existing plaques which commemorate individuals or

historic events”, he ruled.

Concluding that the public benefits of the plaques in helping tourists to identify filming locations did not outweigh the “less than substantial” heritage harm he had found, Consequently, Wood dismissed the appeal.

I M AG E S | ST U T T E RSTO C K / I STO C K

An inspector has rejected plans for an eco-home including a filtration system to remove agrochemicals from groundwater, ruling that the design’s technological innovations did not need to be part of a house.

LOCATION: Thame AUTHORITY: South Oxfordshire District Council

INSPECTOR: Tim Wood PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ Q3115/Y/19/3239826

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DECISIONS DIGEST{

SUBSCRIBE to our appeals digest:

https://subs.theplanner. co.uk/register

Art studio’s chassis does not make it a caravan An inspector has upheld enforcement action against a corrugated metal art studio in Bradford-on-Avon that was built off-site and delivered on a trailer, ruling that it was a building for planning purposes. bit.ly/planner0420-Caravan

1.5 tonne ‘camping pods’ are buildings despite manufacturer’s advice

‘Agent of change’ principle precludes office to flats conversion

An inspector has upheld enforcement action against four ‘camping pods’ at a campsite in the New Forest, ruling that they were not caravans or tents but buildings that required planning permission. bit.ly/planner0420-Pods

An inspector has cited both the ‘agent of change’ principle and the impact of mechanical ventilation on wellbeing in refusing prior approval to convert a Crawley office building next to a nightclub into 24 flats. bit.ly/planner0420-Agent

CAMRA evidence counts against pub’s illegal conversion

Housing allowed near motorway despite air quality concerns An inspector has granted outline permission for 90 homes adjacent to a four-lane stretch of the A1(M) motorway in Cambridgeshire, dismissing criticism of the appellant’s air quality assessment. bit.ly/planner0420-Mway

A couple who illegally converted a Herefordshire pub into a home in 2012 have again been refused retrospective permission, after representations from CAMRA and the local parish council at a public hearing persuaded an inspector. bit.ly/planner0420-Pub

Local archaeology knowledge forces refusal of 131 homes

‘Quirky’ conversion of Victorian water tower rejected

An inspector was persuaded to refuse plans for 131 homes in Huntingdonshire at a public hearing, after the county archaeological service presented evidence that the site formed part of a wider prehistoric and Roman managed landscape. bit.ly/planner0420-Roman

An inspector has dismissed plans to convert a water tower in the grounds of a grade II* listed manor house in the Hertfordshire green belt, despite acknowledging that the scheme would be an “interesting and imaginatively quirky” project. bit.ly/planner0420-Tower

18 storey tower held back by affordable housing agreement

Meals on wheels scheme can replace axed council service

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A Carmarthenshire woman’s plan to run a meals on wheels service from an outbuilding at her home to replace a service previously offered by the county council can go ahead, an inspector has ruled, citing the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. bit.ly/planner0420-Meals

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An inspector has cited an incomplete ‘bespoke agreement’ for variable affordable housing in refusing plans for an 18-storey tower comprising 151 flats in Leeds, after overturning four of the council’s five grounds for refusal. bit.ly/planner0420-Leeds

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LLegal landscape OPINION

Working on the highway What constitutes a highway and how does the phrase ‘the top two spits’ affect which body is responsible for its upkeep?

Here, Ruth Stockley explores the latest Supreme Court ruling on highways and what it could mean for developers

At first blush, the word ‘highway’ is a simple, commonly used term.

Somewhat surprisingly, its meaning is not defined in the Highways Act 1980.

Moreover, in the most important highway case reaching the Supreme Court in recent years – London Borough of Southwark v Transport for London [2018] – Lord Briggs stated: “There is in my view no single meaning of highway at common law. The word is sometimes used as a reference to its physical elements.

“Sometimes it is used as a label for the incorporeal rights of the public in relation to the locus in quo. Sometimes, as here, it is used as the label for a species of real property.

When used within a statutory formula, as here, the word necessarily takes its meaning from the context in which it is used.”

A flexible term A reference to ‘highway’ must always be interpreted in the specific context in which it is used.

Developers should be alert to the flexibility of the term’s meaning and ensure

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be sufficient to provide for that in any negotiations all the highway’s support and parties are referring to the drainage. The subsoil below same concept. and the airspace above that A highway’s depth zone of ordinary use are was a focus of the excluded from the highway, court’s decision. A nonand their ownership maintainable highway remains with the subsoil has no depth; it merely owner, often the adjoining comprises its surface over landowners which the public pursuant to the has the right to “THERE IS IN ad medium pass.

MY VIEW NO filum rule.

In contrast, SINGLE MEANING the depth of OF HIGHWAY AT a highway The rights of COMMON LAW. maintainable ownership THE WORD IS at the public Implications for SOMETIMES USED developers are expense vesting AS A REFERENCE significant. in a highway TO ITS PHYSICAL authority under Elements of ELEMENTS” section 263 of development – LORD BRIGGS the Highways outwith the zone Act comprises of ordinary use the “zone of are not within ordinary use”, a the highway and phrase to replace the consent of the oft-used the landowner words “the top two spits”. will be required.

The zone of ordinary use Examples include new is such depth below the bridge structures, both surface, and such airspace in terms of foundation above, necessary to enable and height; suspended the authority to undertake structures over the its highway functions. highway; and infrastructure That will inevitably vary in the subsoil where on a case-by-case basis: a the powers of statutory busy urban carriageway will undertakers cannot be comprise a greater depth relied upon. and airspace than a rural In addition, any footpath. The depth must development value in the

subsoil below and the airspace above the highway should be protected.

Further, the subsoil owner retains all other rights of ownership in the land over which the highway runs, including being the only person with the capacity to dedicate a highway with greater rights over it.

Ruth Stockley is a barrister at Kings Chambers specialising in highways and road traffic regulation and environmental law

In brief Developers should be alert to the flexibility of the term’s meaning and make sure that all parties to negotiations are referring to the same concept.

A non-maintainable highway has no depth; it just comprises a surface over which the public has the right of way.

Development outside the zone of ordinary use are not within the highway and the landowner’s consent is required: e.g. new bridges and suspended structures over the highway.

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EVENTS

CASES

LEGISLATION

NEWS

ANALYSIS

NEWS Court sides with campaigners over ‘unlawful’ Heathrow expansion The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) was unlawful because it failed to take into account the government’s commitment to provisions in the Paris agreement on climate change – ratified by the UK in November 2016.

The ANPS sets the planning policy framework Heathrow Airport will use to bring forth a planning application for its third runway.

The judges, Lord Justice Lindblom, Lord Justice Singh and Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, concluded that “the ANPS was not produced as the law requires, and indeed as Parliament has expressly provided”. They said the statutory regime for formulating a national policy statement, which Parliament put in place in the Planning Act 2008, “was not fully complied with”.

Chris Grayling, transport secretary when the ANPS was approved in June 2018, should have taken into account the Paris agreement “in the preparation of the ANPS and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was not”. The judges consider this to be “legally fatal to the ANPS in its present form” and that it was necessary to grant a reform.

They said the appropriate remedy is “a declaration, the effect of which will be to declare the designation decision unlawful and to prevent the ANPS from having any legal effect unless and until the secretary of state has undertaken a review of it in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions, including the provisions of section 6, 7 and 9 of the Planning Act 2008”.

The review would need to be conducted in accordance with the court’s judgment. The judges made it clear, however, that their decision does not mean they have decided, and they “could not decide” that there will be no third runway.

There were multiple challengers to the Heathrow expansion, including Friends of the Earth, Plan B, the Mayor of London, and several London councils.

Challenges against the expansion were rejected in the High Court last year.

The Court of Appeal did not overturn the High Court’s dismissal of challenges that related to air and noise pollution, traffic, and the cost of the runway – only the challenge regarding the failure to take into consideration the commitment to the Paris agreement.

The government has not sought permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Supreme Court. However, a spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said it would appeal to the Supreme Court and is confident of success.

LEGAL BRIEFS Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill Scotland is set to be the first country in the UK to legislate on the development of heat networks to help meet climate change targets and to tackle fuel poverty. bit.ly/planner0420-HeatNetworks

Shropshire Council cricket club decision ruled out of bounds Michael King, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, has asked Shropshire Council to build and maintain a new boundary fence so that a cricket club can return to its ground. bit.ly/planner0420-Cricket

Chris Packham launches new HS2 challenge Broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham is to challenge the prime minister’s decision to give the goahead to HS2, claiming that the review central to the mandate to proceed was “seriously flawed in its methods”, the BBC reports. bit.ly/planner0420-Packham

Scottish Young Planners influence NPF4 This open-invitation event, to be held in Perth on 28th April, will give young planning professionals in Scotland the chance to have their say on the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF). bit.ly/planner0420-NPF4

n See reaction to the judgment on The Planner: bit.ly/planner0420-Heathrow

Council acts over illegal waste at brickworks site The High Court has granted Calderdale Council’s application for an injunction against people running an illegal waste site at the old Calder Brickworks in Elland.

Council planning enforcement officers have visited the site several times and found evidence that amounted to an alleged breach of planning control.

Waste was still being disposed of without the relevant environmental permit, the council explained. After monitoring activities it issued a stop notice and enforcement notice to the owners and users of the site, which were ignored.

The injunction has been granted against Shelmerdine Haulage Ltd, Bradleigh Shelmerdine and Arthur Hartley. It prohibits a number of activities on the site, such as the importation, deposit, storing and sorting of waste and requires existing waste to be removed and the land to be restored to its previous condition.

Should the owners and users of the site not comply with the injunction, it would be considered contempt of court, which could result in a prison sentence.

Jane Scullion, the council’s cabinet member for regeneration and resources, said: “Regulations are in place to protect people and the environment, and the serious nature of this case has forced us to use every legal power at our disposal to put a stop to the persistent breaches of planning control.

“The continued pattern of wagons entering the site and tipping waste, despite previous council action, led us to conclude that the only option was to seek an injunction to ensure that activity on site stops as soon as possible.”

NAPE Enforcement Handbook Launch The National Association for Planning Enforcement will launch its updated Enforcement Handbook at this free event in London on Monday 11th May. bit.ly/2planner0420-NAPE

Beauty duty Planning lawyer Simon Ricketts shares his thoughts on the Living with Beauty report, published by the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission in January. bit.ly/planner0420-Beauty

Breaking the cycle Ian Griffiths considers why so many mega-projects are delivered late and over budget. bit.ly/planner0420-Mega

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NEWS RTPI news pages are edited

by Will Finch at the RTPI, 41 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DL

Planner Live to explore UK failure to consider children’s rights Child-friendly planning in the UK will come under the microscope at The Planner Live 2020, the RTPI’s relaunched two-day planning convention.

The announcement follows the recent publication of an RTPI report that concluded that children are most notable in the UK’s national planning policies through their absence, despite child-specific legislation and government commitments to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The day one session at The Planner Live – entitled Planning for Children’s Everyday Freedoms – will feature a range of experts including Rethinking Childhood’s Tim Gill, and Arup’s Associate Director of International Development Sara Candiracci.

The panel will outline how a radical shift towards putting children’s rights and needs at the forefront of our thinking about design could create better, more inclusive and healthier places for everybody.

Co-chair of the session will be RTPI Deputy Head of Policy and Research Aude Bicquelet-Lock.

She said: “There is no doubt that outdoor play is not only fundamental to children’s wellbeing and long-term development but is also an effective way of improving community cohesion. Yet

(l-r) Child-friendly planning experts Tim Gill, Aude Bicquelet-Lock and Sara Candiracci will appear at The Planner Live 2020

our report revealed a drastic reduction in the use of outdoor spaces by children in recent years as national policy has increasingly focused on economics rather than people.

“Among a range of issues we’ll be discussing at The Planner Live will be how children’s needs for movement and independence could be given central prominence in national planning policy and how children can be included in decision-making processes.”

Tickets available now A range of one- and two-day tickets for The Planner Live 2020 are on sale now, starting at just £230. Also available are tickets including a special presidential dinner on 29 June hosted by Sue Manns FRTPI. Buy your ticket now at www.rtpi.org.uk/plannerlive

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GUEST SPEAKERS

Other confirmed speakers at the Planner Live in June include • Sarah Richards MRTPI – Planning Inspectorate • Peter Ainsworth – Heritage Alliance • Owain Lloyd-James – Historic England • Richard Dilks – CoMoUK • Claire Haigh – Greener Journeys and Transport Knowledge Hub • Jonathan Bray - Urban Transport Group • Adrian Penfold OBE – Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission • Araceli Camargo – Centric Lab • Mark Farmer – Cast Real Estate & Construction Consultancy • Heather Claridge MRTPI – Architecture and Design Scotland • Deryck Irving – Central Scotland Green Network Trust • Rebecca Wrigley – Rewilding Britain • Joe Barratt – The Teenage Market • Charlotte Orrell MRTPI – Iceni Projects • Mark Dickens – Liverpool City Region Combined Authority n For the latest news, follow the RTPI on Twitter using #PlannerLive2020

I M AG E S | RT P I

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Editorial E: rtpinews@rtpi.org.uk

RTPI (switchboard) T: 020 7929 9494

Registered charity no.

262865 Registered charity in Scotland SCO37841

M Y V I E W O N … S U S TA I N A B L E R E G E N E R AT I O N Martin Jewell believes the restoration of a factory in North London could be used as a model for other community projects Some 200 years ago, the Royal Small Arms factory was established on a 90-acre site in Enfield, North London. The factory closed in 1988 and the site was eventually sold eight years later for housing development, but no commercial organisation was willing to take over the rapidly deteriorating, grade II-listed Machine Shop.

As the Borough Planning Officer of the London Borough of Enfield and a founding Director of the Enfield Enterprise Agency, I helped set up a not-for profit company called RSA Island Village Ltd, which drew up a scheme to bring the former Machine Shop back into viable commercial use.

The £4 million refurbishment commenced in 1998 and the building was officially opened in 2001 – it now provides a village centre for the surrounding residential development, incorporating a doctor’s surgery, gym, community hall, library, small supermarket, youth centre and day nursery as well as small business units.

In 2004, we formed a charity called the RSA Trust which, to date, has distributed over £5 million in surpluses created by RSA Island Village Ltd to worthwhile projects, mostly within Enfield. We have also established the Enfield Island Youth and Community Trust, which runs five clubs for children and teenagers. n Martin Jewell MRTPI Rtd was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours list 2020 for services to business start-ups and to charity in Enfield. For more information on the RSA Island Centre, visit www.rsaic.org

POSITION POINTS

HIGH SPEED NORTH VICTORIA HILLS MRTPI, RTPI CHIEF EXECUTIVE The successful completion of nationally significant infrastructure projects such as HS2 are essential if the government wants to deliver on its ambitions for net-zero and for ‘levelling up’ the country. Our Ambitions for the North report, which we published last year, outlines a spatial framework for people and place in the North of England, so we are absolutely delighted to see that HS2 north of Birmingham, Northern Powerhouse Rail and other local rail improvements will be considered as one integrated masterplan.

This ‘High Speed North’ masterplan must not be solely a PR exercise – it must be part of a compelling spatial vision which capitalises on the opportunity provided by additional investment to connect economies, improve productivity and enable inclusive, sustainable and competitive growth. Planners will be at the heart of creating and delivering the masterplan and we remind government and local authorities to ensure that their planning teams have the resources they need.

Download Ambitions for the North at www.rtpi.org.uk/greatnorthplan

BUILDING BETTER, BUILDING BEAUTIFUL WEI YANG FRTPI, RTPI VICE PRESIDENT Living with Beauty, the report of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, is comprehensive and constructive; as a town planner and urban designer, I am encouraged by the integrated approach and joined-up thinking that it articulates.

I particularly welcome the report’s advocacy of raising the profile and role of planning, the argument for a stronger and more predictable planning system, better resourced planning services, and state-of-the-art capacity building in the built-environment education system, as well as training for professionals and politicians. The report gives a fair evaluation of the fundamental reasons why the delivery of quality places has been compromised, pointing out that one of the most consistent themes in the evidence received was that local authority planning services are under sharp resource pressure – there has been a reduction of 42 per cent in funding over the past decade, with design quality suffering as a result.

Wei was speaking at an event in London with Create Streets. Read her speech in full at www.rtpi.org.uk/media/4322/wei-yang-speech.pdf

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NEWS

RTPI N E W S

Learning Partners sign up for work-shadowing scheme

Would you like to boost your profile as a researcher and promote your work to a wider audience? The RTPI Awards for Research Excellence, now in their sixth year, recognise and promote high-quality, impactful spatial planning research carried out by chartered members and accredited planning schools from around the world. Get your submission in before 18 May – there are categories for senior academics, early career academics, planning practitioners and students.

The awards will be presented at the opening ceremony of the UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference, hosted by the UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning in September.

The RTPI has published guidance to help planners confidently use their independent professional judgement in often controversial, politicised and complicated scenarios.

Probity and the Professional Planner sets out the policy context in all four nations of the UK and in Ireland and looks at how planners can build successful relationships with local councillors. It also provides details of the behaviour standards that councillors are expected to uphold as embodied in the Nolan Principles.

It builds on the RTPI’s Code of Conduct as well as a previous RTPI practice advice note Ethics and Professional Standards.

RTPI England policy officer Max Tolley said: “Professional planners are held in high regard because they deal with important longterm issues that affect the lives of the general public.

Balancing competing needs and preferences in exercising their independent professional judgement is a core part of the role – this guidance has been designed to help planners do that in the best way possible.”

Other advice includes where to draw the line between professional and personal viewpoints on social media, when to raise concerns about poor ethical practices, and how to deal with opposition from local councillors and members of the public in a professional way.

n For more information and to enter, visit bit.ly/planner0420-ResearchAwards, or contact the Research Team by emailing research@rtpi.org.uk

n Download the advice at www.rtpi.org.uk/probity

This year’s edition of the RTPI’s work-shadowing initiative has begun with Young Planners around the country gaining a unique insight into the life of a chief planning officer.

Chief Planners of Tomorrow launched last year, giving planners in the first 10 years of Young Planner Rachel Blanchard (second from right) spent the day at Turley with (l-r) Chrysta Poppitt (Senior Director, HR), post-qualification Stefan Redfern (Head of Business Development and Marketing) experience the and Dave Trimingham (Chief Executive) opportunity to spend and so we were thrilled to be asked to a day with a chief planning officer participate. It’s a great initiative which to understand the challenges and gives the next generation of planning processes involved in making leaders the opportunity to see what strategic decisions at senior level in life is like in a senior position, and local government. understand how high-level decisions For the first time this year, a are made.” number of private consultancies, A record 54 Young Planners will all RTPI Learning Partners, are also take part in the scheme this year. In taking part in the scheme – Turley, total, 26 local authorities are taking Barton Willmore, Iceni and Arup. part, many for the second time, The Manchester office of Turley along with the Welsh and Scottish hosted Rachel Blanchard, a planner governments, the Ministry of Housing, at Dudley Council. Turley Chief Communities and Local Government, Executive Dave Trimingham said: private consultancies and the “We’re committed to nurturing talent Planning Inspectorate. and creating pathways for success

Research awards

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G PLANNIN AHEAD MEMBER NEWS

Key dates for 2020 Finalists at this year’s RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence have been announced.

In total, 116 projects, teams and individuals across 14 categories APR have been selected from a record number of entries. Join us at the Barbican in London to discover the champions in each category, plus the winner of the Silver Jubilee Cup, awarded to the best project overall.

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n For the full list of finalists, visit bit.ly/ planner0420-Finalists2020: for tickets to the ceremony, see bit.ly/planner0420-Excellence Organised by the RTPI and the Mineral Products Association, ‘Minerals 2020: Planning for a Sustainable Future’ will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, MAY environmental bodies and NGOs to assess what effective minerals planning can do to rise to the challenge of reaching net-zero carbon targets. It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet fellow minerals planners, hear from the experts and keep up to date with industry news.

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n Held in London on 12 May from 10am-5pm.

To book, visit bit.ly/planner0420-MPC The Planner Live, the RTPI’s two-day annual convention, is the mustattend event of the planning year, featuring sessions on some of the biggest issues in JUN planning including zero-carbon building and transport, heritage and design, child-friendly planning, modular construction and rewilding.

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n For tickets: bit.ly/planner0420-PlannerLive

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Join us in Edinburgh this autumn for the RTPI Young Planners Conference, hosted by RTPI Scotland Young Planners. The two-day event at McEwan Hall, University of Edinburgh also features a Gala Dinner at the National

Museum of Scotland. n For details, email conferences@rtpi.org.uk

CONDUCT & DISCIPLINE In 2019 the RTPI’s Conduct and Discipline Panel received 44 new complaints against members, some of which are still being considered. This is an increase of 50 per cent from 2018 and is the largest number of complaints received in any year.

The panel sat four times during the year and made decisions on 24 complaints including one which arose from a failure to comply with CPD or Professional Indemnity Insurance requirements, and one related to plagiarism in an APC submission.

Fourteen members were found to be in breach of the Code of Professional Conduct and five letters of advice were issued although no breach of the code was found. Seven members were warned as to their future conduct, five members were reprimanded and two members were suspended.

Two appeals were also submitted. In both instances the member was found to have breached the code and the original sanctions were agreed.

As a result, over the year, 32 per cent of complaints decided have been upheld and in a further 11 per cent of cases members’ actions have been found to be lacking in some respect.

Of the complaints that were investigated, 75 per cent were about consultants’ actions. This large number of complaints stems from both clients and third parties and includes issues of fee disputes, the quality of work undertaken and potential conflicts of interest. Land ownership issues and the use of correct certificates also featured in a number of complaints. n Email conduct@rtpi.org.uk

IN MEMORIAM Scotland Alexander Winton Northern Ireland Andrew Riddell South East Brian Hamilton Gillian Harris Roger Bennett Yorkshire Colin Jacobs East of England David Craig Diana Chapman

Geoffrey Lane Michael West Wyndham Thomas South West Charles Willis Jonathan Paxman Philip Diplock London Corinne Swain Juliet Heap Robert Boote West Midlands Keith Williams

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If a job role’s worth filling…

Don’t just take our word for it - here’s what our customers are saying about Planner Jobs, the official planning recruitment service of the RTPI “We got a good number of applications for the planning of·cer posts and, having a brief look through the submissions, the candidates are from various necks of the woods.

Placing the advert with you has certainlyy helped us to reach a wider audience.”

MAY 2018 – MATTHEW PARRY DAVIES, DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT MANAGER, WIRRAL COUNCIL

“I have to say that the calibre of planners we have had apply through The Planner has really improved over the last three months.”

“I’m pleased to say we were able to appoint to this role (senior planner) and had a good calibre of applications. an Many of them, including the successful Ma candidate, were from yourselves, so ca thank you.” th AU AUGUST 2018 – ALEXANDRA KELLY, RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT, KINGSTON BOROUGH COUNCIL CO

JULY 2018 – CJ OBI, UK HEAD, TOWN PLANNING AND REAL ESTATE, OSBORNE RICHARDSON

“I am pleased to say that following our advertisement with The Plannerr we have successfully recruited high calibre candidates to each of the three vacant posts. There was also signi·cant response to the advertisement from which we were able to shortlist suitable candidates. This is due in no small way to the quality of the advertisement itself and its circulation. I would like to place on record my thanks for your support and assistance, and the professional manner in which dealt with our requests.”

OCTOBER 2018 ALAN N COLEMAN, HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT PLANNING & ENFORCEMENT DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, WORCESTER CITY COUNCIL

“As a start up practice, we had a very limited budget to recruit new graduate level planners. We also wanted to make sure that our job advert was exposed to the greatest amount of RTPI members. After shopping we decided that The Planner offered us the best possible value and reach among the planning community. As a result we were inundated with applications, and have been able to select some very high calibre candidates.”

OCTOBER 2018 – TOM VENABLES, PLANNING DIRECTOR, PRIOR + PARTNERS

“We have had really positive results with the adverts we have placed in The Planner. Our two new principals started with us this week, and we have had a series of interviews off the back of the advert.”

JULY 2018 KEVIN JAMES, SUPPORT TEAM MANAGER, AYLESBURY VALE DISTRICT COUNCIL

“The Planner worked fantastically well for our client’s senior planner role and massively exceeded expected applications! We would heartily recommend them to any client or business for their planning roles.”

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RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENTS

Recruitment {

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PERFECTLY PLACED FOR SUCCESS

Head of Service – Planning Policy G14 – £49,798 - £52,545 per annum We have an opportunity for a professional qualified in Town Planning or a related profession with extensive management experience.

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theplanner.co.uk/jobs 11/03/2020 11:47

ADVERTISER CONTENT

Making moves

The award-winning Stromness Primary School, part of a £58 million schools investment programme

Why Orkney is a great place to be a planner in 2020 Perched 10 miles beyond the northern edge of the British mainland, Orkney is the best place to live in the UK according to the 2019 Halifax Quality of Life Survey.

The islands are famed for their spectacular landscapes and archaeological treasures.

But what sealed the top spot is the quality of life enjoyed by Orcadians: our 20 inhabited islands have a thriving, diverse community with high employment levels, low crime rates, excellent educational and recreational facilities, and good health and happiness scores.

Orkney also has a strong cultural life built on thousands of years of history. Some 5,000 years ago, the prehistoric people of the Orkney Islands began building extraordinary monuments out of stone.

There was a flourishing culture on the islands recognised in Orkney’s worldfamous Neolithic structures – Skara Brae, Maeshowe, Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar achieving UNESCO World Heritage status.

Such enterprise and resourcefulness continues today as the archipelago leads the UK’s drive toward a low-carbon renewable future. We’re home to the world-leading European Marine Energy Centre, as well as a growing centre of excellence based at the Orkney Research and Innovation Campus. Having pioneered the generation of hydrogen from tidal power, plans are under way to use hydrogen for a new generation of ferries serving the islands.

Though the smallest local authority in Scotland, serving a population of just 22,000, Orkney Islands Council endeavours to ensure its citizens have access to high-quality services – including planning. Orkney’s is a leading planning service, recognised through multiple awards in recent years. In 2017, we were the overall winner of the Scottish Award for Quality in Planning ; in 2018, we won the RTPI’s Silver Jubilee Cup for the regeneration of the historic coastal town of Stromness.

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Scapa, one of Orkney's most popular beaches, is spectacular at sunset

Tourists at the entrance to St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall

Work with us Why work here – aside from being part of an award-winning team in a wonderful environment? This is an exciting time for the planning profession in Scotland, with implementation of the 2019 Planning Act expected to transform practice in planning over the next two years, not to mention the forthcoming fourth National Planning Framework. In addition, as a small planning team all staff members get exposure to a broad range of planning issues which are critical to the development of the county. This provides staff with a wider breadth of work experience than most local authorities can provide.

Not only is the Planning Service involved in terrestrial planning, it has now taken on

“Orkney’s is a leading planning service, recognised through multiple awards in recent years” duties associated with marine planning, providing an additional opportunity for the service to develop its expertise.

With good transport links to the Scottish mainland – daily ferry sailings to the mainland and daily flights to the main Scottish cities with subsidised fares for island residents – Orkney is a lot closer and more accessible than you think.

Make the move!

Find out more bit.ly/planner0320-Orkney bit.ly/planner0320-MapsOrkney The Orkney planning service bit.ly/planner0320-PlanningService

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LANDSCAPE

THE MONTH IN PLANNING The best and most interesting reads, websites, films and events that we’ve encountered this month WHAT WE'RE READING 1...

New Towns: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth The solution to the housing crisis has been in our hands all along, say Katy Lock, TCPA director of communities, and Dr Hugh Ellis, TCPA director of policy. This book considers the fate of the 32 new towns built after the New Towns Act of 1946, examines the motivations, execution and successes of the projects, and the lessons that we should learn from them.

From RIBA Books online or at RIBA Bookshops – ISBN-13: 9781859469286

WHAT WE'RE READING 2...

Best Buildings Britain Critics, historians and architects have all been asked to select their best buildings of the past 100 years, each supplying a list of 10 buildings. Any building selected more than once is illustrated and examined in more detail. Contributors include Norman Foster, Piers Gough, Charles Holland and Richard Rogers; critics include Elain Harwood, Bevis Hillier, Jonathan Meades, Alice Rawsthorn and Peter York.

ISBN-13: 978-9460582554

WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING...

The Planner’s Women of Influence 2020 Who are the women working in and around planning who are having an impact – both on individual planners, teams and organisations; and on planning policy and practice?

Every year for International Women's Day, we publish a list of planning’s Women of Influence, as nominated by the readers of The Planner and assessed by a panel of judges. You can find out who made our 2020 list here: bit.ly/planner0420-Women2020

WHERE WE'RE GOING...

Each month the RTPI runs a range of free or low-cost events up and down the UK. Here’s our pick for the next few weeks.

See the full calendar here: bit.ly/planner0420-calendar Learning from Hamburg: lessons for UK Planners 30 April, Leeds School of Planning, Leeds Beckett University Lessons from RTPI Yorkshire and Leeds Beckett’s planning students’ visit to Hamburg are to be explained at this event. Learn about Hamburg’s approach to high-density urban development and the HafenCity docklands regeneration, which is due to house 20,000 people. bit.ly/planner0420-Hamburg

Scottish Young Planners influence NPF4 28th April, Perth, venue TBC

A free event for young planning professionals to have their say on NPF4. As well as external speakers, representatives from the Scottish Government will outline progress and explain plans for the framework. bit.ly/planner0420-NPF4

ROOM@RTPI The challenges of delivering housing 22nd April, The Hilton Hotel, Bournemouth Seminar debating key factors in the Housing Delivery Test, reflecting on the key political challenges in housing delivery and how building design innovation increases sustainability. bit.ly/planner0420-Bournemouth

WHAT WE’RE PLANNING Post-Budget, we’ll consider its implications for planning. Our May edition on design also looks at the implications of the recent Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission report. And as we build towards The Planner Live, we’ll be talking to speakers about the message they intend to deliver. As ever, we’re happy to talk to you about future feature ideas: editorial@theplanner.co.uk

Wellbeing, health and inclusive planning 29th April, Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham Delegates will gain an understanding of the importance of planning to support wellbeing, and explore the fundamentals of placemaking. bit.ly/planner0420-Health

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Book today rtpi.org.uk/training training@rtpi.org.uk + 44 (0)20 7929 8400 @RTPIPlanners #RTPICPD

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