The Planner - July 2021

JULY 2021 LEVELLING UP COASTAL AREAS // p.4 • 14 COUNCILS TO PILOT DIGITAL PLANNING TOOLS // p.8 • LEEDS AIMS FOR NET ZERO BY 2030 // p.18 • WEST BYFLEET’S RETIREMENT VILLAGE // p.26 • SEEKING A ‘JUST TRANSITION’ TO RENEWABLE ENERGY // p.28

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

A NEW AGE FOR CITIES HOW URBAN RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES CAN BREATHE FRESH LIFE INTO TOWN AND CITY CENTRES

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CONTENTS

J U LY

04 NEWS 4 Levelling up on the coast

C O V E R I L L U S T R AT I O N | N E I L S T E V E N S

7 Report highlights benefits of an economic corridor linking Belfast to Dublin 8 Government picks 10 council bids to test digital planning tools 9 Planning and tax crackdown on bulk buying of housing estates 10 14 councils chosen to pilot national model design guide 11 Newsmakers: 10 top stories from The Planner online

18

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT LEVELLING UP MEANS AND I THINK THAT’S A PROBLEM. I’VE NEVER SEEN IT COHERENTLY DEFINED. IT’S NOT A STRATEGY. IT’S RHETORIC.”

OPINION

14 Louise BrookeSmith: Yin and the yang of the renewables rising 16 Jane Maggs:Who decides what’s built in my name?

16 Eiluned Morgan: We need to talk about the many places we need 17 Rob Thompson: Local design guides can be the basis of attractive, healthy and safe neighbourhoods 17 Colette McCormack: First things first – getting to grips with First Homes

QUOTE UNQUOTE

20 21

15

“WE WILL NEED EVERY HOUSING SECTOR – FROM HOMES-FOR-SALE, BUY-TO-LET, BUILD-TO-RENT TO RETIREMENT LIVING, STUDENT ACCOMMODATION AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING – FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS” MELANIE LEECH, CEO OF THE BRITISH PROPERTY FEDERATION, REVS UP THE ORGANISATION’S NEWLY ESTABLISHED AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE

I M AG E | RO B W H I T ROW

FEATURES

INSIGHT

18 Leeds aims to be netzero by 2030. Martin Elliot, the city’s head of strategic planning, explains its wider goals to Huw Morris

38 Cases & decisions: Development decisions, round-up and analysis

22 Urban retirement communities can free up underused housing, take pressure off health services and revive town centres, says Guy Flintoft 26 Visual case study: West Byfleet’s urban retirement village 28 How do we make a ‘just transition’ from fossil fuels to renewables a fair one for communities? asks Matt Moody

26

42 Legal Landscape: Opinions from the legal side of planning

22

44 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 50 What to read, what to watch and how to keep in touch

Make the most of The Planner – mouse over our links for more information

28 J U LY 2 0 2 1 / TH E PLA NNER 3

NEWS

Report { COASTAL COMMUNITIES

Levelling up on the coast

By Laura Edgar

The current Conservative government was elected on its pledge to address regional inequality and to level up the country. Yet much of the talk has been focused inland and on the North: improving east-to-west connections on the train; revitalising high streets and town centres; creating better job opportunities; and the retention of skilled workers. To these ends, areas across England have been supported through various government funds, such as the £3.6 billion Towns Fund and the Future High Streets Fund.

But what of coastal communities?

According to ONS data from October 2020, towns on English and Welsh coasts are more likely to suffer from higher levels of deprivation than noncoastal towns. Two in every three (67 per cent) coastal towns are bracketed in the higher income deprivation category, whether as ‘working towns’ (high job density) or residential towns (low job density), compared with just over one in every three (36 per cent) non-coastal towns.

Eighty-five per cent of towns on the east coast of England – 39 out of 46 towns spanning the East of England, East Midlands, Yorkshire, the Humber and the North East – are in the higher income deprivation category.

On England’s north-west coast the numbers are 16 out of 21.

A bid for Towns Fund money made

by East Lindsey District Council (Lincolnshire) is instructive. The council’s area includes the coastal communities of Skegness and Mablethorpe. In planning its bid, the council found that these towns have high levels of deprivation, health inequalities and low wages (caused by the seasonal nature of the coastal

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The reasons why areas such as Mablethorpe and South Shields (far right) are being ‘left behind’ include low levels of social mobility, lack of available further education, low skills, or declining industries

or similar for the coast. It is also difficult to travel between areas. The focus therefore wasn’t just on post-16 education, but lifelong learning”.

The Town Investment Plan – Skegness states that East Lindsey has the second-highest proportion of 16-to-18-year-olds in England living more than 30 minutes from a further education or sixth-form college (DfE).

The flagship project, a learning campus in partnership with further education provider TEC Group, seeks to Focus on youth address this, with a planned 56 per cent East Lindsey’s assistant director Lydia of Towns Fund money being allocated Rusling told The Planner that the to this problem. The Mablethorpe Town council and its partners had chosen Investment Plan features to focus on skills a campus for future living, and education.

Rusling explains, with the Businesses canvassed ‘CENTRAL TO focus on improving health during the bid ANY SUCCESS IS and wellbeing, attracting spoke of problems THE NEED FOR medical professionals and in employing local A JOINT LONGretaining them. people with the TERM, STRATEGIC In the 2021 Budget, necessary skills.

APPROACH chancellor Rishi Sunak “East Lindsey has FROM CENTRAL allocated Connected disparate further GOVERNMENT IN Coast £48.4 million education,” said TERMS OF BOTH – £23.9 million for Rusling. “Lincoln POLICY AND Mablethorpe and £24.5 has universities, but FUNDING” – million for Skegness. there isn’t a college JOHN SPARKES economy, and now exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic).

To support the Skegness and Mablethorpe bid, Connected Coast was established, with the board seeking to diversify their economies, expand their skills base and establish them as national test beds for future living and natural resource management. The board comprises professionals from the public and private sectors.

PLAN UPFRONT

“THE LEVELLING-UP WHITE PAPER DUE TO BE PUBLISHED LATER THIS YEAR WILL… SET OUT “BOLD NEW POLICY INTERVENTIONS TO HELP IMPROVE LIVELIHOODS, SPREAD OPPORTUNITY AND DRIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH’” –`MHCLG

Other allocations in the Budget to coastal communities include £37.5 million for Southport in Merseyside, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government telling The Planner that a range of “exciting” projects across the town centre and seafront are to be funded, such as transforming Southport Theatre and infrastructure work to support Southport Pleasureland’s ambitions to become a major yearround tourist attraction.

A spokesperson for the ministry pointed to the government’s establishment of eight new freeports, including in the Solent, on the Humber and in Teesside, as part of its work to “support and regenerate communities across the country, including coastal areas”.

The levelling-up white paper due to be published later this year will, we are told, set out “bold new policy interventions to help improve livelihoods, spread opportunity and drive economic growth – all as part of our efforts to build back better from the pandemic”.

Since speaking to MHCLG, the I M AG E S | A L A M Y

ministry has announced further investment from the Towns Fund, including £25 million for Hartlepool and £25 million for Redcar.

Opportunities In principle, the levelling-up agenda should benefit areas like North Tyneside, according to John Sparkes, head of regeneration and economic development at North Tyneside Council. Sparkes believes that the provision of long-term funding programmes from the government, including the Shared Prosperity Fund, “will help overcome some of the barriers that have hampered economic growth in the past”.

“This shared approach to investment in key infrastructure together with longterm investment in education, skills and training will enable us to compete

effectively in international markets.”

Sparkes thinks the levelling-up agenda provides a golden opportunity for the council to work with government in addressing other barriers to inclusive economic growth, such as land/property and development values, “which, in areas such as the North East, are a world away from, say, the South East”.

“As things currently stand, it is not a level playing field and there are significant challenges around speculative commercial property development which often requires significant underwriting/de-risking by the public sector. Central to any success is the need for a joint long-term, strategic approach from central government in terms of both policy and funding.”

Town centres in Killingworth, North Shields, Whitley Bay and Wallsend all have very clear identities, Sparkes

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NEWS

Report { continued, and the council is working to secure their long-term sustainable future by “playing to their strengths and ensuring they complement each other in terms of their retail and leisure offer”.

In North Tyneside, many offshore type businesses are focused on renewables, with the generation of renewable energy “one of many opportunities for supporting our communities”, says Sparkes. Overall though, the long-term sustainability of the region’s coastal communities is dependent on many factors.

“A broad-based economy which aligns with our regional plans for recovery and which reflects our assets such as the River Tyne, our natural heritage and visitor offer, our grade A office accommodation together with our portfolio of industrial sites and buildings will be essential in achieving the inclusive economic growth for the borough.”

disparities between inland and coastal areas will be adequately addressed.

Certainly, for Rusling, “one size won’t fit all in Lincolnshire”. What coastal communities need is different to what Nottingham or Swindon needs.

It is important, she explains, for East Lindsey District Council and Connected Coast, to use everything they have learned from the Towns Fund bid to address the needs of learning, skills and health and maximise investment into heritage.

And it is encouraging, she adds, that the government is looking at heritage and not just creating shiny new buildings as part of its agenda.

The RTPI wants Local Environment Improvement Plans (LEIP) in England to be established, which would bring together all the various environmentrelated plans derived from the EU, now that the UK is no longer a member.

The wider opportunity The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed and half the foreshore around England, says work to support development of the offshore renewables sector as part of the nation’s net-zero ambitions presents opportunities to breathe new life, jobs and growth into areas up and down the country.

For example, six proposed new offshore wind projects in the waters around England and Wales were announced by the Crown Estate in February, as part of its Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4.

Located off the coasts of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, North Wales, Lancashire and Barrow-In-Furness, these sites could “support continued growth and investment in the UK offshore wind sector, which could employ as many as 60,000 people by 2030, up from approximately 11,000 today”.

All told, the UK Government has committed an initial £4 billion for the Levelling Up Fund for England over the next four years and another £800 million has been set aside for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The question is whether, as work on the levelling-up agenda progresses, the

6 T HE PL AN N E R \ J U LY 2 0 2 1

A coherent LEIP would develop a shared understanding of the environment, its problems and options.

Richard Blyth, head of policy and practice at the RTPI, explains that they “would include Shoreline Management Plans and ensure greater coordination of issues affecting districts with coasts in them”.

“LEIPs would also be easier to generate public engagement on and would also be easier to coordinate with local plans. They would be derived from the Local Nature Recovery Strategies envisaged in the environment bill but would go much further.”

Turn to page 28 to see how planners can help to make the shift from fossil fuels to renewables a fair one for communities

In areas like Skegness the pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities and the problems caused by the seasonal nature of the coastal economy

I M AG E | A L A M Y

NEWS

News { Public support for onshore wind energy is ‘sky-high’ The public wants renewable energy to top the government’s agenda for green growth, with support for onshore wind schemes ‘sky-high’, according to the results of a survey.

Renewable energy should be prioritised over all other measures outlined in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s 10-point plan, announced in November 2020, the study discovered.

Measures that scored highly with those polled included: investing £1 billion to make homes, schools and hospitals greener, and energy bills lower; ensuring that there is enough offshore capacity to power every home by 2030; turning water into energy with up to £500 million of investment in hydrogen; and harnessing nature’s ability to absorb carbon by planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year by 2025.

Commissioned by RenewableUK, the YouGov survey asked a weighted sample of 1,700 people to rank all 10 measures into their top five areas in which they think the government should be investing. It found: as many people supported the prioritisation of renewable energy as their top choice than any other green industry.

Support is particularly strong among respondents over the age of 65, with 75% choosing renewable energy as one of their top three priorities for government investment.

Support for building onshore wind farms also scored highly at 70%, with support at an equal level between those living within five miles of a wind farm as those living farther away.

33% of respondents reported that they have a more positive opinion of onshore wind now than they did five years ago.

Approval of buildto-rent homes is on the rise In the first three months of 2021, 6,937 new build-to-rent homes were granted full planning consent in the UK during the first three months of 2021, shows research published by the British Property Federation (BPF).

The organisation said this is the highest number of permissions granted for any quarter in the build-to-rent sector's history. The BPF commissions the quarterly research to Savills, which draws on Glenigan’s planning database and Molior in London. It found: 188,456 – the number of build-to-rent homes either complete, under construction or in planning across the UK. This number is 21% more than the number recorded 12 months ago.

Regions outside London have 105,722 build-to-rent homes either complete (29,673), under construction (19,827) or in planning (56,222).

London has 82,734 build-to-rent homes either completed (28,365), complete (16,227) or in planning (38,142).

There are more than 5,000 completed build-to-rent homes in suburban areas, 10% of all completed homes, which reflects “increasing demand for highquality rental homes” in the UK. Ian Fletcher, director of real estate policy at the BPF, noted that despite the lockdown to stem the spread of Covid-19 at the start of 2021, the build-to-rent sector “has remained resilient – supporting the economy, new construction, jobs, its customers and local communities”.

“Not only has the sector continued to build muchneeded high-quality rental homes across the UK, but it is also diversifying – with plans to deliver more homes in suburban areas than ever before. It is hugely positive to see the sector offering more choice to customers who either choose or need to rent."

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NEWS

News { Government picks 10 council bids to test digital planning tools the adaptation of existing site allocation policies into the proposed land categorisation format.

Housing minister Christopher Pincher has announced a £1.1 million fund to test the use of digital tools and data standards across 10 local areas.

The planning white paper Planning for the Future, published last August, proposed reforms to streamline and modernise the planning system.

The pathfinder programme will look at the digital transformation of local plans to increase community involvement and speed up the planning process.

The government said the introduction of a digital system that makes plans map-based and accessible online would enable local people to engage with planning, which in turn would get homes built faster.

The chosen local authorities will now test how existing local plans translate into the new system, moving away from long text documents to an interactive map with accompanying annotation document and

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The 10 bids selected for the test are: Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council Stratford upon Avon District Council and Warwick District Council Plymouth City Council, South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council Dacorum Borough Council Broxbourne Borough Council Birmingham City Council East Suffolk London Borough of Hounslow Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Ashford Borough Council Pincher said: “We are moving away from notices on lamp posts to an interactive and accessible map-based online system – placing planning at the fingertips of people.

“While the current system excludes residents who do not have the time to contribute to the lengthy and complex planning process, local democracy and accountability will now be enhanced by technology and transparency.”

Read the full story: bit.ly/planner0721-10councils

Perth sustainable expansion project to go ahead A mixed-use sustainable expansion to the city of Perth including about 1,500 new homes has been given the go-ahead by Perth & Kinross Council.

The £500 million Perth West development is claimed to be the first in Scotland to use an integrated approach to logistics, energy, transport, and housing – all based on sustainable technologies.

The John Dewar Lamberkin Trust, which submitted a full planning application last May, has described the project as the “largest carbon-neutral development” in Scotland. Plans for a national innovation business park, leisure and educational provision supported by a smart energy grid are also involved.

The residential section of the development will employ a Designing Streets approach to promote active travel and public transport. Three neighbourhood centres, connected by a pedestrian and cycle-friendly street network in each neighbourhood will offer local facilities and bus connections.

The development is set to be delivered in phases from 2022 onwards.

PLAN UPFRONT

MPs express concern about lack of detail in proposed planning reforms The Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee has expressed concerns about the lack of detail in the government’s proposed planning reforms and suggested a resources and skills strategy should be published ahead of primary legislation.

MPs explained that the lack of detail made it “very difficult” to assess potential practical implications of many of the reforms. Submissions to its inquiry showed that many in the built environment considered there to be a lack of detail in the reforms, some even likening the planning white paper to a green paper.

The committee recommended that the government should consult on the details of the proposed reforms to “prevent unintended consequences” and called for the planning bill announced in the Queen's Speech in May to be brought forward in draft form and subjected to

pre-legislative scrutiny. The committee “stand[s] ready to undertake such scrutiny”.

The report, entitled The Future of the Planning System in England, considers the reforms set out in white paper Planning for the Future in August 2020.

Included among a raft of recommendations is that a use class should be created for retirement communities. Also, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) should seek to obtain a Treasury commitment for an additional £500 million over four years for planning authorities. “Providing this certainty of funding should precede the introduction of the planning bill”, said the committee.

Further, MHCLG should “publish a resources and skills strategy in advance of primarily legislation, to clearly explain how the various skill needs of the

planning system will be met”.

In her response, RTPI chief executive Victoria Hills noted that the report was “thorough and comprehensive”.

“As we have emphasised to government, resourcing for planning is inadequate and reforms will place further demands on them unless this issue is addressed. The committee is entirely correct to state that a major programme of reform is now contingent on government first ensuring the resources are in place. I applaud the call for the Treasury to commit now to putting this in place.”

The institute, Hills added, agrees that a skills and resourcing strategy should precede the bill.

The HCLG report was published as The Planner went to press. You can read the full story here: bit.ly/planner0721-HCLGreport

Planning and tax crackdown on bulk buying of housing estates Irish ministers have announced planning and tax changes designed to crack down on “cuckoo funds” buying up housing estates.

Stamp duty on the purchase of 10 or more houses has risen to 10 per cent in a move which ministers insisted should act as a “significant disincentive” to bulk purchasing of new homes. In addition, all

I M AG E S | A L A M Y / I STO C K / S H U T T E RSTO C K

new houses in newly built estates must be made available for purchase by individuals for two years.

Meanwhile, housing and local government minister Darragh

O’Brien is introducing a new “owner-occupier guarantee” to enable local authorities to designate as many as 50 per cent of units in a new development for owner-occupiers. He is

also issuing a circular requiring local authorities and An Bord Pleanála to prohibit bulk buying of houses and duplexes.

The new planning rules will prohibit bulk buying – defined as more than one unit – for two years. If units remain after that time, they can then be bulk purchased.

Read the full story: bit.ly/planner0721-tax

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / TH E PLA NNER 9

NEWS

News { 14 councils chosen to pilot national model design guide The 14 local planning authorities in England selected to apply the new National Model Design Code (NMDC) to their areas have been announced by housing minister Christopher Pincher.

The code seeks to ensure that new developments are “beautiful, welldesigned and locally led”. The government said the code gives local planning authorities a toolkit of design principles to consider for new schemes, such as street character,

building type, and environmetal heritage and wellbeing factors.

The councils (below) will take part in a six-month test during which they will apply the code. Each pilot will receive a £50,000 grant to carry out the project.

Pincher said the code will “enable local people to set the rules for what developments should look like”.

Read the full story here: bit.ly/planner0721-NMDC

Local authority

Region

Colchester Borough Council, Tendring District

East

Council and Essex County Council Guildford Borough Council

South East

Herefordshire Council

West Midlands

Leeds City Council

Yorkshire & Humber

Mid Devon Council

South West

Newcastle City Council

North East

Dacorum Borough Council

East

Portsmouth City Council

South East

Sefton Council

North West

Southwark Council

London

Hyndburn Borough Council

North West

North West Leicestershire District Council

East Midlands

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council

West Midlands

Buckinghamshire Council

South East

Drakeford creates ‘superministry’ for climate change First Minister Mark Drakeford has stressed that climate change, new green jobs and recovery from Covid-19 will be at the heart of the new government, as he sets up a Welsh ‘super-ministry’ to deal with the climate crisis.

This ‘super-ministry’ will bring together the environment, energy, housing, planning and transport portfolios, led by Julie James.

James was the local government and planning minister in the previous Welsh Government. She will be joined by Lee Waters, who will be her deputy minister in the climate department.

RTPI Cymru’s director Roisin Willmott welcomed the new ministers. “It’s good to see planning integrated under climate action with energy, transport, and housing,” she tweeted. “The RTPI looks forward to working with Julie James and Lee Waters.”

Drakeford said: “In my new government, the environment doesn’t just have a seat at the cabinet table, it will be a consideration in all we do.”

Read the full story: bit.ly/ planner0721-super-ministry

New Scottish planning minister announced Tom Arthur MSP has been named as Scotland’s new planning minister in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s cabinet and ministerial team after the SNP won the Scottish election.

He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in May 2016 as the first SNP MSP for Renfrewshire South.

Arthur has been a deputy whip and previously served as parliamentary

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liaison officer to the cabinet secretary for culture, tourism, and external affairs; the cabinet secretary for health and sport; and the cabinet secretary for justice.

He now joins two other ministers in an expanded finance and economy department under

cabinet member Kate Forbes.

Arthur will be responsible for taking forward the National Planning Framework 4, the implementation of the Planning Act, and the rapidly digitising planning system.

Read the full story: bit.ly/planner0721TomArthur

I M AG E | G E T T Y

CATCH UP WITH THE PLANNER

Newsmakers UK ranked bottom of G7 table for green recovery

The UK has come out bottom of the G7 nations’ ratings for green stimulus to the economy in response to the Covid-19 crisis, according to a study by the Trades Union Congress. bit.ly/planner0721-bottom

1 2

Planning guidance updated to feature First Homes MHCLG has announced changes to Planning Practice Guidance to include First Homes. In a written statement, housing minister Christopher Pincher said that from 28 June 2021, a home meeting the criteria of a First Home will be considered to meet the definition of “affordable housing” for planning purposes. bit.ly/planner0721-FirstHomes

MPs to investigate how rural productivity can be boosted Galway urban regeneration project gains approval

Edward Capital has been given the green light for an ambitious urban regeneration scheme in the heart of Galway city. The proposals, known as Augustine Hill, include a mix of 229 flats, a 130-bed hotel, a six-screen cinema, restaurants and fully pedestrianised streets. bit.ly/planner0721-Galway

Shapps confirms HS2 to Leeds as hybrid bill reforms unveiled

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed that HS2 will be extended to Leeds after fears over mounting costs had prompted speculation about the full scheme going ahead. bit.ly/planner0721-HS2Leeds

TfL strikes deal for £1bn government bailout

Transport for London (TfL) and the government have reached another deal on extended funding in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, amounting to a further £1.08 billion. The deal is the third financing package from central government to TfL to keep the capital’s transport network running after passenger numbers collapsed during the pandemic. bit.ly/planner0721-TfLdeal

‘Queering’ of public spaces would encourage inclusion and accessibility

A report exploring the relationship between queer communities and public spaces recommends rethinking how towns and cities are designed to encourage inclusion for all. bit.ly/ planner0721-inclusivespace I M AG E S | I S TO C K / S H U T T E R S TO C K / N E T WO R K R A I L

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Government seeks to restore and protect nature

Environment secretary George Eustice has outlined how the government plans to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis; take forward recommendations in the Dasgupta Review; and amendments to the environment bill. bit.ly/planner0721protectnature

An inquiry to explore how the rural economy can be boosted in a post-Covid-19 world has been launched by a group of cross-party MPs and peers. It will be led by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse. bit.ly/planner0721ruraleconomy

Inverness Airport railway station plans approved

The Highland Council has approved plans to build a new railway station at Inverness Airport. The station will be built with two platforms on the Aberdeen-Inverness line, with step-free access via a footbridge with lifts, adjacent to Inverness Airport. bit.ly/planner0721InvernessAirportStation

A third of UK population covered by councils pledging net-zero

More than a third of the UK’s population is now represented by local authorities that are planning to reach net-zero emissions ahead of the government’s 2050 commitment. bit.ly/ planner0721-councilzero

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / TH E PLA NNER 11

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LEADER COMMENT

Event Lack of detail makes assessment devilishly hard If there is a standout ‘hot take’ from the HCLG committee’s report on last year’s planning white paper, it’s that there is a need for greater detail, in order to sensibly assess the proposals.

Published as we went to press, the report, The Future of the Planning System in England, has been praised from several quarters for highlighting a swathe of issues with the proposals in last year’s Planning for the Future, most concerning the need for government to fill in some pretty critical blanks.

What level of detail, for example, will local plans need to include in order to ensure that developers and other stakeholders have the necessary clarity about what submitted prospective developments would now qualify for permission in principle?

Stepping back a stage, where is the detail about the growth, renewal and

Martin Read protection zones necessary for the committee to assess how they would function?

Local authorities, suggests the committee, should set out detailed plans for the proposed growth and renewal areas, specifying heights of buildings, density of development, minimum parking standards, access to retail, education, transport, health facilities and other local amenities. (The committee goes on to further suggest ‘sub-areas’ within the renewal zone, with these to

be exempt from permission in principle.)

There is much in the committee’s report that deserves attention. One recommendation, for a new use class for retirement communities, is in fact neatly timed to coincide with our feature on the topic of retirement communities in this edition. Yet what comes out most clearly is the principal concern around a lack of detail surrounding the government’s proposals, and the huge difficulty, as a result, of assessing their practical viability.

We’ve seen, heard and lived through plenty of broad-brush political doctrines. ‘Big Society’, ‘Localism’, a “national crusade” for housebuilding.

And that’s just the past 10 years. As ever, it’s when

“THERE IS MUCH IN THE REPORT THAT DESERVES ATTENTION”

rhetoric meets detail that any political doctrine faces its sternest test. Speaking of which, elsewhere in this edition Leeds’ head of strategic planning Martin Elliott tells us: “I don’t know what levelling up means and I think that’s a problem.

I’ve never seen it coherently defined. It’s not a strategy.

It’s rhetoric.”

There’s more to come later this year concerning the wider levelling-up agenda.

But the HCLG report has served to highlight how coherent definitions are crucial to the success of any set of proposals. The government’s next steps will be interesting indeed.

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J U LY 2 0 2 1 / THE PLA NNER 13

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

Opinion

Yin and the yang of the renewables rising For those who have even the slightest Buddhist leanings, yin and yang will have some resonance. For everyone else, the edict of ‘for every positive, there’s a negative’ might ring louder bells.

Consequences are inevitable when there is change, whether change to the evermoving feast that is planning policy, statute and regulations, or simply attitudes and trends.

They are even more apparent when there are technological breakthroughs and changes in how we live, work and play.

When all of these collide, as they appear to have done as an outcome of the pandemic, the benefits can be fabulous. I cite the emergence of a vaccine in a matter of months; the adoption of a national green mindset, acceptance that mental health isn’t something to hide under the carpet and that you don’t have to be chained to a desk in the city to be productive.

But while we are seeing many positives, the practical outcomes that follow big changes need to be carefully managed to avoid complications, unintended consequences and confusion.

Let’s look at the enthusiasm for renewable energy. Almost everyone appears to think this is a positive and long-awaited move and good for us and the environment. If you ignore the political blip that meant that the taxable benefits of creating solar farms across the countryside were placed in a state of disarray for a few years, then even the government seems to have

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now got its act together and there is genuine support for all things green.

Wind farms are raising their sails across land and sea, tidal barrages are being constructed, helping to remove those unsightly mud flats and creating much sought-after ‘waterfront locations’ and even biogas plants seem to be accepted by local parish councils who are presenting themselves as ‘totally with the green agenda’. So, it’s all rosy.

But we’ve been here before with big socio-economic changes. Granted, the decision by a certain female prime minister to topple unions and close pits was less to do with technological change and more political dogma, but remember the impact on the coalfields, pit towns and iron and steel plants?

Those monotown economies

“PRACTICAL OUTCOMES THAT FOLLOW MAJOR CHANGES NEED TO BE CAREFULLY MANAGED” ran huge risks and many succumbed to desolation, with massive unemployment.

The move away from fossil fuels will hit the Middle East and the oilfields of Texas, but also our own oil-centred towns. The petrochemical and fossil fuel industries with their huge ports and depots will need to look to new uses.

The same applies to petrol stations, which will go when electric charging is possible anywhere on the grid system.

Retail outlets and leisure facilities will lure us into parking areas with cheap or free electricity for our Teslas, while we watch a film or shop.

And all those petrol filling stations can be repurposed for anything the next imaginative round of PDRs thinks up.

I’m sure there are inventive architects who could squeeze at least six or seven twobedroom units around those leaded and diesel pumps and have them as features in the corner of the room.

If we can turn offices, barns and warehouses into liveable space, then transforming underground fuel tanks should be easy.

At the moment, the upside of the fast-paced adoption of renewable energy is clear.

Creating renewable industries and constructing swathes of battery plants across the country are to the fore at every switched-on local authority. They get that we will all need the appropriate battery packs to keep our motors running and our smart cities will need the electrical wizardry to keep us powered.

So, provided we don’t put all our eggs into one basket and become entirely dependent on a single electro-industry, then the yin and yang of the renewable revolution will be a happy and balanced one.

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

Quote unquote FROM THE RTPI AND THE WEB

“The forthcoming Spending Review needs to provide councils with a multi-year settlement that puts local government funding on a longterm sustainable footing” A LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION SPOKESPERSON RESPONDS TO THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE REPORT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE

“Build-to-rent was always destined to dominate the long-term vision of developers and residents alike, but the pandemic has now expedited that process of evolution” GED MCPARTLIN OF ASCEND PROPERTIES ON THE SURVEY HIS FIRM HAS DONE TO ESTABLISH HOW BUILD-TORENT DEVELOPMENTS ARE ‘BEGINNING TO DOMINATE’ THE NEW-BUILD SECTOR

“We will need every housing sector – from homes-for-sale, buy-to-let, build-to-rent to retirement living, student accommodation and affordable housing – firing on all cylinders”

GARY DICKSON OF THE SCOTTISH FEDERATION OF HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS ON HOW THE PANDEMIC HAS PUSHED THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL SKILLS UP THE AGENDA (“IT’S ABOUT BUSINESS STRATEGY, STRUCTURE, LEADERS, TEAMS, STAFF SKILL AND CONFIDENCE LEVELS AND MUCH MORE”)

I M AG E S | S H U T T E RSTO C K

ANDREW WHITAKER AT THE HOME BUILDERS FEDERATION BEMOANS THE CONTRAST BETWEEN NEW LICHFIELDS RESEARCH SUGGESTING THAT NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH PLANNING PERMISSIONS EXIST TO MEET GOVERNMENT TARGETS – AND RECENT STATEMENTS BY THE LGA THAT ENOUGH EXTANT PLANNING PERMISSIONS DO INDEED EXIST FOR THAT PURPOSE.

“We find ourselves at a critical moment.

With planning playing a central role in supporting a green and economic recovery postCovid, the system must be resourced effectively.”

MELANIE LEECH, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE BRITISH PROPERTY FEDERATION, REVS UP THE ORGANISATION’S NEWLY ESTABLISHED AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE

“Digital maturity should be considered not simply a static end point; it’s not a goal that can be reached and then marked ‘done’”

“Local planning authorities should be under an obligation to prepare more transparent data that reflects what is actually happening and avoids double counting of replanned schemes and lapsed consents”

“Barely a year after work ground to a halt on building sites across the UK, builders are now busier than they have been at any time in nearly seven years”

RTPI SCOTLAND CONVENOR BARBARA CUMMINS ON THE INSTITUTE’S RESEARCH SHOWING A STEEP DECLINE IN RESOURCING FOR SCOTTISH PLANNING AUTHORITIES OVER THE PAST DECADE

GARETH BELSHAM, DIRECTOR OF PROPERTY CONSULTANCY NAISMITHS, WELCOMES THE UK’S LATEST CONSTRUCTION PMI DATA

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / THE PLA NNER 15

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

Opinion

1 BLOG

2 BLOG

Jane Maggs is vicechair of Southgate District Civic Voice and a Planner Woman of Influence 2021

Who decides what’s built in my name?

In March 2019, I watched fellow Southgate residents voicing anger and frustration about a proposed development close to their homes. Unaware of the developer’s public exhibition, they feared the worst.

Fast-forward a few weeks and the same neighbours are in a workshop organised by Southgate District Civic Voice, discussing what should be built on the site. It was clear that day that our community wanted change and for the site to be redeveloped, but in a way that enhanced our town and complemented its heritage.

What everyone wanted was a voice in the process and the developer to listen and work with us to produce a more imaginative scheme. It would probably have been cheaper in the long run.

Fast-forward again to 2021’s potentially substantial changes to planning legislation. One concern I have is that moving community participation to the local plan stage could exclude vast numbers of residents from key decisions on their neighbourhood.

The involvement of local people will rely on those with time and resources to discuss plans years in advance of anything happening. The town

centre site discussed at our workshop is surrounded by housing, next to a conservation area. It could be redeveloped as offices, housing or a mix.

It could be zoned in a variety of ways now, but perhaps differently in the future. How will we argue for a change in designation?

The civic society I belong to will comment and engage.

But our borough has a diverse population, from mansion owners to those just able to rent rooms. If you rent and are likely to move on, why engage in a local plan consultation? If you are a new resident, not around during the consultation, how do you have a say in proposed developments?

In reality, many will be excluded from the decisionmaking process; that doesn’t really seem to be inclusive consultation. Then again, much of this debate is rendered meaningless by permitted development!

Many ideas are being discussed as a result of the planning white paper and that has to be a good thing. But if local people are not part of the whole conversation then the ‘thing’ that makes our town centres what they are could be lost forever.

“THE INVOLVEMENT OF LOCAL PEOPLE IN THE PROCESS WILL RELY ON THOSE WITH TIME AND RESOURCES TO DISCUSS PLANS AND AESTHETICS YEARS IN ADVANCE”

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Eiluned Morgan MRTPI is a retired planner who formerly worked for the London Borough of Southwark and the Milton Keynes Development Corporation

We need to talk about the many places we need

Are you like me? I feel so grateful that I have a spacious home with a garden, office space, a dining table and places to relax and make a mess in.

We can go on long walks, enjoy the natural world and buy local food. I worked for Southwark Council and am aware how different life is for others.

We regularly see reports showing that nature is good for our health, as are exercise, companionship, quiet, the arts, a secure home and so on, but what we don’t have, as far as I know, is a comprehensive expression of the many different places we need.

In the 19th century some industrialists built model communities; this was followed by the Garden City movement. These were inspired by people with strong political and compassionate principles. In 1977 Christopher Alexander’s book The Pattern Language explored the different environments people need within and around their homes.

It didn’t get traction and as time has gone on, dare I say, planning has become much more mechanistic and soulless.

In 1943 Abraham Maslow, a psychologist, began his assessment of human needs. As a very minimum, he said our physiological needs for shelter, warmth and food need to be

met. But there are other needs, including security, a sense of belonging, opportunities for personal development and – at the top of his pyramid of needs – harmony, order and beauty.

We are grappling with formidable challenges. The effects of climate change and Covid-19 require big decisions about how we live. This rethink could provide us with a unique opportunity to seriously consider how people’s everyday lives should be improved by identifying a framework that would include a comprehensive set of criteria against which proposed and existing development could be evaluated.

Even politicians, are taking a renewed interest in the idea of wellbeing. Are we as planners prepared to meet this challenge and to think seriously about the different environments that people need to flourish? I’d like to see the RTPI lead a debate on the ‘Many places we need’. We could bring in sociologists, social workers, town managers or even draw on the Buddhist chakra system! No doubt some will feel this is a waste of time. But as a profession should we question whether we are setting our sights too low? Should planners be more idealistic, visionary as well as skilled implementers of government policy?

“WE COULD BRING IN SOCIOLOGISTS, SOCIAL WORKERS, TOWN MANAGERS OR EVEN DRAW ON THE BUDDHIST CHAKRA SYSTEM!”

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

Rob Thompson is an urban designer at North West Leicestershire District Council

Local design guides can be the basis of attractive, healthy and safe neighbourhoods

North West Leicestershire District Council has been picked as one of 14 councils to pilot the creation of a local design code based on the National Model Design Code. This is the next stage of a 14-year design journey that has significantly raised standards across the district and continued the transformation of a former coalfield area.

It’s an attractive place to live, within the National Forest between Leicester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Derby There is pressure for development; the local plan has a target of 480 dwellings a year.

The council doesn’t want to stand still, but to develop the vision for the district in conjunction with the local plan review. The pilot is a great way for us to reassess and balance our priorities against the National Model Design Code.

We already have an excellent good practice SPD, but it was written four years ago. This has put in place a methodology for evaluating place and encouraged a 'landscape-led' approach to development that recognises the role of the National Forest and Charnwood Forest within the district.

We’re looking to refresh this and align it with the National Model Design Code, taking on board lessons learned over

4 BLOG

the past 14 years. We won’t necessarily be specific about what goes where, but want to ensure that when development comes forward it is informed by the council’s aspirations for good placemaking. However, our planning policy team is involved with the pilot because they review the local plan, so it will contribute to thinking about what goes where.

There will always be a variety of views. Our guide will encourage the creation of connected, attractive, safe, and healthy neighbourhoods that promote active travel and social interaction, with access to green space. We think these are things the public and council officers will see eye to eye on.

A design guide offers consistency – which should not be confused with monotony.

Coherence creates or reinforces character. Most Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian neighbourhoods, for example, employed a consistency of material but avoided monotony in detailing that provides visual interest and authenticity and helps to tie a development together.

Time will be the ultimate test, but we think our local design guide will open the door to more attractive, safe, green and healthy places founded on stronger public support.

“A DESIGN GUIDE OFFERS CONSISTENCY – WHICH SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH MONOTONY”

Colette McCormack (pictured) and Lindsay Garratt are partners in the planning team at Winckworth Sherwood

First things first – getting to grips with First Homes

A new kind of affordable housing, First Homes will offer discounted properties to firsttime buyers purchasing new-build homes. Crucially, from 28 June it will be mandatory for a quarter of affordable homes to be delivered as First Homes – limiting the amount of other affordable models like shared ownership and Discount Market Sale (DMS). The scheme looks familiar to some of those more established models, but there are significant differences.

Both First Homes and DMS offer homes at a discounted rate.

Both are sold through the developer, offered conditionally based on eligibility criteria and require restrictions on the title to reflect the discount.

So far, so similar. But the industry will need to get to grips with crucial differences.

The most obvious is the discount. DMS usually offers 20 per cent off market value; First Homes requires a 30 per cent minimum discount. Local authorities will be able to require discounts up to 50 per cent, but will need an evidence base, making it unlikely that we’ll see higher discounts initially. First Homes will also have a price cap of £250,000 (£420,000 in London). Both of

these measures may affect the viability of developments.

With more affordable homes aimed at first-time buyers, there will be fewer for others. Social rent will be prioritised next, but this could mean squeezing out other forms of affordable housing, particularly intermediate tenures such as shared ownership. When many local authorities are keen to increase the availability of rental housing, favouring home ownership may fail to get to the root of affordable housing need in some places.

DMS is often seen as being complicated, requiring bespoke drafting which can be costly. In contrast, First Homes will use a standardised framework. This should build confidence, both for councils and for lenders, who have been reluctant to lend on DMS homes.

The impact of First Homes will be felt across the industry.

As with all planning changes, local authorities will be key to delivery. There must be financial support for councils to prevent delay and to support planners, developers, and mortgage lenders to make sure First Homes achieves what it has set out to. Ultimately, this is about empowering people to get on the housing ladder and improving communities.

“WITH MORE AFFORDABLE HOMES AIMED AT FIRST-TIME BUYERS, THERE WILL BE FEWER LEFT FOR OTHERS”

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / THE PLA NNER 1 7

INTERVIEW: MARTIN ELLIOT

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MORE THAN ZERO LEEDS WANTS TO BE NET-ZERO BY 2030. MARTIN ELLIOT, THE CITY’S HEAD OF STRATEGIC PLANNING, TELLS HUW MORRIS HOW REACHING THIS GOAL WILL ALSO MEAN TACKLING POVERTY, CREATING JOBS AND IMPROVING LIVING ENVIRONMENTS

I M AG E S |

RO B W H I T ROW

M

artin Elliot recalls his last conversation with Patsy Healey, the planning professor who was his tutor at Newcastle University. Her advice would inform the rest of his career.

“She said to me: ‘You’re going to get very frustrated with the planning system unless you learn how to exploit the cracks, put your foot into a tiny gap and widen it.

If you expect it all to be very easy, you’re going to be very frustrated’.

“I’ve spent my career trying not to be frustrated as a planner,” he adds.

More than 20 years later, Elliot is trying to widen those cracks as head of strategic planning at Leeds City Council.

After declaring a climate emergency in

March 2019, the authority has set a target of net-zero by 2030, well before the government’s legislated aim of 2050.

The motivation is simple, he says. The United Nations warns that the window of opportunity for limiting global warming to under 1.5 degrees will vanish within the next decade. Every place has a carbon budget. For Leeds, it is around four million tonnes a year. Under a business-as-usual scenario, the city will exhaust that by 2029 – 21 years before the government’s target.

Elliot admits that the city faces a “massive task” but points to the groundwork laid by the Leeds Climate Commission. This independent voluntary citywide partnership has developed a netzero road map. The 2030 target, he says, focuses on thinking “not just radically

about how we mitigate carbon, but how we as a local authority organise ourselves, how I as a planner do my job and think about what planning is for”.

Playing the carbon card Leeds is the second-largest planning authority outside of London, home to 1.9 million people, most of whom live in a dense urban area surrounded by green belt and standalone settlements.

Around 80 per cent of development is on brownfield land.

Yet Leeds faces a dilemma. Elliot says while it can tick the strategic sustainability boxes for reducing the need to travel and avoiding greenfield use, its densely populated inner-city areas are susceptible to climate change. These areas have

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / TH E PLA NNER 19

narrative to one of places the most deprivation, the “THE VIABILITY and quality. Those houses fewest green spaces and the CARD SHOULDN’T greatest health inequalities.

BE AT THE TOP, IT can be built within quality places, which is a much “If we’re looking at the SHOULD BE THE better way of framing vulnerability of the urban CARBON CARD” the agenda. environment to climate “Trying to get a change, particularly urban plan through a public heating and the need for examination and the cooling, those areas are evidence that you need, you going to be hit quite hard. feel you’re having to work twice as hard They also happen to be areas where the for those bits of the net gain, sustainable less affluent populations live. development equation that sit under “For inclusive growth and dealing with society and the environment than you do inner-city communities, the greening of for those that sit under economy. Then that environment is going to be there’s that overriding viability trump card really important.” that is often played.

Elliot points to the overwhelming “It’s really refreshing to almost reset consensus on climate change “pointing what that pack of cards looks like. The in the same direction that planners have known for many years but found very hard viability card shouldn’t be at the top, it to deliver”. A key factor in this delay is that should be the carbon card.”

Optimistically, the commission thinks the past 10 years of his career have been Leeds can reach 50 per cent of its target devoted to housing delivery. by “cost-effective, cost-neutral measures”, “While it’s important to focus on especially through energy-efficient and housing numbers, we need to change the

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insulated homes but also “changing the way we travel by swapping petrol for pedals and feet”. His team is working closely with the authority’s transport planners towards “a city where nobody needs a car”.

By 2030, Leeds will also feature much more green infrastructure. “We know we need to plant more trees and we want green infrastructure to play a much more massive role in supporting development.

That’s going to be particularly felt in the urban area because Leeds has been really successful at doing what the government wants, which is delivering most of our homes on brownfield land.

“We need to change the way we build homes, focusing on homes that are fabric efficient, so that in future more and better technologies can be implemented so that they’re not leaking energy and heat like they currently do. And we also need to find sites for renewable energy generation to support national plans to decarbonise the energy grid.”

Leeds will look at how goods and materials move around the city, including exploiting its canals for more freight transport. Yet reaching much of the netzero target is something of an unknown quantity. Technically possible solutions such as zero-carbon heavy goods vehicles, wider electrification of industry, use of hydrogen and massive carbon sequestration, “are not necessarily within the gift of planning to deliver”.

Yet there are considerable rewards if Leeds succeeds. “We will have generated jobs, we will have tackled poverty, we will have reduced congestion, we will have improved air quality, and we will have enhanced public health.

“It’s not about why we should do this.

It’s about why we wouldn’t do it.”

A rhetorical question This suggests a more substantive way of fulfilling the government’s levelling-up agenda. Here the absence of coherent government policy shouts volumes.

“I don’t know what levelling up means and I think that’s a problem. I’ve never seen it coherently defined. It’s not a strategy. It’s rhetoric.

“What planning needs is certainty and if we’re asked to create a strategic longterm plan that responds to rhetoric, it becomes very difficult because you’ve got nothing to rely on. Until levelling up is clarified, it’s going to be difficult to engage

INTERVIEW: MARTIN ELLIOT C U R RI CU L U M V I T AE

Martin Elliot Born: Age: 48 Education: Master’s degree in geography, university of Glasgow 1991-97; Master’s degree in town planning, University of Newcastle 19971999; Post-graduate certificate in management and leadership, Leeds Beckett University, 2006-07 Career highlights

1999

Graduate planner, Leeds City Council

2004

Senior planner, promoted to team leader for planning and sustainability, North Yorkshire County Council

2006

Planning manager, Yorkshire and Humber Regional Assembly

2009

Head of planning delivery, Local Government Yorkshire and Humber

2010

Planning manager, York and North Yorkshire Partnership Unit

2011

Director of town planning, Elliot Planning Ltd, Head of strategic planning, Leeds City Council, October 2019 to the present

2013

Data and GIS mapping team leader, Leeds City Council

2013-14

Treasurer of the RTPI’s Yorkshire branch

2016

Group manager for policy and plans, Leeds City Council

2019-present

Head of strategic planning, Leeds City Council

with, particularly for community engagement, “I DON’T KNOW infrastructure.” there is a lot of WHAT LEVELLING where Leeds is the largest fear the community will UP MEANS AND I city in Western Europe only get one chance, and THINK THAT’S A without a mass transit if it misses that chance PROBLEM. I’VE public transport system, it won’t get another. Or if NEVER SEEN IT while having the secondthey put a lot of effort in COHERENTLY largest housing target upfront design, that DEFINED. IT’S NOT the outside London. The gets watered down when A STRATEGY. IT’S government wants to it comes to delivery.”

RHETORIC” increase that by 35 per Nevertheless, Elliot cent to 3,763 homes a remains upbeat. The year, behind Birmingham city sits at the heart of a at 4,829. city region and the West “You can’t do that Yorkshire Combined without infrastructure Authority, which recently and our community infrastructure levy elected Batley and Spen MP Tracy is almost wholly spent on propping Brabin as mayor. Eliot says he is up our schools budget, with some of it “encouraged by the mayor and what the allocated to construct a massive flood mayor can bring”, particularly the focus alleviation scheme for the River Aire, on placemaking and tackling the city’s which flows through the city centre. transit deficit.

So it’s difficult to see how self-funding Other opportunities include the can be used to support strategic National Planning Policy Framework mass transport.” reference to the UN’s Sustainable So what does he think of the Development Goals, the drive towards government’s planning reforms? Will net gains and the forthcoming they help to achieve Leeds’s aims? environment bill’s focus on “The reforms were an opportunity natural capital. for the government to really celebrate “There’s something for me to work what planning is about and they’ve with to legally promote what my missed that opportunity.” He says the members want, which is a balance government was right to call its white between housebuilding, health and paper Fixing the Broken Housing wellbeing and inclusive growth.

Market as “that sits at the root of a lot of “It’s for people like me to do what the difficulties” in delivering 300,000 Patsy Healey said. Put your foot in the homes nationally a year. crack, widen it, then exploit it. So that’s “Unfortunately, they’ve gone back what I’ll do.” to a bit of a planning-bashing and a technocratic land-use rhetoric, n Huw Morris is consultant editor which goes against what we’re trying with The Planner to do in Leeds, which is more place-based and about trying to advocate solutions that don’t just rely on the granting of planning permission and how quickly you can get something delivered.

“If those 300,000 homes are tackling the climate emergency visibly, helping with the health and wellbeing agenda and they are places that people want to live in, then local opposition to them will fall away. What we’ve got now is not a very explicit means of upfront

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NEW AGE

LIVING RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES IN URBAN AREAS CAN RELEASE UNDERUSED HOUSING, RELIEVE PRESSURE ON HEALTH SERVICES AND REVIVE TOWN CENTRES. THEY CAN ALSO REWRITE OUR SOCIAL CONTRACT WITH THE ELDERLY, ARGUES GUY FLINTOFT

O

ver the next 15 years, the number of over-75s will increase by 60 per cent, with most people entering this life stage in good health.

This group are unlike their predecessors in that they prize independence and they are driving demand for a lifestyle that promotes aspirational, independent, positive ageing.

Despite their growing self-sufficiency, there are still problems inherent in the way we think about the elderly. Society’s perception of ageing has become focused on challenges rather than opportunities – older people are often thought of as a drain on resources rather than a resource in their own right. The economic and societal benefits of improving long-term wellbeing for our older generation are underestimated.

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This is reflected in the way we plan our built environment. There is a clear provision gap in housing for those who are ageing well and not heavily reliant on regular care.

Older people who could be supported to live healthy, independent lives have few options between their long-time family homes and full-time care. So, many people stay where they are, however unsuitable; this leads to a downward spiral of health, which can make an eventual move into full-time care inevitable.

I L L U S T R AT I O N | N E I L S T E V E N S

HOUSING WITH CARE

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HOUSING WITH CARE

There is an opportunity to break this cycle with a new generation of retirement living, built around the idea that prevention is more effective than cure.

This new generation of retirement housing can bridge the current gap, enabling older people to be socially and economically active members of society.

Thinking anew about the way we plan for and provide housing for retired people can present a huge regeneration opportunity for local communities and the wider economy. It also has the potential to create a paradigm shift in society’s perception of ageing.

How so? To begin with, local politicians understand that town centres are vital to how we function as a society and are looking, with even greater urgency because of Covid, to attract investment and sanction new uses for vacant space.

By turning these spaces into highquality housing for older people, we would be encouraging a resident population which could inject muchneeded life into town centres and investment into local businesses.

What’s more, enabling people to downsize while they’re still active and independent would have two effects: it would free up housing for younger people to get on the housing ladder and stay local; and it would relieve pressures on our local health and social care systems, for the reasons outlined above.

By focusing investment in new

retirement housing on the edges of town and city centres there is an opportunity to transform the later living landscape in the UK. A new kind of design and wellbeing-led ‘urban retirement village’ which faces into communities and provides shared amenities such as open spaces, libraries and gyms can also breathe new life into town centres and help to regenerate urban areas for everyone’s benefit.

This ‘urbanisation’ of the established retirement village concept is the focus of Retirement Villages Group’s £2 billion development programme targeted at developing more than 40 new urban sites over the next 10 years across the UK. The first two – in Chester and West Byfleet, Surrey – have received planning approval, with the support of local authorities and endorsement of parish councils and local groups who recognised the social and economic value of having active and healthy retired people at the heart of their communities.

Long-term money entering the sector is a catalyst for change that will go some way to responding to the rising demand from over-65s for a better quality of accommodation that enables independent living with close connections to local communities.

But if we really are to close the retirement housing gap then individual

A visualisation of the proposed urban retirement village in West Byfleet, Surrey. See pages 26-27 for details.

planning authorities, local councils and central government must recognise the social and economic value inherent in building the right kind of homes for our older generation.They must inspire a new attitude to ageing in the UK.

Closing the policy gaps On the whole, national planning policy is supportive and sympathetic to the housing with care sector. Indeed, the government’s planning practice guidance (PPG) within its National Planning Policy Framework states that meeting the needs of older people is a “critical issue” and that local authorities should attempt to measure this need and plan accordingly.

However, the fact that the Planning

What the National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Practice Guidance says National planning policy states that “the need to provide housing for older people is critical”. It stipulates that plans must provide for specialist housing for older people – including housing with care – where a need exists. It instructs local planmaking authorities to determine the need and apply the policy framework.

For example, plan-making bodies must determine the needs of people who will be approaching or reaching retirement over the plan period; they must set clear policies to address the housing needs of older people; and they must count

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housing provided for older people against their housing requirements.

The local planning authority is also the arbiter of whether a development for specialist housing for older people falls into the C2 (residential institutions) or C3 (dwelling house) use class.

Separate viability guidance sets out how planmakers and decision-takers should take account of viability. Decision-makers are encouraged to consider the location and viability of a development when assessing planning applications for specialist housing for older people.

HOUSING WITH CARE

Parliamentary support for change of use Just before this issue of The Planner went to press, Parliament’s Housing Communities and Local Government Committee advocated the creation of “a C2R use class for retirement communities to ensure clarity in the planning process”. The committee’s Future of the planning system in England report, a response to the government’s Planning for the Future white paper, also recommended a “statutory obligation that Local Plans identify sites for specialist housing”. Their recommendations align with the ‘asks’ outlined by Guy Flintoft in this article.

“THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIETAL BENEFITS OF IMPROVING LONG-TERM WELLBEING FOR OUR OLDER GENERATION ARE GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED”

for the Future white paper gives special mention to forms of housing such as selfbuilds, but neglects specialist housing for older people, suggests a certain disregard for the housing with care sector within central government. There remains a need for national policy to be more explicit in acknowledging that housing with care for older people is distinct from other types of specialist housing and has different operational and viability characteristics.

More issues lie in the application of policies at a local level. Preoccupied by wider issues such as market-wide low housing numbers, supporting first-time buyers and creating more affordable housing, the broader socio-economic benefits of improving provisions of housing with care for older people are widely overlooked.

This is perpetuated by a lack of granular, critical analysis of need and demand when it comes to the UK’s housing with care sector and the levels of provision.

One clear example is forecasting tools: the PPG points to online tools for measuring and forecasting the need for specialist housing for older people, based on current levels of specialist housing and on population growth. Yet, this does not account for the fact that provision today I M AG E | R E T I R E M E N T V I L L AG E S G RO U P

is already lacking. It cannot, therefore, accurately forecast what society will need in the future, but only reinforce the inadequate national picture of our housing provision.

To close the provision gap, there are some simple ‘asks’ from policymakers and practitioners. The first is for a more robust tool for measuring the need for housing with care. One approach could be for the government to declare that a percentage of all housing built should be housing with care, rather than leaving it to local assessments.

The second ask is for greater education about – and familiarity with – the housing with care sector at a local level. Many local planners have a general knowledge of the sector but lack the deeper understanding of the demographic it supports. Accessible housing has become the default solution to cater for older people, but this does not provide the right kind of support akin to specific specialist housing for older people. There ought to be a more joinedup approach between local planners and the social and healthcare sectors to assess the level of need.

Whether it is through access to greater resources and information or training courses, local authorities and their advisers should be encouraged to learn about retirement living products on the market and to give greater thought to what their delivery looks like in real terms and kinds of sites they require.

The third ask is for greater clarity on the retirement living use class. Although most local planning authorities now accept that housing with care falls within use class C2 (residential institutions), as opposed to C3 (dwelling houses,

and likely to require an affordable housing contribution), the policy position on such development often remains unclear.

There needs to be an approach to use class and affordable housing policies that levels the playing field between housing with care and general market housing. This needs to be substantiated by guidance and best practice on deliverability, so that local planners can properly assess applications, site requirements and set planning targets.

Retirement developers like RVG and its residents do not require special treatment or impose a demand on public funds. They simply require a more sympathetic and informed view of the housing with care sector.

We have seen the benefits when a local authority understands the positive contribution that retirement communities can make to local communities. In West Byfleet, Woking Borough Council has embraced RVG’s vision for later life living (see A closer look, pages 26-7). It sees not only how the development meets the needs of residents and provides better health and wellbeing outcomes, but also the role it can play in the social and economic fabric of the local community.

As we come out of the pandemic, retirement communities will have an important role to play in the creation of a better post-Covid social contract with the older generation. We must do all we can to enable them to remain valued and active members of our society. n Guy Flintoft MRTPI is planning and design director for Retirement Villages Group

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CASE STUDY

CLOSER LOOK:

WEST BYFLEET’S URBAN RETIREMENT VILLAGE RETIREMENT VILLAGES GROUP HAS PLANS TO BUILD MORE THAN 40 DEVELOPMENTS FOR OLDER PEOPLE IN URBAN AREAS IN THE UK. WEST BYFLEET IN SURREY IS THE LOCATION OF ONE OF THE FIRST TWO PROPOSALS TO BE GIVEN PERMISSION

1

Regeneration game: Sheer House was built in the 1960s to revitalise West Byfleet village with shops and offices, a library and parking space. Over time, units closed and the site fell out of favour with residents. After a series of refused applications and failed appeals, Woking Borough Council approved its demolition in 2017 and replacement with homes, shops, offices, library and car park.

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CASE STUDY

4

Cultural revolution: As well as delivering 196 apartments for retirement living, the scheme aims to bring economic, social and cultural activity back into the centre of West Byfleet. A ‘village square’ will feature seating, trees and water features within shops, a restaurant and café, a residents’ roof bar, a community space, a public library and public car parking.

Amenities that would ordinarily be provided for the private use of the retirement residents will be made available to the public.

2

Community: Retirement Villages Group (RVG) acquired the site in 2020, securing a section 73 in December to allow the residential component to be a retirement community.

In April 2021, Woking Council granted consent for its reserved matters planning application.

5

Energy-saving: Sustainability is prominent in a number of areas. A particular focus has been whole-life carbon, with the fabric and the all-electric energy strategy designed to minimise energy use and maximise energy from on-site renewables, mostly in the form of air source heat pumps.

Embodied energy is also being addressed with residual embedded and operational carbon being

offset to create a net-zero carbon development.

The design achieves a net biodiversity gain in excess of 200 per cent using the

3

Arts and Crafts: Working with PRP Architects, Retirement Villages Group is keen to reflect the character of West Byfleet in the architecture and materials of the new building, reflecting the Arts & Crafts movement that was prominent in the area. Designs eschew Modernism and the existing 1960s Brutalism and take inspiration from neighbouring conservation areas, drawing ideas from motifs and carvings found in local buildings such as St John’s Church.

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BREEAM measure, while the development is on track to achieve a 3-star score under the Fitwell sustainability scheme.

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Local call: “It’s less often about good local policy, it’s more about good local decision-making,” says Guy Flintoft, planning and design director for Retirement Villages Group. “Our latest development at West Byfleet is an excellent example of where the local authority has made an incisive decision to approve the roll-out of 196 retirement living apartments to replace a 1960s seven-storey office block and shopping precinct to deliver widespread benefits to the local area.”

Explore more: ARCO, the Association of Retirement Community Operators is calling for a Housing with Care Task Force to bridge the gap in provision.

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TRANSITION TO RENEWABLES

Just

within reach

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TRANSITION TO RENEWABLES

HOW DO WE MAKE THE SHIFT FROM FOSSIL FUELS TO RENEWABLES A FAIR ONE FOR COMMUNITIES THAT WILL LOSE INDUSTRIES AND JOBS – AND WHERE DO PLANNERS COME IN? MATT MOODY CONSIDERS THE IDEA OF A ‘JUST TRANSITION’

I

direct public funding to ensure that “the burden of n 2018, an idea that first emerged in the retraining costs do not fall solely on workers”.

1970s became a global policy priority. On A “like for like” replacement of extractive the opening day of the COP24 UN Climate jobs with renewables maintenance jobs won’t Conference, more than 50 countries work, says Hardy, because offshore wind, for signed the Silesia Declaration, setting out example, doesn’t need the same level of in-person the concept of a “just transition” to a low-carbon maintenance as oil. Instead, he suggests, the economy that will protect those whose livelihoods government must strengthen local supply chains. depend on fossil fuels. Coming a year after “Manufacturing will deliver jobs for people leaving President Trump’s decision to withdraw the US the extractive industry. If we simply become an from the Paris Climate agreement, the declaration importer of technology which is bolted together in challenged policymakers around the world to take the UK, there will not be enough quality jobs for a positive approach to decarbonisation without people to move into.” forgetting its social and economic impacts.

Therefore, the commission recommends a There are few places in the world where this “more prescriptive” approach to balancing act has higher stakes than public funding to “build strong and Aberdeen. Since the discovery of “IF WE SIMPLY resilient local supply chains”. oil deposits in the North Sea in the BECOME AN Overall, the commission made 1970s, the energy industry has created IMPORTER OF 24 recommendations, submitting an estimated half a million jobs in TECHNOLOGY its report in March, shortly before and around the city, which is one WHICH IS BOLTED the Scottish government went of the richest places in Britain. As TOGETHER IN into purdah for the summer’s its economy is so reliant on energy, THE UK, THERE parliamentary elections. The managing its transition is of crucial WILL NOT BE Scottish National Party, which importance, both for Aberdeen and ENOUGH QUALITY recorded a decisive victory at the for Scotland.

JOBS FOR election, incorporated many of the With that in mind, in 2019 Scottish PEOPLE TO commission’s recommendations ministers set up the independent MOVE INTO” into its manifesto, including the Just Transition Commission, with a appointment of a minister for remit to offer “practical, affordable Just Transition. Hardy and the rest and realistic recommendations” to of the commissioners are now the government. The commission looking forward to “seeing what the gathered experts from a range of government can do”, with COP26 fields, including Richard Hardy, to be held in Glasgow later this year. national secretary for Scotland and Ireland at the The UK government has also taken steps to help trade union Prospect. the oil and gas industry transition to a low-carbon For Hardy, one of the commission’s most future, announcing an agreement with the sector important recommendations was that of a “skills called the North Sea Transition Deal in March. As guarantee” for workers in extractive industries. well as setting targets for a staggered reduction Although some workers will be able to move into in emissions and pledging £16 billion towards new opportunities in renewable energy relatively renewable technology, the deal also included a easily, others will not, he warns, and “it can’t vow to guarantee that “50 per cent of offshore simply be left to workers” to not only decide what decommissioning and new energy technology skills they need, but to fund their retraining. “It’s a projects will be provided by local businesses”, moving market,” he says, “and if you get it wrong, which the government has said will “support up to you’ve saddled yourself with debt and lost your 40,000 jobs across the supply chain”. job.” For this reason, the commission called for

I M AG E | I STO C K

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / THE PLA NNER 29

Just emerging In Asturias, northern Spain, authorities are using geothermal energy technology to bring jobs back to former coal mines. The mines are flooded with water which is warmed by natural geothermal heat, before being converted to energy through a heat exchanger system.

Similar technology is emerging in Britain. At the end of 2020, the coal authority published maps showing the extent of heat stored in abandoned coal mines. More than 30 opportunities to harvest geothermal energy exist across the country, the authority says, with the potential to “kick-start a new industry”.

Aberdeen, meanwhile, has become an international centre of hydrogen technology.

The city boasts one of the largest fleets of hydrogenpowered public transport and service vehicles in Europe.

The council is also working with public and private sector shareholders to develop a “hydrogen hub” that will make hydrogen fuel available on a commercially viable basis.

The deal has come in for strong criticism, however, over the decision to continue awarding licences for oil and gas extraction. Instead of announcing an end to new licences in line with Denmark, Ireland and other countries, the government instead intends to introduce a ‘climate compatibility checkpoint’ – which it has promised to design and implement by the end of 2021 – that will be used to determine whether future licences are “aligned with wider climate objectives”. This decision has been called “a mix of Nations are seeking to build green economies that don’t leave oil and gas workers behind

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denial and delusion” by Friends of the Earth Scotland.

A journey with communities Although national government action will be crucial, engagement at every level is needed to secure a just transition – including local and regional government and at grassroots level, says Isabella Krabbe, climate change research officer at the RTPI. She says planners have a “very important” role to play in “supporting a just transition and ensuring that the journey is made with communities”.

“Marginalised communities are often the most vulnerable to climate change, so it’s simply not possible to identify a place’s key vulnerabilities without their meaningful input”, Krabbe points out.

Not only that, but “the sheer scale of the infrastructure transformation needed (eg, settlement relocation, or the installation of new energy systems and flood barriers), and the trade-offs required mean it’s crucial that planners’ interventions are understood and supported by the public”.

Key to community engagement is avoiding pessimism about climate change, suggests Catherine Queen, a planner and lecturer at the University of Liverpool whose research has explored the problems that arise as a result of public disengagement from planning.

“Some climate change measures put

TRANSITION TO RENEWABLES

Just everywhere The concept of ‘just transition’ was coined in the 1970s by the American union leader Tony Mazzocchi, who argued that workers whose jobs would be threatened by nuclear disarmament should be compensated. The idea began to be applied to workers in environmentally damaging industries in the 1990s, and from there, it spread beyond the trade union movement and around the world.

In 2017, former president Donald Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris agreement, citing the need to protect the US oil industry. In France, the Gilets Jaunes mass protests were sparked by the

government’s plans to raise carbon taxes. Both incidents served to illustrate the importance of nurturing popular support for a just transition.

Communities all over the world are working to build green economies that don’t leave workers behind. In Asturias, northern Spain, hundreds of mines closed in the 1990s, devastating the area’s prospects. Now, geothermal energy technology is being used to generate renewable energy – and new jobs [see Just emerging]. In Canada, plans to phase out coal were supported by a transition task force, which consulted with communities across the country to develop policy recommendations.

also suggests that those working in the forward by planners are seen as quite extractive industries should not be made punitive by the public. People don’t want to feel “attacked and devalued”, lest a message of doom and gloom or to feel they become disengaged from work to punished; they want to know what they decarbonise their sector. can do to help.”

Queen also mentions the importance At a local level in particular, it’s of promoting just transition principles important not to give the impression through people who command respect that “decisions have already been in their communities. made”, or that measures “If you’re talking to an are being “done to” the “I WANT TO agricultural community public. Instead, planners CELEBRATE THE about climate change, should engage the public ACHIEVEMENT a local farmer may be by holding discussions in OF ALL THAT more relatable than if you places where local people PLANNERS introduce an expert from “feel empowered”, she HAVE DONE FOR ‘outside’ the community says, citing her visits to MORE THAN A who actually has no agricultural shows CENTURY” conception of how that in Cumbria. community works,” she Realism is just says. The Climate Outreach as important as report echoes this point, optimism, however. noting the importance According to a report of working with “trusted messengers” on broadening engagement with just to circumvent the stereotype of the transition published by the climate “moralising environmentalist”. communications organisation Climate Another thing for planners to bear Outreach in 2020, “simplistic, utopian in mind, Krabbe notes, is that wellstatements about a shift to a world of designed climate change policies can green jobs are unlikely to go down well” also help to address “a range of social with workers who may be “cynical about issues for which climate change is not the reality” of whether there will be the primary driver”. One example of enough jobs to transition to. this is green infrastructure: as well as Instead, says the report, “honesty being “a central component of climate about the nature of the challenge is likely adaptation policy, crucial to addressing to be far more effective”. The report

overheating, flooding and soil erosion”, natural features benefit our mental and physical wellbeing, too. Another example is public transport provision, which brings a host of social benefits, as well as reducing carbon emissions. This “holistic perspective” can help decision-makers adopt (and fund) policies that contribute towards adaptation to climate change, says Krabbe, “even when they might be reluctant to consider addressing climate change as an end in itself”.

For planners at local authority level to be able to take “ambitious, place-based action” to engage the local community and ensure a just transition, they must be well resourced, adds Krabbe. “A decade of austerity has impacted the ability of local authorities to lead the delivery of climate action, and they must be properly resourced by the government to help ensure a just transition”. The RTPI has demanded a £500 million “planning delivery fund” on this basis, with £67 million over four years specifically to deliver the equivalent of one full-time planner working exclusively on climateproofing policy. With COP26 coming to Glasgow this autumn, pressure on the government to lend more support is likely to continue to grow.

The UK government is taking steps to help the oil and gas industry transition to a lowcarbon future with the North Sea Transition Deal

I M AG E S | G E T T Y

n Matt Moody is section editor with The Planner

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Tech { L A N D S C A P E

P33 TECH P38 DECISIONS P42 LEGAL P 5 0 W H AT ' S O N

DIGITAL PATHWAYS INTO THE PUBLIC REALM THIS MONTH: WHY THE GOVERNMENT’S PATHFINDER PROJECT IS A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION AND A PUBLIC SECTOR COLLABORATION THAT COULD OPEN A NEW GATEWAY INTO THE PLANNING SYSTEM

Planning bills may come and go, but digitisation is here to stay The government’s Local Plan Pathfinder project is another step on the unstoppable march towards digital, says Alex Tosetti Since the Queen’s Speech the planning sector has been full of speculation. Key elements of the planning white paper – digitisation, speed of delivery, efficiency, citizen engagement and data sharing – are firmly in the spotlight. The possible themes of the forthcoming planning bill are hotly debated, but one thing is clear: technology is already, and must continue to be, a driving element of our industry.

This has been reinforced with the announcement on 1 June of the government’s £1.1 million Pathfinder pilot scheme, in which 10 councils will trial digital planning tools (see news,page 8 ).

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An accessible, digitised system can be of benefit from the beginning of local plan development. Digitisation can speed up housing delivery and give communities greater understanding of, and involvement in, plans, and digital collaboration across teams enables planning and design decisions to be made efficiently.

Progressive adoption of digital tools will give the planning system scope to seamlessly bring together the strengths and opinions of planners, developers, architects, builders and citizens.

Digital tools can help to visualise and communicate proposed developments to a wider audience, allowing citizens to engage with the plan from the outset. This in turn allows planning professionals to understand if a development is supported from its earliest stages, thus helping to ‘derisk’ projects.

The pandemic has increased the use of digital technology, for example, in virtual planning committees. Many are keen to keep these virtual meetings in place because of the gains in public participation, which reinforces democracy within planning.

James Jamieson, chairman of the Local Government Association, has voiced his concern that without continued virtual meetings we risk undoing the progress made and damaging “our vital local democratic process”. Using 3D visualisation in meetings, for example, can help a citizen understand in real time how a development will affect the view from their front door This is helping to rebuild trust between citizens, developers and local authorities.

Citizen engagement goes hand in hand with levelling up. Digital technology platforms can bring communities and under-engaged groups into the planning conversation.

They can diversify planning, cut through its jargon and red tape, and enable citizens to experience how developments will affect them.

This can help to alleviate fear of the development process.

Digital tools play into the wider levelling-up agenda by facilitating development and speeding up delivery of the homes and infrastructure required to boost regional growth.

We have heard from recently elected mayors across the country pledges to digitise, innovate and decarbonise their regions and communities. To achieve this at scale, it will be important to invest in the latest technology.

The planning world must wait patiently for the publication of the planning bill. In the meantime, proptech and plantech businesses are continuing to create digital solutions that will help to deliver a better planning system for all. n Alex Tosetti is chief commercial officer for VU.CITY

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RTPI Online Events 2021

NEW programme announced

View programme here

In a series of weekly webinars we help planners navigate the current crisis, keep up their CPD and explore the most discussed topics in the profession right now.

The RTPI Online Events series is FREE to members. Non-member tickets cost £25.

We also offer in-depth CPD masterclasses, a National Events Series, awards, regional social events and bitesized training modules on RTPI Learn.

Visit our website for more information.

#RTPIOnlineEvents

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Tech { L A N D S C A P E Pushing at an open door

A simple search tool could make local planning more accessible

Tasked with devising a digital approach to planning notices, Camden Borough Council and its partners are developing an app that could make the planning system more accessible for all In May’s Tech Landscape, we talked about how the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had invited private sector providers to develop digital planning notices. In fact, this is not the only government-backed project looking at how planning notices can become more accessible and informative through digitisation; in fact, planning notices are just one of a number of related projects being developed by local authorities under the aegis of the Local Digital Collaboration Unit.

This was created by MHCLG to drive “digital innovation in public services” through collaboration between public sector organisations. At its heart is a Local Digital Declaration, now signed by more than a third of English local authorities, which aims to create a ‘wiki’-style community, which is selfsustaining, open and collaborative.

In the case of planning notices, Camden and Middlesbrough councils have been working since late 2020 on redesigning the traditional – some might say archaic – planning notice for the digital age. Camden is also involved in the related Reducing Invalid Planning Applications and Back Office Planning System projects that we've previously covered.

What started as a rethink of one element of the planning process, however, quickly became the Digital Place Based Engagement project which views the planning notice as a gateway into a broader engagement with local planning.

“We saw an opportunity to build on some discovery work in the community around social media,”

explains Richard Limbrick, people of [different] “AT THE POINT Camden’s planning ethnic backgrounds”.

THAT YOU applications team manager.

How can their views on SEE THE SITE “But it also tied in nicely planning applications be NOTICE, MOST with other projects, because obtained?

PEOPLE ARE we're looking at collecting She goes on: “The site BUSY DOING applicant information as notice was one of those SOMETHING data and passing it through things that appears to ELSE” to the Back Office Planning be clunky and difficult System, and trying to to engage with – at the get away from PDFs and point that you see it, documents. most people are busy “We thought here's a good doing something else. opportunity to work out how Very few people would we can take that data and communicate think ‘Oh, I'm just going to take a it more effectively [to residents].” photograph of that home, then log It’s part of a wider picture of on to my laptop and look through 60 “maximising the social value of PDF documents’. planning”, adds Kirsty Paul, the “The reality is that only the only council’s development plan manager. people that were doing that were Her previous work had identified people who were really aggrieved by particular groups of residents who that particular proposal.” were consistently disengaged from the Complexity, too, is a barrier. As planning process – “people who are Paul points out, residents also have time poor, people who are younger, to negotiate a litany of plans: the

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Tech { L A N D S C A P E A digital tool can steer residents through feedback processes

London Plan, Camden’s local plan, neighbourhood plans, site allocations, and area frameworks. At a technical level, planning is not simple to grasp.

A well-designed digital site notice, she says, “can kind of help pull that sort of story together”; it can “lead people on a journey through to understanding what's happening in the borough”.

The possibilities were considerable when Camden and partner Middlesbrough Council appointed FutureGov to deliver design work over 10 weeks, starting in December 2020 and finishing on 1 March 2021. A multistage process followed: a review of existing research on attitudes and interest in planning; testing hypotheses drawn from research with residents and local authority planners; designing a prototype digital site notice, focusing on user experience; testing this with residents; and refining into a design brief for a digital version of the site notice.

Although the process reinforced some of the planners’ assumptions about barriers to engagement with planning, it challenged others. As expected, jargon-

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Find out more Digital Place Based Engagement project Local Digital Collaboration Unit Digital Declaration Reducing Invalid Planning Applications project Back Office Planning System project

free language and developer’s images worked well; but one of the biggest barriers to engagement they found was that, even though people could see how to feed back on proposals, they didn’t know what aspects of proposals they should be commenting on.

The team learned that effective ways of soliciting meaningful responses included asking clear and specific questions and offering a variety of

ways to feed back, including multiple choice questions, open questions and sentiment capture tools.

They also realised, as Limbrick explains, the extent to which their simple planning notice app could be used to engage residents in a wider set of consultations and decisions. “You can use the site not just to look at the planning application, we can actually start to collect local spending priorities through the planning application.”

There were other surprises: one of the hard-to-reach residents, a young graduate living in local authority housing with her family, surprised the team by prioritising transport and open space over housing. It showed the dangers of making assumptions about the people you haven’t engaged with.

The exercise has already led to a Twitter bot that pulls from existing data to tweet applications as they open for consultation. It’s also identified data gaps which the planners would like to fill so they can provide residents with as full a picture as possible of the potential impacts of proposals.

The ‘second phase’ of the project looms. “We're in procurement at the moment to try and find the delivery partner,” says Limbrick. But the team is also looking at conducting a ‘manual’ test of the system they’re developing on a real-life scheme, in order to see “if there’s a difference in the kind of engagement we get, in terms of quality, breadth, and and how many people engage”.

What have the planners themselves learned from the Digital Place Based Engagement project so far? “It was really useful for me because I just see everything through a planner’s brain now, for better or worse,” admits Jonathan McClue, Camden’s deputy team leader. “So just going through these digital site notices was really eye-opening for me, seeing how people interact, and what they care about.

“Probably the biggest thing for me was just trying to appreciate how people perceive planning and what people want to get out of us. It’s not what you think.” n Simon Wicks is deputy editor of The Planner

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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

450-year-old East London bell foundry conversion approved A junior minister at MHCLG has approved a US venture capitalist’s plans to redevelop a grade II* listed bell foundry in Whitechapel, leading the housing secretary to announce a review into ‘how PINS and planning policy considers and defends heritage’.

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Kate Olley is a barrister at Landmark Chambers

( “The bells cast at Whitechapel have been described as ‘the voices of nations’, marking the world’s ‘celebrations and sorrows’ and representing ‘principles of emancipation, freedom of expression and justice’ and therefore some of the most important intangible cultural heritage in Britain.

LOCATION: Whitechapel AUTHORITY: Tower Hamlets Borough Council

INSPECTOR: Paul Griffiths PROCEDURE: Called-in decision DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ E5900/V/20/3245430

The application had been called in by the housing secretary, but in June 2020, however, housing minister Christopher Pincher mistakenly told Parliament that the scheme involved the demolition of the listed

building, and that it had already been refused by Jenrick. Both Pincher and Jenrick therefore recused themselves from the case, leaving junior minister Luke Hall to determine it.

In his decision, Hall described the design of the proposed hotel as “subtle and pleasingly understated”, saying that the inclusion of a bell and gantry on the roof “seemed an appropriate reference to the former use of the site”. He also praised the proposal’s “reintroduction of foundry operations into the building in areas where traditional bell founding used to take place”.

He agreed with his inspector that Re-Form’s proposals were “of limited consequence”, because “the presence of an alternative

( With the secretary of state having accepted the inspector’s recommendation that permission be granted for a scheme including a boutique hotel, campaign group Save The Whitechapel Bell Foundry considers this the death knell for any future for the building as a fully working foundry, even given the plan for the public to watch the casting of hand bells in a mini foundry behind a glass screen; that was castigated by those acting for objector Re-Form as ‘about as much use as a chocolate teapot’. Perhaps the former owner is correct: ‘The foundry was the people.

And that has gone’. ( “The case underlines the importance of being able to fully demonstrate the viability of any alternative case: having fought and won the right to an inperson inquiry, which was in the event conducted virtually, Re-Form’s rival plan to return the foundry to active use went down in flames, dismissed as ‘well-intentioned’ by the inspector who referred to its ‘mere presence’ and found no firm financial footing for it.”

Read the full comment on our website: bit.ly/planner0721-olley

scheme offers no justification to resist a proposal that is otherwise acceptable”.

Overall, he found, material considerations justified a grant of permission.

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The decision concerned the grade II* listed Whitechapel Bell Foundry in East London, which was the oldest manufacturing company in Britain, having started up in 1570. It was known for making the Liberty Bell and for recasting ‘Big Ben’.

After its closure in 2017, US investment firm Raycliff Capital sought permission to redevelop the site. The listed building was to be converted into a café, along with “interpretation spaces, workspaces and workshops”.

A miniature foundry was also proposed, separated from the café by a glazed screen, to allow visitors to observe small handbells being cast. The second part of the proposal involved replacing an unlisted 1980s building with a seven-storey hotel with 103 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar, and rooftop pool.

Alternative plans had also been put forward by the charity Re-Form, which sought to reinstate the building’s original foundry use in a similar way to its award-winning work at the grade II* listed Middleport Pottery, near Stoke-on-Trent.

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‘Architectural lineage’ helps to justify Hampstead homes An inspector has approved two 'Georgian-style' homes next to a listed former pub in Hampstead despite finding harm to living conditions, citing the ‘rare circumstances’ of the case, in which the architect had been the student of the listed building’s designer.

LOCATION: Hampstead

Jenrick rejects calls for stricter emissions conditions The housing secretary has rejected Swale Borough Council’s attempts to impose stringent carbonreduction conditions on plans for 675 homes at Sittingbourne, Kent, ruling that the conditions ‘went beyond current and emerging national policy’.

The appeal concerned a hybrid application to build 675 homes west of Sittingbourne, Kent. The council objected to the emissions specifications in the appellants’ section 106 agreement, seeking to apply more stringent standards by a planning condition.

In line with its climate change declaration of 2019, it sought to impose a condition requiring a 5 per cent cut in carbon emissions compared with existing building regulations for the first three years of the scheme, rising to a 100 per cent reduction by 2028. The appeal scheme, on the other hand, offered a reduction of just 2 per cent.

Inspector Baird said that “the planning regime has a role to play and cannot leave climate change to other regimes to deal with, particularly when those regimes have not kept pace with the requirement to take urgent and material action”. The “scale and urgency of the climate change emergency” justified more stringent conditions, he advised.

In his decision letter, Jenrick agreed that “the need for housebuilding to become greener, warmer and LOCATION: Sittingbourne more energy efficient has become more urgent”.

AUTHORITY: Swale Borough Council Despite this, he allowed the appeal, ruling that INSPECTOR: S R G Baird “under the plan-led system, it is not possible PROCEDURE: Recovered appeal or desirable to predict what policies might DECISION: Allowed apply in future and apply them now”. The council’s REFERENCE: APP/ V2255/W/19/3233606 conditions “went beyond current and emerging national policy”, and were not “reasonable or necessary”, he added.

AUTHORITY: Camden Borough Council

INSPECTOR: Hayley Butcher PROCEDURE: Hearing DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ X5210/W/20/3261840

The appeal concerned Jack Straw’s Castle, a grade II listed building on the edge of Hampstead Heath in north-west London. It was originally built as a pub in 1962, replacing an earlier 18th century pub of the same name that was bombed in the Second World War. The rebuild was designed by Raymond Erith, one of the most well-known traditionalstyle architects of the postwar period. It was converted into flats and a gym in 2002.

In April 2020, developer Albany Homes had sought permission to build two

four-bedroom homes “of classical, Georgian-inspired design” on the site of the pub’s car park. Inspector Hayley Butcher noted that the scheme’s architect was Quinlan Terry, “one of the country's leading classical architects”, who had been trained by Erith. Terry was “in the office at the time Erith had Jack Straw's castle on the drawing board”, Butcher noted, commenting that this “architectural lineage” would “allow the narrative of the site to continue through its sympathetic redevelopment

by Erith’s student”.

Although not cited by the council, interested parties also raised concerns over the living conditions of both future occupants and neighbours. Butcher agreed, finding harm in terms of outlook, daylight and sunlight, outdoor space, and privacy. In the planning balance, however, she commented that she was “conscious of the rare circumstances” of the case, referring to the relationship between the two architects.

The appeal was allowed on this basis.

JULY 2021 / THE PLANNER 39

LANDSCAPE

C&D { Traveller site approved again despite ‘action group’ protest

The appeal concerned a plot of land in a settlement known as Dough Bank in Wychavon, Worcestershire. The appellant had won at appeal use of the site as a residential caravan site in 2017, subject to conditions. But after a failure to comply with these, the consent was lost, and a new application for retrospective permission was made. A band of local residents called the Dough Bank Action Group appeared at the hearing, describing “incidents that are said to have occurred in

relation to the site”, some of which had drawn national media attention.

“Such events have no doubt disturbed members of the settled community”, said inspector Darren Hendley, adding that “apportioning blame, though, is not a matter for my decision”.

There was “no reasonable basis to assume that a Gypsy and Traveller site, in itself, would inherently create an environment of fear related to crime and antisocial behaviour” he

Jenrick blocks ‘facilitating development’ at Sandown Park racecourse The housing secretary has refused plans for 318 homes on green belt land near Sandown Park racecourse intended to fund a package of upgrades and improvements to the facility.

Appellant Jockey Club Racecourses had sought permission for a hybrid scheme involving various improvements to the racecourse, including enhancements to stabling and paddock facilities, widening of the racetrack, renewal of the grandstand, a site-wide parking strategy and a 150-bedroom hotel. 318 homes were also proposed across five different sites, described as “facilitating development” to fund the rest of the scheme.

40 T HE PL AN N E R \ J U LY 2 0 2 1

The application was recovered by then-housing secretary James Brokenshire in June 2020. Last January,

LOCATION: Dough Bank AUTHORITY: Wychavon District Council

INSPECTOR: Darren Hendley PROCEDURE: Hearing DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ H1840/W/19/3244056

current housing secretary Robert Jenrick received a letter from local MP Dominic Raab, opposing the development on behalf of two local residents’ groups.

Jenrick agreed that the proposals as a whole would be inappropriate in green belt, and would not “integrate sensitively” or “deliver highquality design”. Noting that the council did not have a five-year housing land supply, he agreed with his inspector that the public benefits which would flow from the upgraded facilities would be “in effect, funded by limiting the amount of affordable housing that would otherwise be required”.

The 20 per cent affordable housing contribution on offer was well below the policy requirement of 45 per cent, he noted, and was contrary to

continued, noting that where incidents were said to have arisen, they were “the actions of individuals and the particulars of certain events”. Although he was “not unsympathetic” to the concerns raised by the settled community, the inspector noted that these did not “run with the use of the land”.

Satisfied that granting permission would not harm the living conditions of the local community, and that the site was well located with proximity to services, he allowed the appeal.

local and national policy.

Dismissing the appeal, Jenrick said the scheme’s benefits would “primarily flow to the appellant”, and while there would be public economic and recreational benefits, very special circumstances did not exist.

LOCATION: Esher AUTHORITY: Elmbridge Borough Council

INSPECTOR: David Prentis PROCEDURE: Recovered appeal DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ K3605/W/20/3249790

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

An inspector has granted a new permission for a Gypsy Traveller pitch in Wychavon after an earlier permission was lost following non-compliance with conditions, commenting that concerns raised by the settled community did not ‘run with the use of the land’.

DECISIONS DIGEST{

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Jenrick approves Sutton SEND school despite local objections

The housing secretary has approved plans for a new school in Sutton for children with learning difficulties, agreeing with his inspector that the “sheer volume” of objections from local people did not mean their opposition was sound. bit.ly/planner0721-send

Solar park would harm Bosworth battlefield

Plans for a 35MW solar park that would power 10,500 homes have been blocked by an inspector, who found the scheme would unacceptably harm the adjacent site of the Battle of Bosworth Field, the final battle of the Wars of the Roses. bit.ly/planner0721-bosworth

Classical music library extension would harm listed building

A former heritage secretary’s plan to extend his grade II listed home near Tower Bridge to create a library for his extensive classical music collection has been denied by an inspector, who was not persuaded of the scheme’s public benefits. bit.ly/planner0721-mellor

Neolithic-style tomb would cause problems for motorists An archaeologist’s plans to construct a Neolithic-style passage tomb as part of an educational experience in Powys have been blocked by an inspector, who had experienced the site’s unsafe single-lane access road on his visit. bit.ly/planner0721-tomb

Child’s best interests justify cantilevered river platform

An inspector has granted retrospective permission for a partly cantilevered riverside viewing platform in Gloucestershire green belt, finding the appellants’ argument that the structure benefited their disabled child “clear and compelling”. bit.ly/planner0721-river

500-room hotel and water park allowed in rural Oxfordshire

A US-based company’s plans to downsize a golf course to make way for a major leisure resort at a small village near Bicester have been approved by an inspector, who disagreed with the council, its planning officers, and a local campaign group. bit.ly/ planner0721-waterpark

‘Dull’ Aberdeen scheme allowed despite unanimous council rejection

A reporter has approved plans for 258 flats on brownfield riverside land in south Aberdeen, despite the council’s unanimous rejection of the scheme against the advice of its officers on the grounds that it was “a bit dull”. bit.ly/planner0721-aberdeen

Permanent permission at home of Dickens denied

Outbuilding for sculpture hobby deemed permitted development

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An inspector has granted a certificate of lawful development for a small sculpture studio in the back garden of a terraced home in Dagenham, after accepting the appellant’s comparison to setting up a home gym instead of paying for a membership. bit.ly/planner0721-hobby

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A Kent private school occupying the grade I listed country home of Charles Dickens has had its application for permanent permission for a temporary building first installed at the site in 2003 denied by an inspector, who said a “longer-term plan” was needed. bit.ly/planner0721-dickens

JULY 2021 / THE PLANNER 41

LANDSCAPE

Legal landscape OPINION

The importance of definitions in the world of battery storage Increasing our energy storage capacity is vital if the UK is to achieve its net-zero carbon goals.

The government has removed one of the main planning barriers but there are still construction law hurdles to be overcome, writes Angus Evers

Although renewable energy facilities (except pumped sources such as wind and hydroelectric storage solar may produce lowfacilities) with a capacity of carbon electricity, they 50MW or more in England cannot provide the ‘baseload’ and 350MW or more in power that non-renewable Wales from the category of energy sources do. Their generating stations whose output is directly related to construction or extension climatic conditions. When requires consent under the the wind is Planning Act blowing and the 2008. sun is shining, Applications “THERE IS the grid may not for battery CURRENTLY need electricity storage projects NO GUIDANCE not generated by in England and ON WHETHER wind and solar Wales now THEY WILL BE plants, but when fall under the CONSIDERED the wind is not jurisdiction of AS POWER blowing and the local planning GENERATION sun is not shining, SITES” authorities gas or dieselunder the Town fired ‘peaking and Country plants’ may need Planning Act to make up the 1990, even if shortfall. co-located with Large-scale battery storage generating facilities that fall projects offer a solution to under the Planning Act 2008. even out the intermittent The Housing Grants, nature of renewable energy Construction and production and a change in Regeneration Act 1996 planning rules in December (HGCRA) has provided the 2020 should make obtaining foundation of construction planning permission for law for over 20 years. But battery storage projects over contracts for the installation 50MW faster and cheaper. of plant and machinery at The Infrastructure Planning power generation sites do (Electricity Storage Facilities) not fall within its ambit.

Order 2020 came into Therefore, such contracts force on 2 December and do not have the protection removes electricity storage of a statutory payment

42 THE PL AN N E R \ J U LY 2 0 2 1

regime, adjudication or the contractor’s right to suspend works.

Grid-level energy storage projects sit in an unusual limbo. There is currently no guidance on whether they will be considered as power generation sites. Therefore, do contracts to build such sites fall under the ambit of the HGCRA? A few points may provide guidance: n First, what is ‘generation’?

It is the production or creation of something, in this case electricity.

Regeneration is the act of bringing something back. It is not possible to regenerate something without some form of generation. It might be argued that there is a difference between primary generation (initial creation) and secondary generation (regeneration), although this may be a difference for difference’s sake. n Second, the scientific perspective. An energy storage site takes in electricity, stores it as another form of energy and then regenerates it into electricity.

Scientifically, there is little difference between power generation and power regeneration. Both involve the conversion of energy

into electricity. It may be suggested that there is little difference between the generation and regeneration of electricity. n Third, public policy..

When the HGCRA was being drafted, the process plant and power equipment sectors successfully lobbied to be excluded from its scope.

When updated in 2011, the exclusions were retained, so public policy must be taken not to have changed in the intervening 15 years. It is difficult to see why, when equipment to supply and generate power is excluded from the HGCRA by policy, equipment used to store power should not also be.

Angus Evers is an environmental lawyer with Shoosmiths

In brief Battery storage smooths dips in grid capacity under renewables But there is ambiguity about whther they can be defined in law as generating stations So it is unclear whether they qualify for the same freedom from constraints as generation projects

EVENTS

CASES

LEGISLATION

NEWS

NEWS Appeal court rejects Elephant and Castle homes challenge The Court of Appeal has rejected a challenge to the London Borough of Southwark’s approval of a major regeneration project at the Elephant and Castle.

Jerry Flynn, a member of affordable housing campaigners 35%, had sought to overturn the council’s decision to allow nearly 1,000 homes – 116 of them for social rent – at the Elephant and Castle shopping centre and London College of Communication.

The challenge focused on the level of social rented housing in the scheme. The campaigners also claimed that the council’s planning committee was misled about the maximum amount of affordable housing the scheme could viably include, with at least another 42 social rented homes provided with Greater London Authority funding.

The High Court dismissed the claim in 2019.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the original ruling by Mr Justice Dove that “members were clearly advised” that developer Elephant and Castle Properties was committed to providing the 116 social rented homes through section 106, “without that being in any way conditional upon grant funding being secured”.

It also agreed with the original ruling that “when read as a whole the material before members did not suggest that grant funding had been confirmed” and therefore an error of fact did not arise.

The Court of Appeal added that as the scheme’s viability had been assessed on the assumption that grants would be available, “there was no justification in policy, or in good sense, for the council to require more affordable housing than was in fact proposed”.

The approach taken by the officers was “squarely within their delegated authority” and “the committee’s decision to grant planning permission was not based on a mistake of fact, and the members were not materially misled by the advice they received”, added the judgment.

Supreme Court rejects challenge to neighbourhood development plan The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by former Blackpool Football Club owner Owen Oyston to build 500 homes at Lytham Moss after ruling that his application for judicial review was out of time.

Fylde Coast Farms Ltd, Oyston’s company, had challenged Fylde Borough Council’s decision not to include his site in a local neighbourhood development plan, which was put together by St Anne’s on the Sea Town Council. A draft neighbourhood development plan was considered by an independent examiner who recommended that the plan be modified to include land owned by Fylde Coast Farms and then submitted to a referendum. The council decided to submit the draft plan to a referendum without the proposed modification, with 90 per cent of those voting to support it.

Just under six weeks later, Fylde Coast Farms Ltd applied for a judicial review of the decision to make the plan without the examiner’s proposed modification. The Planning Court held that the challenge related to the council’s decision to hold the referendum without modifying the draft plan, rather than its later decision to make the plan.

Since that decision had been published more than six weeks before Fylde Coast Farm’s claim for judicial review, the Planning Court held that the claim had been brought out of time. The Court of Appeal also dismissed the challenge. Upholding the earlier courts’ rulings, Lord Sales in the Supreme Court said the law imposed strict time limits for challenges to each stage to avoid having a final referendum overturned when legal issues should have been resolved.

ANALYSIS

LEGAL BRIEFS Court of Session hears Sutherland spaceport challenge

The Edinburgh Court of Session will soon rule on a Danish billionaire’s challenge to Highland Council’s grant of permission for Scotland’s first spaceport, says The Northern Times. bit.ly/planner0721-spaceport

Listed hospital redevelopment consent quashed over ancient tree

A Planning Court judge has quashed Tower Hamlets’ consent for redevelopment of the former London Chest Hospital to provide 291 homes. The judge cited an appraisal of plans to relocate a 500-year old mulberry tree which Dame Judi Dench and others have campaigned to protect, Local Government Lawyer reports. bit.ly/planner0721-mulberry

Lewisham homes quashed over withheld conservation advice

The High Court has ruled that a conservation officer’s advice should not have been withheld from Lewisham Council’s planning committee when it approved the redevelopment of part of the Sydenham Hill estate, reports Local Government Lawyer. bit.ly/planner0721-lewisham

Green belt updates

This webinar, hosted by RTPI North West on 6th September, will give an overview of green belt policy with two Kings Chambers barristers as speakers. bit.ly/planner0721-greenbelt

Biodiversity and ecological care

This webinar, hosted by RTPI South East on 25 June, will consider how policy and development management can protect wildlife and deliver biodiversity net gain. bit.ly/planner0721-bio

Defining ‘left behindness’

Andrew Lainton considers difficulties in interpreting the ‘levelling-up’ agenda. bit.ly/planner0721-level

Whitechapel Bell Foundry: Facts, Media, Politics

Simon Ricketts analyses the fallout from the government’s decision to allow the redevelopment of the grade II* listed Whitechapel Bell Foundry. bit.ly/planner0721-bell

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / TH E PLA NNER 43

NEWS RTPI news pages are edited

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

RTPI launches new network to support politicians involved in planning

A new network has been launched by the RTPI to bring together politicians involved in planning and planning decisions.

The RTPI’s Politicians in Planning Network will enable local authority and parliamentary politicians across all UK and Ireland planning systems to share best practice, access information and receive a regular newsletter on planning matters free of charge.

RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills said: “Local politicians play a pivotal role in ensuring the communities they represent have the access to the right homes and infrastructure for their needs.

“Through this new network, we’ll seek to bridge the gap between planning professionals and politicians to support shared ambitions for vibrant, healthy and sustainable places for communities to live and work in, particularly as we start to recover from the global pandemic.”

The network was launched at an online event on 14 June, organised in partnership with communications agency Cratus.

The keynote speech at the event was given by viral internet star Jackie Weaver from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, with other speakers including Housing Minister Christopher Pincher and councillors Anna Richardson (Glasgow), Linda Haysey, (East Herts) and Angeliki Stogia (Manchester).

Jackie Weaver said: “Planning is and always has been central to the cohesion and development of every community. Planning is much more than plans and building materials.

“Good planning enhances the quality

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Keynote speaker Jackie Weaver told the audience that “planning is central to the cohesion and development of every community”

of life for people living in those communities and bad planning helps create environments and situations that we all then try to dig our way out of. So planning for our communities has to be a partnership between the planners, developers and the elected members of those communities.

This conversation is part of that partnership.”

Other leading figures from the planning community also gave the launch their support.

Former England Chief Planner Steve Quartermain said: “Planning is about people and places but it is also about politics. The best planning authorities strike a balance between all three and work as a team to deliver outcomes that make peoples’ lives better. That’s why the RTPI Politicians in Planning Network will be so important in providing support and training, tailored to the needs of elected members.”

Cratus Chief Executive Nick Kilby said: “Cratus is thrilled to help launch Politicians in Planning with the RTPI. It is an initiative that will deliver real value for local government, both supporting and upskilling politicians.

“As a specialist local government communications agency with a national reach, we know first-hand the power that planning has to change the lives of those in the local community.

Working directly with developers, residents, and councils, we believe that it is vitally important for planning committees to have the necessary knowledge and expertise to carry out their role.

“Both RTPI and Cratus believe passionately in empowering and supporting local government and I am incredibly proud of our partnership.”

Editorial E: rtpinews@rtpi.org.uk

RTPI (switchboard) T: 020 7929 9494

Registered charity no.

262865 Registered charity in Scotland SCO37841

MY VIEW ON…

P L A C E M A K I N G I N W A LE S

A year after the launch of the Placemaking Wales Charter, Joe Ayoubkhani asks how planners can promote the Charter’s principles Although placemaking has been fully embedded into the Welsh planning system since the release of the 10th edition of Planning Policy Wales in 2018, the Placemaking Wales Charter provides a simpler set of principles that can be followed by a wide range of stakeholders.

Everyone engaged with planning and design needs to embrace these principles from the outset; they should help inform discussions with landowners and promotion of sites through Local Development Plans.

Site selection, collaboration and deliverability is key.

As a profession, planners are well placed to drive the placemaking agenda.

Many will have experience of design guidance being ignored or overlooked

– the Charter provides a lever to enable a step change in approach from other professions engaged in design and development.

A reduction in funding for local authority planning teams has seen a loss of capacity and in-house design specialism. Proper resources and training need to be directed to those involved in plan preparation and decision-making to broaden the skills base and engage planning officers and planning committee members with the principles of the Charter.

And finally, as an industry, we should celebrate the achievements of previous projects already delivered. The Charter’s principles are not altogether new in themselves and more should be done to shout about the benefits that good

planning has provided in helping make successful places. n Joe Ayoubkhani MRTPI is a Planning Associate at Barton Willmore and Junior Vice-Chair, RTPI Cymru.

See the full version of this article on the RTPI blog: bit.ly/planner0721-charter

POSITION POINTS

DESIGN CODE TESTING PROGRAMME

VICTORIA HILLS, RTPI CHIEF EXECUTIVE The RTPI welcomes the government’s recent announcement of the 14 local authorities that have been chosen to take part in a testing programme for the National Model Design Code.

These six-month pilots are a pragmatic way of identifying problems that may arise in the application of the code and will also hopefully provide some potential solutions.

We have no doubt that only a multidisciplinary approach – involving planners, architects, developers, ecologists, highways authorities and communities – will lead to effective delivery of quality design outcomes. These pilot programmes should help to identify how these relationships will work in practice. We will keep a close eye on the results.

However, what is already clear is that substantial extra investment into the planning system will be needed if planners are to play their part fully. It is only through significantly increased funding for local authority planning teams that the government’s ambitions for design codes in every council will be realised.

PLANNING AND MENTAL HEALTH

SARAH LEWIS, RTPI PLANNING PRACTICE OFFICER Our practice advice note Mental Health and Town Planning, now available as an RTPI Learn module, shows how planners can work within the current UK planning systems and with other professionals to promote good mental health when making changes to the built environment.

It summarises expert advice and outlines key planning policy and good practice. It also includes a number of case studies, such as the refusal of planning permission for a retirement community near Catterall, Lancashire, which would have created an “isolated enclave” with “limited opportunities for integration with the wider community”.

Another case study comes from Tower Hamlets, one of the UK’s most densely populated boroughs, where the newly adopted local plan includes policies to protect and improve public spaces, only allowing development where a greater quantity and quality of open space is re-provided. bit.ly/planner0721-resilience If you have a positive case study you would like to share, email sarah.lewis@rtpi.org.uk I M AG E S | RT P I

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / TH E PLA NNER 45

NEWS

In May, millions of people across the UK voted for councillors, mayors, members of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, and one Westminster MP. RTPI experts take a look at the results and their possible impact on planning.

ENGLAND Max Tolley, England Policy Officer Ben Houchen’s landslide re-election as Tees Valley Mayor and Andy Burnham’s victory in Manchester show that the public appreciate a strong voice for their region. Joined-up thinking and crossborder coordination are crucial and must be reflected within national planning reforms. Chief Planning Officers in every local authority and a cooperation framework such as Green Growth Boards should support this.

The ‘levelling-up’ agenda has shone a spotlight on the demand for further investment in the North and Midlands.

Planning reforms must work for these regions; a new model for developer contributions should address areas without high land value and central government action is needed to lessen the resourcing divide. ‘Levelling up’ must also tackle the crisis facing our high streets, learning from a plan-led approach to repurposing spaces.

Generally, planning issues were a hotticket item in many places, with some areas seeing a rise in support for NIMBY candidates.

Funding for specialist Community Planners will be essential to maintain public buy-in during a period of reform, alongside support for technology to broaden engagement. It is also essential that virtual meetings for local authorities can continue to ensure planning committees can foster diverse engagement and reflect the range of community views. n For the RTPI’s full reaction to the election results, visit bit.ly/planner0721-reactions

46 T HE PL AN N E R \ J U LY 2 0 2 1

SCOTLAND Craig McLaren, Director of RTPI Scotland The RTPI wants to build on the relationship we have had with the government which recognises how planners, planning and the planning system can support its ambitions.

With the draft National Planning Framework 4 due to be laid in Parliament in the autumn, these elections came at a critical time for planning in Scotland.

We were pleased to see that the SNP manifesto confirmed a commitment to a post-Covid recovery, net-zero carbon targets by 2045 and the implementation of 20-minute neighbourhoods. Planning has a clear and important role to play in supporting all of these.

The National Planning Framework needs to provide a clear route map to influence decisions and investment on how our places should develop over time.

It should be an important tool in the post-Covid recovery.

WALES Roisin Willmott, Director of RTPI Cymru The Welsh Labour Manifesto meets many of the issues raised by the RTPI, including tackling climate change, investing in public transport and active travel, and the delivery of quality affordable homes. In particular, we welcome its commitment to a new 10-year Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan.

However, missing from Welsh Labour’s plans is a commitment to bring forward new bills on the consolidation of planning law and legislation on infrastructure consenting – urgently needed if Wales is to make effective decisions on large-scale infrastructure.

We will continue to work with the Welsh Government to support an effective planning service for Wales. As a key priority we will continue to highlight the need to invest in planning services to enable the delivery of sustainable development on the ground.

I M AG E S | RT P I

RTPI joins forces with Building People As part of its work to promote and support a more diverse planning profession, the RTPI has announced a tie-up with social enterprise Building People.

In particular, the RTPI says that the two-year ‘supporter arrangement’ will unlock opportunities to target early career mentoring and raise the profile of planning to a wider audience of professionals.

The agreement with Building People comes just over a year after then President Sue Manns launched CHANGE, the RTPI’s first equality, diversity and inclusivity action plan, as part of its Corporate Strategy 2020-30.

Building People founder and chief ‘dot-joiner’ Rebecca Lovelace said: “As the RTPI marks the oneyear anniversary of the launch of its EDI action plan, we are thrilled that it will be joining in with the movement for change that is Building People.

“This collaboration is a brilliant example of practical action that will deliver social value and increase equality, diversity and inclusion. We look forward to working together to connect more people to aggregated content and opportunities across planning and the built environment.

“The RTPI will also be joining our Advisory Committee and working closely with Building People to greatly increase equality of opportunity across a fragmented built environment careers landscape.” n bit.ly/planner0721-change n bit.ly/planner0721-

buildingpeople

I M AG E S | RT P I

‘Super Thursday’ – RTPI responds to local election results

MEMBER NEWS

RTPI elections 2021 – still time to make your nomination Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get involved in this year’s RTPI elections.

Nominations are open for elected positions on the Board of Trustees, the group responsible for the management of the RTPI’s affairs, and on the General Assembly, which provides a forum for debate about the development of planning policy and practice.

If you, or a member you know, have the bold and practical ideas that will help the RTPI deliver value for its members and contribute to its continued success, we want to hear from you.

What positions are available?

BOARD OF TRUSTEES n Vice-President for 2022 (will become President in 2023) n Honorary Secretary and Solicitor n Nations and Regions Trustee n Young Planner Trustee n Chartered Trustees (3 positions) GENERAL ASSEMBLY n Chartered Members (14 positions) n Legal Member or Legal Associate n Students/Licentiates (3 positions)

Various positions are also available on the RTPI’s Regional Management Boards and National Executive Committees. n All nominations must be received before 28 July.

For more information, visit bit.ly/planner0721-elect

Post-nominal guidance The RTPI has prepared new guidance to support members on their professional responsibilities concerning the use of designations and post-nominals.

The use of post-nominals is specifically governed within clause 13 of the RTPI Code of Professional Conduct: Members must disclose their professional designation where appropriate to their employers, clients, colleagues or others and use their postnominal letters, where held and where possible, in any professional correspondence as a mark of professional standing.

HELEN CUTHBERT FRTPI

The RTPI would like to congratulate Helen Cuthbert, founding director of consultancy Planning Potential, who has been elected to Fellowship of the Institute.

Chartered Fellow is the highest professional membership grade offered by the RTPI and is only awarded to Chartered members who have made a major personal contribution to the planning profession for the benefit of the public.

Helen has more than 20 years’ experience in the private sector, during which time she has helped to deliver hundreds of schemes, with a particular focus on retail, leisure and residential developments. She has also acted as an expert witness at many public inquiries, dealing with policy, design and amenity issues.

Helen said: “My career path was set when I heard an inspirational talk, delivered by a female town planner, 30 years ago when I was at school. I’m passionate about the town planning profession and think the vital role we all play in shaping communities is often underestimated.

“I have been a proud member of the RTPI for many years and, having established my own planning consultancy in 2005, we now employ 25 Chartered Town Planners. The RTPI champions our profession, challenges our ideas, helps us to uphold exceptional standards of planning practice, and enables us to meet like-minded individuals devoted to creating successful, thriving places.

“I am very happy with the career choice I made and hope I will continue to support and inspire young planners to enter our profession and understand the value of our role in society.”

Under the provisions of the RTPI’s Royal Charter, Helen is entitled to use the designatory letters FRTPI. bit.ly/planner0721-fellow

n Download the new guidance at bit.ly/planner0721-postnominals

J U LY 2 0 2 1 / THE PLA NNER 47

Throughout the pandemic, organisations are still actively and successfully recruiting for planning professionals.

Here is a selection of the most recent opportunities from a few of those organisations working with The Planner to recruit the best quality candidates in the marketplace.

Senior Planner

Senior Planning Officer

Salary: £35,000 £40,000 pa Location: Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire

Team Leader Strategic Infrastructure

Salary: Grade H: £35,967.00 - £40,683.50 pa Location: North Oxfordshire

Salary: £46,845 pa progressing to £49,866 pa Location: Hertford

Development Manager

Fantastic opportunity to join a continuously growing residential developer with a long standing history of creating thriving communities across the UK

Town Planner Salary: Competitive Location: Swansea

Exciting planning opportunities in stockport Salary: Range: £22,182 - £43,857 Location: Stockport

To a d ve r ti s e p l e ase em ai l : t h e p l a n n e r jo b s@ redact ive. co. uk o r c a l l 0 2 0 7 8 8 0 623 2

theplanner.co.uk/jobs

Recruitment {

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENTS To advertise please email: theplannerjobs@redactive.co.uk or call 020 7880 6232

Planning Consultant / Town Planner Home based role £40,000 - £60,000 first year Full-time, Salary and Commission We have an exciting opportunity for a Chartered Town Planning Consultant to join a national company that is experiencing rapid exponential growth.

This role is a salary and commission only role, you will earn a percentage of each contract that you win.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required: • Must be RTPI qualified • Experience, particularly in the private sector, will be advantageous, as would experience of working with residential / home builder clients.

• Self-motivated, ambitious and able to work well within a team and independently to deliver professional advice to our clients.

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If you have the right experience for this role and feel your skills and experience match the requirements, or if you would like more information on the role apply today and we will be in touch.

All details to: T: 020 3581 1233 E: info@studiocharrette.co.uk W:www.studiocharrette.co.uk You can find out more about Studio Charette by searching for: www.studiocharrette.co.uk

07/06/2021 12:24

Senior Planner Salary band £35-45k Banbury, Oxfordshire We are looking for an experienced Senior Planner who is a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute with a minimum of 2-3 years of experience in the private sector including exposure to areas such as Residential, Housing, Commercial and Retail.

This is a significant opportunity to be involved in a wide variety of schemes, including new settlements and large-scale employment, through the employment plan process, planning applications and delivery on the ground.

Searc h t h ep l a n n er . c o.u k / j o b fo r t h e b e s t v a c a n c i e s

A generous remuneration package awaits, including car allowance, healthcare, pension, mobile, laptop, and your Royal Town Planning Institute membership subscription paid.

Please email: Natalie.Dunkley@framptons-planning.com for more information and to apply.

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Activities

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CONTENT THAT'S WORTH CHECKING OUT

A digest of planning-related material. Each month our work takes us around the internet in search of additional detail for our stories, meaning we invariably come across links to items we think you’ll find educational, entertaining, useful or simply amusing. Here’s our latest batch – mouse over each item for more.

What’s caught our eye CountryFile The BBC’s venerable Sunday night staple has become go-to viewing for anyone interested in the intersection between planning, housing, energy production and the environment. There’s some punchy reporting these days; this episode sees Tom Heap investigating planning loopholes that could see park holiday homes become permanent residences and threaten some of the most beautiful parts of our countryside. bit.ly/planner0721-countryfile

Education of the Future Public Health Spatial Planning Workforce Improving health is a remit of all workforce professionals, from spatial planners to public health practitioners.

This event looks at the extent to which the practice of public health spatial planning is embedded in the system. The panel, chaired by Michael Chang and including RTPI president Wei Yang, considers how well tertiary education pathways support the aim. bit.ly/planner0721-education

Who Are These People And Why Are They Yelling At Me? ISBN 978-1-5255-5625-8 US author and public meeting facilitator David Hardy writes about ‘the art and science of managing large angry public meetings’, its first part focusing on how planners can avoid such meetings through the proper design of public consultation processes. The book is amusing and informative, with excellent anecdotes.

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Barracks, Forts and Ramparts ISBN-10: 1912821648 Authors Celia Clark and Martin Marks celebrate Portsmouth Harbour’s long history of defending the nation – and how the local ex-defence sites have found new civilian life over the last half-century.

How has the rich legacy of barracks, forts, victualling and ordnance yards, ramparts and military lines found new uses? What roles did the local authorities play in planning their future? How did defence heritage tourism develop?

A Decent Home: Planning, Building, and Preserving Affordable Housing ISBN-13 978-1932364583 What is a decent home? Is it affordable enough that you can buy the other necessities of life? Does it connect you to a community with adequate social and economic resources? Author Alan Mallach considers these questions from a US perspective.

LANDSCAPE

Will Green Hydrogen Power The Future?

Architecture: From Prehistory to Climate Emergency ISBN-10 0241396735 Barnabas Calder authors this history of architecture told through the relationship between buildings and energy, looking at buildings from the past 15,000 years, from Uruk, via Ancient Rome and Victorian Liverpool, to China’s booming megacities. The running theme is how every building – from the Parthenon to the Great Mosque of Damascus to a typical Georgian house – was influenced by the energy available to its architects, and why this matters. Calder proposes that if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change, we need intelligent architecture and much more retrofitting into – not demolition of – the buildings we already have today.

Celebrating the International Day of Families (1hr 30m) RTPI President Wei Yang undertakes a virtual visit to the East of England and South East to celebrate UN International Day of Families, visiting Letchworth Garden City to understand how it has responded to the pandemic and how it is using land value capture to support families. before getting a snapshot tour of how Milton Keynes as a settlement contributes to family life. bit.ly/planner-0721-families

Today, most hydrogen is produced from CO2-emitting fossil fuels. Hydrogen produced from renewable electricity – green hydrogen – could be the solution to cutting our carbon footprint. But first it must overcome several challenges.

This is a neat summary of green hydrogen’s potential. bit.ly/planner0721-green

What we’re planning

Bill Gates on the environment (13m) Here, the billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates talks to the BBC’s chief environment correspondent Justin Rowlatt about the future of the planet and how businesses and consumers can help to slow global warming. bit.ly/planner0721climate

As we hit summer, we have our eyes on November and the COP 26 conference taking place that month. Between now and then you’ll find us covering key climate issues from a planning and land use perspective, from rewilding in the Cairngorms to green infrastructure in the Thames Estuary. Over the next months we’re also looking at the state of self-build and the future of town centres with more examples of top notch planning from the RTPI Awards. Keep reading!

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

View our brand new 2021 list of online masterclasses: rtpi.org.uk/training

Boost your CPD with interactive online masterclasses High-quality expert training for planning professionals PLN.JUNE21.052.indd 2

40+ courses: • 8 new courses • Brand new How to succeed in your new job series for recently qualified planners

11/05/2021 16:54