The Planner March 2017 by The Planner

MARCH 2017 DIETER HELM EXAMINES THE NEED FOR NATURAL CAPITAL // p.18 • TAKING THE PULSE OF PLANNING IN THE UK’S FOUR NATIONS // p.26 • PLYMOUTH’S PLAY DAYS WITH LOCAL OPEN DATA // p.31 • REGIONAL FOCUS EAST OF ENGLAND // p.34

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

THE NORTH’S NEW DAWN IS THE NORTH OF ENGLAND HEADED FOR A SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION?

01_cover_March.indd 1

27/02/2017 15:17

2017

Delivering a strong, inclusive future 21 June 2017 - London Join key influencers and planning professionals from around the world to discuss and debate how planners can contribute to building a stronger, inclusive future for all.

#plancon17

From £195

020 3740 5696 | theplanningconvention.co.uk Headline sponsor:

Associate sponsors:

RTPI Conferences and the Planning Convention are managed by Kaplan on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Kaplan and RTPI Conferences: 179-191 Borough High St, London, SE1 1HR Royal Town Planning Institute’s Head Office: 41 Botolph Lane, London, EC3R 8DL. A limited number of discounted places are available for student/unemployed/retired RTPI members at £99+VAT

p02_PLN.MAR17.indd 2

22/02/2017 17:22

PLANNER 08 22

CONTENTS

THE

MARCH

20 17

NEWS

4 Why we should be planning for dementia

6 White paper proposals to watch

8 The Build to Rent trend

OPINION

“LONDON IS OVERHEATING WITH A SHORTAGE OF HOUSING, LAND AND HIGH TRAFFIC LEVELS … WE NEED TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO GROW”

9 New Irish national spatial plan talks start 10 Massive spending cuts threaten public parks 11 Shortlist announced for RTPI excellence awards

14 Chris Shepley: A Delphic disconnect between developers and the people 16 Carole-Anne Davies: It’s time to see the difference 16 Jo Davis: We need to keep up with the digital age 17 Christina Cox: Connecting the connections: Scotland’s new era?

18 We can only save the environment if it is incorporated into national accounting systems, Dieter Helm tells Simon Wicks

17 Katherine Pollard: How planners work at the intersection of social justice

22 Can the Northern Powerhouse rebalance the UK economy? asks Huw Morris 26 What’s driving the reform in the UK’s planning systems? David Blackman reports

18 34 Nations & Regions: East of England

QUOTE UNQUOTE

“WE TURNED UP AT THE LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS… ONLY TO FIND THE ALBERT HALL IS EMPTY AND HAS CLOSED DUE TO FUNDING CUTS” JONATHAN MANNS ON THE HOUSING WHITE PAPER

COV E R I M AG E | PE T E R C ROW T H E R

p03_contents.indd 3

INSIGHT

FEATURES

31 Tech landscape: How Plymouth is engaging communities through open data

36 Decisions in focus: Development decisions, round-up and analysis 40 Legal landscape: Opinions, blogs and news from the legal side of planning 42 Career development: Writing the perfect cover letter for a job 44 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 50 Plan B: Where the banshees live and they do live well – Pengehenge!

50 MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

27/02/2017 11:34

NEWS

Analysis { HOUSING WHITE PAPER

White paper proposals to watch By Laura Edgar Last month, and later than expected, communities secretary Sajid Javid published the housing white paper. It included measures to deliver more aﬀordable homes, including for rent, and greater support for small and medium-sized building enterprises (SMEs). Speaking as he launched the muchanticipated paper, Fixing our broken housing market, Javid said between 225,000 and 275,000 homes are needed a year to meet demand. “We have to build more of the right homes in the right places. And we have to start right now,” he said. So here are just ﬁve of the measures to keep your eyes on as the white paper undergoes consultation.

A housing delivery test The second chapter of the white paper – ‘Building homes faster’ – states that a housing delivery test would “ensure that local authorities and wider interests are held accountable for their role in ensuring new homes are delivered in their area”. According to the draft, the test would highlight whether the number of homes being built is below target and provide a mechanism for ﬁnding out why if necessary; the test would “trigger” policy responses to ensure that more land is brought forward. To transition to a housing delivery test, the government said it would use an area’s local plan, where it is up to date, to establish the appropriate baseline for assessing delivery. If there is no up-to-date local plan, the government would use “published household projections for the years leading up to, and including, April 2017-March 2018 and from the

T H E P L AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p04_05_News_HWP.indd 6

“WE HAVE TO BUILD MORE OF THE RIGHT HOMES IN THE RIGHT PLACES. AND WE HAVE TO START RIGHT NOW”

financial year April 2018-March 2019, subject to consultation, the new standard ard methodology for assessing housing need”. ed”. From November 2017, if housing delivery falls below 95 per cent of an authority’s annual housing requirement, nt the government wants the local authority to publish an action plan. Harry Burchill, England policy officer at the RTPI, said the white paper’s emphasis on a phased approach to implementing the test “shows sensitivity to the practicalities of holding local authorities to account for deliver, when most cases they are not the developer”. While the principle of the test should not seem “unreasonable” to most planners, however, as the test will be based on the five-year housing land supply, “there will be concerns about the impact of the test on councils’ abilities to plan long-term for housing”.

Fees and resources, carrots and sticks A number of calls have been made for increased planning resources, including by the RTPI and the Federation of Master Builders. The government has said it will increase nationally set planning fees.

Local authorities will be able to increase fees by 20 per cent from July 2017 if they commit to invest the additional fee income in their planning departments. “We are also minded to allow an increase of a further 20 per cent for those authorities who are delivering the homes their communities need.” Two other measures aimed at local authority capacity were also outlined: • £25 million worth of funding will made be available by the government to help “ambitious authorities in areas of high housing need to plan for new homes and infrastructure”. This will be channelled into engaging communities on the design and mix of new homes. • The government will crack down on unnecessary appeals to the Planning Inspectorate, which it said “can be a source of delay and waste taxpayers” money. It will consult on introducing

I M AG E | G E T T Y

27/02/2017 11:09

PLAN UPFRONT

WHAT YOU THOUGHT

a fee for making a planning appeal, but is keen that this will not discourage smaller builders from making legitimate claims. The fee would be capped at £2,000 for the most expensive route leading to a public inquiry. Fees would be refunded if an appeal succeeds, with a suggestion of lower charges for less complex cases.

“Plans to speed up the planning process, bring forward more developable land and make local authorities abide by their responsibilities are key. If we are to build more homes, we need more land coming through the system more quickly. Measures that will allow SME builders to build more homes will increase the capacity of the industry and result in increases in overall supply.” – Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation

Green belt and the social impact Fixing our broken housing market is very clear about the government’s position on the green belt; it pledges to maintain existing strong protections for it. It has proposed amending national policy to make clear that “authorities should amend green belt boundaries only when they can demonstrate that they have examined fully all other reasonable options for meeting their identified development requirements”. This includes making use of brownfield sites and estate regeneration. The RTPI’s practice note on the green belt states that such policies have prevented urban sprawl, but that it is important to revisit the purposes that they need to fulfil over the coming generation. The value of the green belt is not simply about what is attractive. Instead, the notes suggests, “we need to talk about who green belts are for, and about their social impact, along with their continued role in shaping and managing urban growth”. Richard Blyth, head of policy at the RTPI, told The Planner, the green belts “social impact can be to limit housing supply or divert it to far-flung locations”. “On the other hand, changing current policy requires a discussion over who would benefit from the construction of homes and what other changes to green belts, such as improved landscape quality and access, should also be contemplated,” he added. n The RTPI policy statement on the housing white paper can be found here (pdf): tinyurl.com/planner0317-rtpi-policy

Moves for SMEs The white paper states that the government wants to open up the market to smaller builders and those who “embrace innovative and efficient methods”. Growth would be stimulated through the Home Builders Fund, announced in October 2016, and an Accelerated Construction programme. This is expected to create new opportunities for modern methods of construction, such as offsite manufacturing, to encourage investors in the sector and increase current supplier confidence. The government plans to amend national policy to “expect” local planning authorities to have policies that support small sites that come forward on an ad hoc basis. Proposals suggest the Home Builders Fund would provide £1 billion of short-term loan finance targeted at SMEs, custom builders and “innovators” to deliver up to 25,000 homes this Parliament. Other measures include: • Continuing work with the British Business Bank to encourage investment in SMEs. • Publicising the Help to Buy equity loan scheme to SME builders to encourage uptake.

“Limited housing land availability remains a critical constraint, with the need to ﬂex the green belt in sustainable locations, particularly where well served by public transport, to supplement the pool of available developable land…The proposed measures will assist, but structural changes in the capacity of the house building industry and greater availability of construction skills will be paramount if the challenges set out in the paper are to be resolved in the long term.” – Stephen Hollowood, senior director at GVA

“We welcome the focus on modern methods… such as offsite construction; efficiencies in the supply chain are paramount to the success of the SME industry. But we absolutely must not repeat the mistakes of previous decades; we need to ensure that homes don’t become homogenised and boring. The industry must remain flexible enough to listen to communities and meet specific local needs; we’ve got some fantastic architectural practices in this country and we really shouldn’t be aiming to litter the landscape with dull repeated designs.” – Mark Dickinson, managing director of SME developer Anthology

“There are a number of issues the paper is worryingly silent on, such as the impact on land values resulting from a more aﬀordable housing market. There is also no mention of what measures might be applied to those LPAs that fail to publish a local plan by the spring 2017 deadline. Several LPAs delayed revising their local plans because of the imminent white paper, apparently on the advice of the DCLG. These LPAs in particular will feel that they have been left high and dry.” – Simon Elliott, associate planner at Bidwells

“The commitment to increasing planning fees by 20 per cent (and 40 per cent where housing is being delivered) is … long overdue. LPAs already face considerable resourcing challenges – the white paper proposals look set to further add to their responsibilities. Ensuring that the extra funds are ring-fenced for planning teams remains the real challenge.” – Jamie McKie, planning senior associate at law ﬁrm Dentons

“Stimulating greater output among smaller-scale house builders will not only help us build thousands of additional homes, it will also help us deliver them more quickly. The business model of an SME developer relies upon building out sites and then selling the properties as quickly as possible.” – Brian Berry, chief executive at the Federation of Master Builders

n tinyurl.com/planner0317-white-paper

MAR C H 2 01 7 / THE PLA NNER

p04_05_News_HWP.indd 7

27/02/2017 11:09

NEWS

Report { INCLUSIVE PLANNING

Why we should be planning for dementia

Some two million people in the UK could be living with dementia by 2051, so ageappropriate housing must be a “cornerstone of holistic planning”

By Laura Edgar Costs will quickly increase unless there is better planning of local environments to help people with dementia live independently for longer. That’s what the RTPI has said following the publication of its practice note Dementia and Town Planning. The note states that local planning can play a much stronger role in creating dementia-friendly communities across the UK to ensure that people with dementia can stay in their own homes for as long as possible. This, it explains, would reduce the pressure on the NHS and control the costs for health and social care. The Alzheimer’s Society website puts the current cost of dementia to the UK economy at £26 billion a year. According to the charity 850,000 people are living with dementia, and this ﬁgure is projected to increase to more than one million by 2025 – soaring to two million by 2051. The RTPI said scarcely any local authorities have adopted plans that explicitly mention dementia – Plymouth City Council and Brighton and Hove City Council are among the few that have. So what is being – or could be – done to plan for dementia care, and what is the economic case for doing so?

Cooperation is essential Liz Loughran, director at planning consultancy Line Planning, said there needs to be “much greater” planning in advance to cater for the rise in dementia. In over-85s, “the incidence of dementia rises significantly and can affect over 50 per cent of that age group”. Therefore, she continued: “We need to have specialist retirement/care home complexes.” Paul Wakefield, associate director at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, said age-appropriate housing is a “cornerstone of holistic planning” while accessibility must be a priority for planners and local authorities.

If the location does not match residents’ needs, a development’s suitability will be compromised. Challenges for the planning sector, said Wakefield, are connected with the ability to deliver an ever-increasing volume of housing stock, suitable for both younger people and the ageing population. “This challenge must be met by both the public and private sectors, where cooperation is essential for meeting housing demand and providing flexible developments.” He said another difficulty arises as a result of the evolving urban landscape in the UK. “As town centre real estate becomes more valuable and contested, new community hubs must be created. Where these are located on the fringe of existing settlements they will need to have their own dedicated amenities and good transport links.”

Flexibility is key The Ageing Well in Wales programme is coordinated by the Older People’s Commissioner. Jen Heal, design adviser at the Design Commission for Wales, explained that as part of this, all 22 Welsh local authorities have signed up to the Age Friendly Communities agenda, which includes the promotion of dementiasupportive communities. “Physical changes to the built environment are only one part of this approach, which is as much about social change and increasing understanding amongst the wider community.” In addition, the Well-being of Future Generations Act ( 2015 ) has led to the establishment of public services boards. These, Heal explained, will set out how the act’s goals will be met. This provides

the opportunity for strategic issues, such as the link between the design of the built environment, to be considered in a holistic manner, she said. Philly Hare, director of Innovations in Dementia, told The Planner that it is possible to adapt existing homes, while for Leanne Owen, managing quantity surveyor at Faithful+Gould, ﬂexibility in new homes is key. Designs should maximise daylight and provide links to outdoor space for health and well-being. Going forward, Owen considers that technology “will only continue to play a greater role in designs to meet the needs of people living with dementia”.

The economic case Owen said that if people are supported and housing design helps people to live well with dementia, there could be savings on social care and the emergency services. “If the environment is wrong, there can be falls, behavioural challenges and a general reduction in quality of life – all of which can be overcome by good design.” Design changes, Owen added, could be

TH E P L AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p06_07_News_Dement.indd 4

27/02/2017 11:44

PLAN UPFRONT

Loughran told The Planner that all London boroughs need to review their policies for housing and older people. Although the Mayor of London has been a leader in this regard, she said the policies “are not explicit or suﬃciently detailed to be adequate or robust”. “There has been a policy approach of bundling vulnerable people’s housing needs together, but with a rapidly rising ageing population this is no longer appropriate as the policy approach for vulnerable people and meeting their respective needs is very diﬀerent,” added Loughran. Councils need to work on joined-up thinking with the NHS, and the NHS needs to give evidence to local plan inquiries and to actively lobby on housing policy changes.

Transport planning

“simple and cost-effective to incorporate if included at the outset, but adapting fully completed homes and buildings can result in significant costs and disruption”. So then, if it can be simple and costeffective, why is money not being widely invested in planning for dementia? According to Hare, this comes down to the “usual unwillingness to spend to save, across different budgets”. Commissioners, she said, don’t yet seem to have confidence that creating Dementia Friendly Communities (DFC) could lead to savings or improvements in the care and support of people with dementia. This is despite the Alzheimer’s Society highlighting the difference in cost of caring for someone at home compared with residential care, she said.

Planning policy DFCs are well embedded in dementia policy in the UK, Hare said, however, they are “less obvious in general housing and planning policy”. All new developments need to have inclusion as one of their main aims, she explained. I M AG E | i STO C K

p06_07_News_Dement.indd 5

People with dementia face a number of diﬃculties, from losing the ability to drive or use public transport to crowd sensitivity – feeling threatened or uneasy in busy cities. Those providing support are reporting that they are really challenged in getting people to venues. However, Hare said, there have been “signiﬁcant achievements”. She cited Fleetways, a taxi company in York that has arranged dementiaawareness training for all its drivers, and British Transport Police working to raise awareness at stations and providers on the East Coast Main Line. But, maintained Hare, further thought about how to increase access to transport for people with dementia is required, including better advice, access to volunteer transport ‘buddies’ and more community transport in rural areas. “Commissioners and partners should systematically address these issues,” she said. The practical work of creating DFCs in York and Bradford has enabled many ideas and approaches to be tested in the complexities of the real world, Hare said. Some were successful, others struggled. But active, meaningful engagement of people with dementia is “fundamental, and must be encouraged, resourced and nurtured”.

IN ACTION Angus Council is working with Historic Environment Scotland to fund the ﬁve-year Kirriemuir Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme. Kirsty Macari, senior planning oﬃcer at Angus Council, said the scheme sits alongside work being undertaken by the Dementia Friendly Kirriemuir Project, a three-year programme funded by the Life Changes Trust. The council approved the change of use and lease of derelict land in Kirriemuir for the development of a dementiafriendly garden, with rent of £1 a year. Macari said it would be a safe, friendly outdoor space that people living with dementia, their family and carers – as well as members of the community – could enjoy and maintain. The programme of works includes maximising the accessibility and improving the environment for routes within the town that connect main points of interest, such as the garden, by installing a safer crossing point, improved lighting and appropriate signage. Macari said the collaborative project has taken account of several criteria in the Scottish Government and NHS Health Scotland’s Place Standard Guide. n Details of the Ageing Well in Wales programme can be found here: www.ageingwellinwales. com/en/home n See The Place Standard Guide here: www.placestandard.scot n Dementia and Town Planning is here: tinyurl.com/ planner0317-dementia

MAR C H 2 01 7 / THE PLA NNER

27/02/2017 11:44

NEWS

Analysis { BUILD TO RENT

The Build to Rent trend By Huw Morris National planning policy will be revised to boost Build to Rent under the government’s housing white paper. As Quintain unveiled the construction programme for 5,000 Build to Rent homes around Wembley Stadium, the biggest such scheme in the UK, the government signalled its intention to revise planning policy to encourage this “emerging” sector to tackle the housing crisis. The white paper displays an important shift in support for new homes at lower rents, amid warnings by Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive Terrie Alafat that “home ownership is not a realistic prospect for at least a quarter of people in the UK”. Martin Bellinger, chief operating officer of Essential Living, the first UK Build to Rent company, sees an opportunity. “There’s been growing support for Build to Rent largely because ministers have realised there is nearly £90 billion of new money to be harvested from pension funds and institutions. Whatever ownership ambitions people have, the reality is that more people than ever are renting.” A consultation paper alongside the white paper proposes to revise the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) so that “affordable private rent can count as a form of affordable housing, and that it is also particularly well suited to Build to Rent”.

to develop purpose-built housing for private rent. The sector plummeted until 2012’s Montague Review into barriers to institutional investment in housing called on the government to change national planning policy. The government acknowledges that with household formation outstripping development, demand for rented housing is high. Consultant PwC predicts 25 per cent of households will live in the private rented sector by 2025, up from 19 per cent in 2014-15. By speeding up development on sites that might not otherwise come forward, the government thinks Build to Rent will contribute to town centre regeneration and accelerate local authority revenues through council tax, new homes bonus, business rates and surplus public sector land. Several cities already see Build to Rent as a

way to retain a skilled mobile labour force. Moreover, relatively secure returns from residential property, compared with other investments, are increasingly attracting institutional investment. The British Property Federation estimates 10,400 such homes have been completed in England since 2012, with 26,200 under construction and another 35,600 with planning permission. About half are in London, although the proportion is growing in the wider South-East and big cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Lee Sheldon, co-head of the real estate sector at Addleshaw Goddard, which advised Dander on a 2,000-home project last year, sees a wider trend. “What investors require is certainty and what ministers can look to do is offer this by ensuring we have a consistent approach to development across the country. The government is prioritising brownfield development and wants a rental sector that offers longer tenancies and better service. North America and Europe have offered a professional rented sector for years, and we see Build to Rent as being very much a key component of the future of Britain’s housing market.”

A glimpse of the future? An artist’s impression of Quintain’s Wembley Park scheme

NPPF revision Planning authorities will be expected to consider asking for such schemes instead of other forms of aﬀordable housing. The NPPF will also be revised so that authorities should “plan proactively for Build to Rent where there is a need”. The consultation aims to promote the availability of longer tenancies – of three years or more – in such accommodation. Some see Build to Rent as a new player within the housing market, but the sector is not that new. It can be traced back to the 1920s, when insurance companies started

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p08_09_news.indd 8

24/02/2017 16:56

PLAN UPFRONT The Inverness deal involves direct funding and greater borrowing powers

Major Belfast city centre regeneration project mooted Fresh plans for an ambitious £400 million redevelopment scheme in Belfast went on public display in early February. London-based developer Castlebrooke Investments is consulting on its masterplan for the regeneration of a 5-hectare area in the north-east quarter of the city centre bounded by Royal Avenue, Donegall Street, Garfield Street and High Street. The ‘Royal Exchange’ scheme has been identified as one of six strategic projects by Belfast City Council in its city masterplan because of its location as a ‘critical link’ between Royal Avenue and the Cathedral Quarter. The site has been the subject of various proposals for nearly two decades. At one stage planning permission was granted for a £350 million mixed-use development scheme that promised to create 3,000 jobs. The latest proposals will include significant new retail floor space as well as offices, hotels, flats, bars and restaurants.

City deal signed for Inverness UK and Scottish Government ministers and the Highland Council have formally signed the £315 million Inverness City Region Deal. The deal’s heads of terms document was signed in March 2016. It will see the Scottish Government commit up to £135 million worth of investment and the UK Government will invest up to £53.1 million. The council and its partners will commit £127 million. The money is set to deliver a ‘step change’ in digital connectivity, digital health care, skills, innovation and infrastructure, said the Scottish Government. Regional partners suggest that the £315 million funding could unlock up to an additional £800 million of private sector investment. Margaret Davidson, leader of the Highland Council, Keith Brown, Scottish cabinet secretary for the economy, jobs and fair work, and UK Government minister Andrew Dunlop, met in Invergordon to sign the deal. Davidson said the deal “aims to secure the sustainable economic future of Inverness and the Highlands, through investing in skills, business development and innovation, digital

connectivity, transport infrastructure, housing and tourism”. “The Inverness and Highland City Region Deal was seen as hugely important for the Highlands, however, given the economic challenges and uncertainty that we face from a number of quarters, I would suggest that the City Region Deal has never been as important to us in helping to sustain and develop our economy.” The formal signing of the deal means the business community has long-term certainty over public sector investment and can make long-term investment decisions in Inverness and across the Highlands, added Davidson. Brown said the Scottish Government’s £135 million investment would improve access to jobs, education and healthcare, which will deliver “signiﬁcant” long-term beneﬁts for the city, region and Scotland as a whole.

New Irish national spatial plan talks start Ministers have warned that Dublin could ‘potentially overheat’, extending its sprawl into surrounding Leinster counties, and sucking up more resources and people unless a new planning blueprint is put into place. That warning came as the government kick-started a consultation on the country’s National Planning Framework (NPF), a new spatial plan for Ireland designed to guide planning and development until 2040. Allowing current trends to continue meant that regional cities such as Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford “would grow, but not at the scale needed” to make up ground with Dublin. Housing and planning minister Simon Coveney said the population of the country I M AG E S | S H U T T E RSTO C K / G E T T Y

p08_09_news.indd 9

would increase by around a million by 2040. More than a ﬁfth of the population will be over 65, an extra 500,000 people will be at work, and a further 500,000 homes will be needed. Coveney added: “We are now seeking the public’s views on what the issues are and how we can – together – address sprawl and lop-sided development, better

utilisation of the potential of both urban and rural areas and avoid congestion and adverse impacts on people’s lives and the environment.” John Downey, chair of RTPI Ireland, said: “The NPF should be truly ambitious to deliver sustainable development, longterm economic growth and a plan for tackling climate change. “We call on the government to clearly outline how the nation can deliver these objectives through a plan-led approach which incorporates the spatial context across the short, medium and long term. “It must become the key spatial plan for government that inﬂuences strategies and resource allocation to provide certainty and conﬁdence for communities, developers and investors.”

MAR C H 2 01 7 / THE PLA NNER

24/02/2017 16:56

NEWS

Analysis {

The nation’s “green lungs’ are under threat

PUBLIC PARKS

Massive spending cuts threaten public parks By Huw Morris The Parks Alliance chairman Matthew Bradbury campaigns to “avoid merely nursing our parks into a managed decline” but he is realistic. “They are at the heart of British life yet are a Cinderella service set against competing financial demands.” he says. Although the UK’s 27,000 public parks attract 2.6 billion visits a year, massive funding cuts have left them at a “tipping point”, according to the Commons Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee. More than 92 per cent of park budgets have been slashed, MPs reveal, with some suffering cuts of up to 97 per cent in the past five years. Moreover, the committee admits planning policy, “particularly as a result of pressures to increase housing supply, may not always give enough priority to parks and green spaces, or to other elements of our green infrastructure”. Parks are vital to public health and part of the glue holding communities together. They support local economies and reduce pollution. They also contribute to biodiversity and help manage flooding. Yet with their budgets all but annihilated, many now feature reduced opening hours,

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p10_11_News_Parks.indd 10

more litter, vandalism and even vermin. MPs call on planners to “take a wholeplace approach” when preparing local plans to recognise the importance of parks and green spaces in line with paragraphs 73 and 76 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). “This will require effective fulfilment of their duty to cooperate with other local authorities, whether on a bilateral basis or within the structures of devolution deals.” They also want a potentially strengthened role for “green infrastructure frameworks” which councils prepare to inform local or neighbourhood plans. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs must ensure that parks and green infrastructure are “appropriately recognised” in its forthcoming 25-year environment plan. This does not go far enough, says Landscape Institute president Merrick Denton-Thompson, who demands a review of the NPPF to make sure parks, green spaces and green infrastructure are “appropriately planned, designed and managed”. “It is clear to us that the NPPF is inadequate in terms of a coherent message

which supports parks as a key component of green infrastructure, the green lungs of our towns and cities. I would like to see it improved, not least by strengthening the duty to cooperate. Amending the NPPF is unlikely to be an attractive proposition for government, but changes need to be made.” The challenge comes back to money. The RTPI says understanding parks as green infrastructure would help local authorities attract funding from new partners. “Healthcare bodies, transport authorities and water companies all derive beneﬁts from high-quality green space and may help fund their upkeep.” MPs say Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy payments should be used for continuing maintenance, although this is already the case. However, the RTPI says given the competing demands on these sources of funding, more radical changes may be needed to secure funding. It calls on the government to explore capturing the uplift in the value of private land from the granting of planning permission, with the money reinvested into all forms of infrastructure, including green spaces. Bradbury thinks it’s an issue of leadership with central government directing investment. “If this comparatively small investment is made, it will deliver huge return in terms of improved wellbeing, social cohesion and environmental management. We need to consolidate on what’s been achieved over the years and reap the beneﬁts.” I M AG E S | G E T T Y / A L A M Y

27/02/2017 11:13

PLAN UPFRONT Natural capital is the idea that the environment “is a set of assets in overlapping ecosystems,” says Dieter Helm

Green belt is key natural capital asset, says Helm The green belt should be preserved and treated as a key part of the country’s natural capital ‘asset register’, according to the chair of the Natural Capital Committee. Professor Dieter Helm was speaking at the ‘Green Belt of the Future’ seminar in February. Speaking in a personal capacity, Helm spoke of observing “decades of an almost entirely fruitless debate between people who think that the economy is on one side of the debate and the environment on the other”. This, said Helm, was “an entirely sterile debate, and the wrong way to think about the argument; it misses out the enormous opportunities that come by viewing the environment as a key part of the economy”. Linking the need to protect the green belt to the need to define the country’s natural capital assets, he explained how natural capital has at its heart the idea that the environment “is a set of assets in overlapping ecosystems that are just as important as any other assets in the economy”. Defining it as “a hard and measurable concept with proper accounting and balance sheets”, he suggested that, like the green belt, “natural capital needs to be situated right next to the people to whom it will provide the maximum benefits.” At the same event, Janet Askew, director of academic engagement and enhancement at the University of the West of England, gave a passionate defence of the green belt.“If nothing else,” she said, “we should leave this room today knowing that London has been influential around the world at defining what a compact city is. The green belt is a sustainable policy and it works.” She welcomed the housing white paper for not showing any weakening of government policy towards the green belt. Joe Kilroy, RTPI policy officer, handed out the institute’s green belt practice note at the event. It states that “green belt boundaries may well need to change, but only through careful reviews over wider areas than single local authorities, and where safeguards are put in place to ensure that development is sustainable, affordable and deliverable in a timely manner”. See page 18 for The Planner’s interview with Dieter Helm. n RTPI practice note: tinyurl.com/ planner0317-practice-note

Green light for 1,500-home scheme in Cardiff Cardiff City Council has approved outline proposals from developer Persimmon Homes for a 1,500-home neighbourhood on the north-west flank of the Welsh capital. The developer intends to build a mix of houses, flats and sheltered accommodation for the elderly, as well as a 1,000-space park-and-ride facility and transport interchange. The masterplan comprises a new primary school, 16,250 square metres of office, workshop and research and development facilities, and a 2,500 square metre local centre, including

shops and commercial space. The location – at Creigiau, oﬀ junction 33 of the M4 – is earmarked for a strategic development under Cardiﬀ’s approved local development plan. However, neighbouring planning authorities Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taf have reservations about the impact of the scheme.

Shortlist announced for RTPI excellence awards Ninety ﬁnalists have been shortlisted for the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence 2017. The awards have been running for nearly 40 years. They aim to celebrate exceptional examples of planning and the contribution planners make to society. Last year’s awards saw ‘Plan for Homes’ by Plymouth City Council win the RTPI Silver Jubilee Cup.

Stephen Wilkinson, president of the RTPI, said: “The finalists represent some outstanding contributions to planning which are making a positive impact for the community and environment. “The judges will find it difficult choosing the winners given the high calibre of entries this year.” There are more than 12 categories in the awards including Excellence in Planning to Deliver Housing, Excellence in Plan Making Practice, and Local Authority Planning Team of the Year. The award-winners will be announced at a ceremony at Milton Court at The Barbican, London, on 15 June 2017. The headline sponsors are AECOM and Savills. n A full list of the categories and nominees can be found on the RTPI website. tinyurl.com/planner0317awards-2017

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p10_11_News_Parks.indd 11

27/02/2017 11:14

ADVERTISEMENTS

Consultants { border

Planning our sustainable future

archaeology

Birmingham Bristol Derby Exeter Glasgow London Warrington

archaeology & built heritage

working throughout the UK Contact:

Joanne Farrar +44(0) 0203 214 8889 Joanne.farrar@atkinsglobal.com

e: ask@borderarchaeology.com

t: 01568 610101

borderarchaeology.com

http://www.atkinsglobal.com/urban-planning

ISO 9001 | ISO 14001 | OHSAS 18001

Savills Planning -

Education

Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment Townscape Assessment Expert Witness, Public Inquires & Appeals

Advisors to universities, colleges and schools on operational and other property projects. Neil Rowley nrowley@savills.com +44 (0) 7870 999 723

Paul Rouse prouse@savills.com +44 (0) 7870 555 776

Strategic Land Promotion Local Plan Representations Green Belt Assessment Sensitivity and Capacity Appraisals Minerals and Waste Development Urban Design, Public Realm and Masterplanning Regeneration and Renewal Heritage Landscapes and Restoration Landscape Design and Implementation Ecological Consultancy and BREEAM

Education is one part of our full range of planning consultancy services

Mark Flatman - mark.flatman@lizlake.com Head of Landscape Planning

01279 647 044

savills.co.uk

www.lizlake.com Stansted | Bristol | Nottingham

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

Savills- 2/8 verts.indd 2

PLN Directory Mar17.indd 12

20/10/2015 12:23 box dir.indd 1 Liz Lake double

16/02/2017 11:02 22/02/2017 11:54

PLAN UPFRONT

Leaderr There’s progress, but planning remains an uneven playing ﬁeld – As a feminist and proud planner, I’m delighted our profession continues to embrace and celebrate International Women’s Day. Having a diverse planning workforce is vital to creating places that work for everyone and in Trudi Elliott the RTPI has a chief executive who champions the case for an inclusive profession where no talent is excluded. Planners work within a multidisciplinary environment where it’s vital to have the right mix of skills and experience around the table. But just as nobody believes a room full of identikit politicians is a good thing, the same applies to planning. As a thirty-something, working-class woman, I’m proud to be the only chartered town planner in the Scottish Parliament, bringing tons of lived

Monica Lennon experience alongside my professional expertise. And in the face of austerity budgets that have seen the planning workforce in Scotland decline by 20 per cent, planning desperately needs a champion. To mark International Women’s Day, I’m hosting the Scottish Young Planners Network in Holyrood to celebrate the contribution that women make to planning and the built environment. We should continue to celebrate

excellence and our role models like Young Planner of the Year Emma Lancaster, as we cannot be what we cannot see. Progress is being made towards achieving more diversity in planning with more women occupying leadership roles and making an impact. But our profession isn’t a level playing ﬁeld, and with a 26 per cent pay gap between men and women*, it’s an extremely uneven one. If we want to pride ourselves on making fantastic places and prove the relevance and importance of planning it’s in our collective interests to address this. It’s a great strength of the RTPI that members work collaboratively. It’s by

working together that we can close the pay gap and attract and retain the best talent. In the face of rising inequality and economic and political uncertainty, I’m convinced the world needs planning more than ever. It’s over to us to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. * Data for the role of ‘Town planning oﬃcer’, Oﬃce for National Statistics gender pay gap data extracted from the 2016 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Monica Lennon has been a Labour Party member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland since 2016. She is also a chartered town planner and RTPI member with experience of both public and private sectors. We invited Monica to write our leader to mark International Women’s Day on March 8. Women’s voices are to the fore

“JUST AS NOBODY BELIEVES A ROOM FULL OF IDENTIKIT POLITICIANS IS A GOOD THING, THE SAME APPLIES TO PLANNING”

throughout the magazine and we’ll be running more material online on the day itself d. Visit www.theplanner.co.uk, follow us on Twitter at @ ThePlannerRTPI and use the hashtag #ThePlannerIWD

CONTACTS Redactive Publishing Ltd 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP 020 7880 6200

Sub-editor Deborah Shrewsbury Picture editor Claire Echavarry

SUBSCRIPTIONS £120 – UK £175 – Overseas

Designer Craig Bowyer EDITORIAL

A DV E RT I S I N G & M A R K E T I N G

Tel: 020 7324 2736 editorial@theplanner.co.uk

Sales manager James Brunt – 020 7880 6230 james.brunt@theplanner.co.uk

Editor Martin Read martin.read@theplanner.co.uk

Recruitment sales Sabmitar Bal – 020 7880 7665

Consultant editor Huw Morris

PRODUCT ION

Features editor Simon Wicks simon.wicks@theplanner.co.uk Reporter Laura Edgar laura.edgar@theplanner.co.uk Content development executive Matt Moody

Production manager Jane Easterman Senior production executive Aysha Miah-Edwards PUBLISHING Publishing director Joanna Marsh

Average net circulation 19,072 (January-December 2014) © The Planner is published on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) by Redactive Publishing Ltd (RPL), 17 Britton St, London EC1M 5TP. This magazine aims to include a broad range of opinion about planning issues and articles do not necessarily reﬂect the views of the RTPI nor should such opinions be relied upon as statements of fact. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any print or electronic format, including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet, or in any other format in whole or in partww in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher. While all due care is taken in writing and producing this magazine, neither RTPI nor RPL accept any liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. Printed by Southernprint

RT P I C O N TA C T S Membership membership@rtpi.org.uk 020 7929 9462 Education education@rtpi.org.uk 020 7929 9451 Planning Aid England advice@planningaid.rtpi.org.uk 41 Botolph Lane London EC3R 8DL Media enquiries Rebecca Hildreth rebecca.hildreth@rtpi.org.uk 020 7929 9477 The Planner is produced using paper that is elemental chlorine free and is sourced from sustainable managed forest.

ISSN 2053-7581

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p13_Leader.indd 13

27/02/2017 11:45

CHRIS SHEPLEY

O Opinion A Delphic disconnect between developers and the people Dave was paying a visit to the launderette. Amazing how many planners are called Dave. From time to time, Mrs McTavish and the others took time off from their valuable work of bothering ministers, and engaged with local issues. Dave was their local planner, and would often drop by in the hope that Elsie would make him a cup of tea. He saw the place as a good source of local views. He settled opposite Mrs Braithwaite’s revolving smalls for a homely chat. Mr Khan raised the issue of the big development opposite the church. The developer had had several local exhibitions, public meetings, charrettes, and seminars, as a result of which a scheme for 200 homes, 40 per cent affordable, with lots of tree planting, a small park, a community centre and all the trimmings had broadly satisfied all the over-seventies who took an interest in such matters. Mr Khan, however, knew what was coming next. (As you do too). Over a period of time, with various iterations, applications, appeals, arguments, and the pretty blatant disregard of local views, this transmogrified into a scheme of 500 homes, with a handful of affordables on a separate site behind the abattoir, a couple of trees, and a swing for the kids. As Dave had often explained, this was a common scenario and the council these days had little chance of standing in the way. A barrage of dense information from a fleet of consultants had sought to demonstrate that the

T H E P L AN N E R \ M A R C H 2 0 1 7

p14_shepley_.indd 14

“AN INSPECTOR, GUIDED BY GOVERNMENT POLICY, CAME DOWN ON THE SIDE OF THE BUILDER” original scheme was no longer viable in view of the recession that happened nine years ago, the price of socks, and the need to maintain the CEO’s bonus at its previous level. No one at the council had time to read all this, and in any event it was designed to avoid the possibility that they might understand it. Mr Khan had found a number of holes in the argument, but an inspector, guided by government policy, came down on the side of the builder. They sipped their tea. Mrs McTavish wondered, as she emptied the dryer, what sort

of a voice ordinary people in launderettes had these days. Dave skilfully turned the conversation to the new Local Plan Advisory Group. He produced the minutes of the recent meeting, which had been attended by Councillor Tansy Bergamot, Chair; Jolyon Titus-Quail, Chamber of Commerce; Wigbert Cholmondeley, house builders; Estonia RiceMugg, Save the Green Belt; Figgy Ffortescue-Ffergusson, Conservation Society; Aubyn Yak, Residents Forum; and Mrs Braithwaite, Launderette. Mrs B was grateful to be in the group, but she told Dave that she’d found it tough. There had been what she understood planners called a ‘disconnect’. Other members of the group talked in a language she didn’t fully understand – a combination of impenetrable jargon and

knowing middle-class banter. They were all concerned pretty much exclusively with the mathematics of how many houses should be built. Lots, said some; not many, said others. Sometimes they mentioned jobs, and there was a bit of a barney about parking. But Mrs Braithwaite had carried out a survey of launderette users. What did they want from the plan? She reported to the meeting that people wanted a lovely new park, a library, some children’s playgrounds, cheap houses, more trees, cheaper buses, local shops and none of those awful chains, and a new spin dryer. Dave apologised for the puzzled and patronising response she had received. These (even cheap houses) were not issues at the front of the group’s minds. He resolved to raise, at the next RTPI regional meeting, the question of why the conversations that planners had, and the predictable eﬀusions of the usual suspects in the business community or the conservation bodies, were so diﬀerent from those of the patrons of the average launderette.

Chris Shepley is the principal of Chris Shepley Planning and former Chief Planning Inspector I L L U S T R AT I O N | O I V I N D H O V L A N D

27/02/2017 11:46

CORRESPONDENCE

Quote unquote COMMENT FROM AROUND THE PLANNING WORLD “Ancient woodlands are the cathedrals of our natural world” BARONESS YOUNG OF THE WOODLANDS TRUST PUTS HER TRUST IN TREES

“We turned up at the last night of The Proms expecting an evening of vigorous ﬂag-waving, only to ﬁnd the Albert Hall is empty and has closed due to funding cuts” JONATHAN MANNS, HEAD OF REGENERATION AND DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AT COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL ON THE HOUSING WHITE PAPER

Two minutes with Francesca Perry

FRANCESCA PERRY is the founder of Thinking City, an online hub for discussion on the urban experience, and commissioning and community editor for Guardian Cities. Francesca will be chairing a session on planning and the media at the RTPI Convention on 21st June.

What is Thinking City? “It started as a personal project for researching how cities aﬀect us, and what we can do to improve the urban experience for everyone. But as it attracted attention, it grew to address topics of inclusive urbanism around the world, and to promote publicly the importance of making cities inclusive, participatory and fair. The platform is aimed at anyone who lives in, works in, works for, or simply thinks about cities.” How do platforms like this contribute to broader discussion about how we manage growth and change in our cities? “For discussions to be really inclusive of a broad audience, they need to move beyond the academic journals and into the social media arena and blogosphere. They need to be accessible, and communicated in a way that is not clouded by complex academic language. I do hope that

the topics I, and similar sites, cover provide a prompt for discussion and reflection that can scale up to a policy level.” Where does your own interest in cities come from? “I am an urbanist, and I co-steer the Young Urbanist network in the Academy of Urbanism. I have no technical background in planning, but for three years I worked in community engagement in the sector, involving local people in shaping their neighbourhoods. I grew up in London, and the nature of this city has always fascinated me; I loved walking through the city streets and parks, thinking about how different urban environments shape our lives. One day I discovered the Urban Studies MSc at UCL Urban Lab, and that was the start of my life as a selfprofessed urbanist!” What sets this apart from other online resources about cities? “I like it to focus more on how different types of urban environments affect us

psychologically. I think we must always take into account the lived, human experience when we plan cities. What sets it apart is an insistence on a core message of inclusive urbanism – I’m not ashamed to champion that in everything I publish.” How do you see cities developing over the next 2050 years? “Cities can continue to grow unsustainably – be planned around cars, exacerbate social segregation and sprawl uncontrollably – or truly commit to a more inclusive, sustainable, eﬃcient form of urbanism. I’d like to see current trends like pedestrianisation, public transport and implementation of cycling infrastructure continue and grow, but I also hope that the loss of social housing and the privatisation of public space are dissolved.” Why should planners read Thinking City? “To explore urban issues that move beyond the technical aspect of planning, to read about inspiring initiatives around the world, to think about how urban design can impact people’s well-being and to participate in discussions about inclusive urbanism.” n Thinking City: https://thinkingcity.org/ n RTPI Convention: www.theplanningconvention. co.uk

“If nothing else, we should leave this room today knowing that London has been inﬂuential around the world at deﬁning what a compact city is. The green belt is a sustainable policy and it works PAST RTPI PRESIDENT JANET ASKEW’S PASSIONATE DEFENCE OF THE GREEN BELT

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p15_Q&A_Quote.indd 15

27/02/2017 11:47

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

O Opinion

Carole-Anne Davies is chief executive of the Design Commission for Wales

“Places shape the way we live our liv lives, the opportunities we have to get a paid job, how easy it is to get to school, or hospital or keep in touch with friends and relatives. Environments reinforce identity, but can also alienate and discriminate. Planning policies influence the lives of women and men in different ways... Gender is the most fundamental organising feature of society, affecting our lives from the moment we are born. Gender mainstreaming recognises diversity between genders, as well as remembering that gender cuts across other kinds of differences, ethnicity, class, disability and age.” This extract from the RTPI’s 2003 Gender Equality in Plan Making toolkit recognises the double bind of gender inequality. It has done more work since, but I select this quote because while the statistics are overwhelming, they don’t often reveal this double discrimination. Women start from the back. We’ll often be higher qualified but less frequently promoted; we’ll find it harder to maintain a career and a family, let alone the social whirl of the career circuit. We are still a boardroom and leadership minority – less visible, even when highly successful. We are still too rare in senior positions in the construction industries. Add to this being female and black or Asian / gay / single /

Jo Davis is senior director of planning, development and regeneration at real estate adviser GVA

We need to keep up with the digital age

It’s time to see the diﬀerence

disabled / over 45, or otherwise visibly diﬀerent. And women and girls are also the group most at risk of personal attack or assault in public spaces – globally. This is the ‘cut across’ that makes gender inequality such a critical element to address in all professions, in political and corporate leadership and civil society. The equalities lens is vital for good, sustainable place-making and policy, and sits at the heart of good planning. Many professional bodies have taken action, but we must accelerate the pace of change to ensure the greater visibility of women and to inject more balanced, inclusive perspectives in policy and decisionmaking, as well as the economic development priorities that accompany them. The safety and economic regeneration of public spaces needs this wider perspective to better address the needs of us all. Our transport and infrastructure, the nature of economic development opportunities, neighbourhoods, connections and public space must all address this entrenched inequality. Women are planners, too – and investors, project managers, clients, developers and consultants. Above all, women are primary end users, using public transport and public spaces, and accessing health, education, cultural and social services far more than men. It’s time to plan accordingly.

“THE EQUALITIES LENS IS VITAL FOR GOOD, SUSTAINABLE PLACEMAKING AND POLICY, AND SITS AT THE HEART OF GOOD PLANNING”

2 BLOG

BLOG

In 2015, only 1.5 per cent of the m UK’s major infrastructure project spending was on digital infrastructure. The announcement of an additional £1 billion for digital, alongside the £2.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund in the 2016 Autumn Statement showed a commitment from government to improve both these aspects of the UK’s ageing and inefficient provision. But is it enough, and how does it translate to delivery? The housing white paper promises to consult on a requirement that digital infrastructure is considered during the planning process. Too little, too late? It is important for the UK to remain globally competitive and our digital infrastructure needs to catch up. A firm commitment from government is required to ensure that digital infrastructure remains at the fore. Good infrastructure – social, green or highways – is critical for the economy. But the tech age is changing the world fast and our strategies struggle to keep up. As planners, we tend to focus on and plan at a spatial level – the green spaces, the primary school, the community centre. We are living in a virtual world; what about the digital infrastructure that supports daily life? It can often be faster to send a file via a USB on a bicycle across London than to transmit it via an email. Our digital infrastructure is

congested and the danger is that as something less tangible, it is harder to understand and factor into decision-making. There is not enough focus on how to deliver improved digital connectivity in and outside of London. In the West of England, testing ways to digitalise a city has been taken up by the Bristol is Open project, a collaboration between the University of Bristol, Bristol City Council and other partners and supporters such as Nokia, InterDigital and NEC. The project uses Bristol’s own digital infrastructure: ﬁbre in the ground (using some of the old telecoms network); sensors on lampposts; and a mile of experimental wireless connectivity along the Harbourside (the city’s bustling hub), to create an ‘open programmable city’. This not only provides opportunities to change the way people interact with the city and enhance connectivity, but also attracts people to live and work in the burgeoning high-tech clusters in the region. Nevertheless, travel a few miles from the city centre and the ability to connect is much more uncertain. Government funding and policy can only go so far in delivering digital connectivity. As an industry, we need collaboration and action to ensure that digital infrastructure is inherent in the design, implementation and creation of new places.

“IT CAN OFTEN BE FASTER TO SEND A FILE VIA A USB ON A BICYCLE ACROSS LONDON THAN TO TRANSMIT IT VIA AN EMAIL”

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p16_17_blogs.indd 16

24/02/2017 16:58

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

Christina Cox is planning and building standards manager for Stirling Council

Connecting the connections: Scotland’s new era?

What sp sparked your interest in plannin planning? By reading maps, I started to get into places. Training as a planner, I learned this was developing ‘spatial awareness’. Tapping into a sense of spatial awareness through maps can make community engagement easier. Good place-making takes spatial awareness a step further by connecting the connections of what makes places where people want to live, work and play. Good place-making comes from connecting the connections of environmental quality, adequate infrastructure and housing, and regional economic health. It has sometimes felt that the planning system has neglected to connect the connections in favour of delivering on unconnected single issues of the day. In January the Scottish Government published a consultation paper Places, People and Planning. Some omnipresent planning tensions are at the fore of this ‘3Ps’ review of the planning system – for example, expanding community-based planning decision-making and pulling strongly on economic development levers. There are some radical suggestions to address these issues; enlighteningly, the proposals taken together explicitly connect the connections. Does publication of the 3Ps signal a new era for planning in Scotland? They may have a pro-

4 BLOG

BLOG

Katherine Pollard is policy and networks adviser for the RTPI

How planners work at the intersection of social justice

found impact beyond the work of council planning services. Aligning spatial planning with community planning, plans prepared by local people; regional partnership working; coordinating infrastructure planning at a national and regional level, and a new infrastructure levy – these are a few of the measures bound to grab the attention of council CEOs, your colleagues and even friends beyond planning circles. The 3Ps review follows city deals that have been agreed or are being agreed for many UK cities and city regions. In November, a city deal for Stirling and Clackmannanshire was revealed. Based on a masterplan that includes six ‘signature projects’, it aims to put Stirling on a footing with the world’s most sustainable cities. By connecting employability, infrastructure and the environment, the masterplan provides an integrated package: active travel; development of key heritage assets; modernised infrastructure; landscape, river and city linked through connected places and green networks. The 3Ps has been published almost simultaneously with the Stirling City Deal. The 3Ps instantly resonate with the challenge ahead for delivering the city deal. Both start from a place where they will most likely be successful – by connecting the connections.

“THE 3PS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE STIRLING CITY DEAL”

American civil rights advocate and scholar sch Kimberlé Williams Crens Crenshaw coined the term ‘intersectionality’ to describe how different types of discrimination interact. For example, people living in poverty or with a disability may also be affected by a factor such as race or gender.The RTPI has its ‘Proud of Planning’ campaign, but we need to avoid an ‘us-against-the-world’ mentality. It is time for the profession to look at itself honestly and take action on what it can do to change. Good placemaking is inherently i n t e r s e c t i o n a l. Planners have the skills to help create more inclusive environments across various dimensions that might otherwise exclude people. This is even more vital when we consider global challenges such as climate change, an ageing population and increasing inequality, as these mostly affect vulnerable groups. To create spatially just places, we need a planning system that protects and empowers marginalised groups. Much of the RTPI’s recent work has tried to make the connections between the quality of the built environment and a range of social issues. For example, our Place, Poverty and Inequality report on the importance of ‘place factors’ when addressing inequality, or our work on planning for healthy places, including our latest practice advice on planning for dementia-

friendly places. We’ve also argued this internationally by engaging with the UN Habitat III conference and the New Urban Agenda. Recognising intersectionality requires not only planning for social justice, but also a profession that is open to ideas. We must connect with diﬀerent struggles by going to where people live – and by listening. Planners are being stretched to meet an ever-widening set of goals in a context where planning departments are overstretched already. But intersectionality can help us to understand the connections between these goals – e.g. healthy places and inclusive places – and how they might be promoted in concert. The institute is also trying to support its members to think and work across dimensions, and recognise how they already do. Take our planning awardwinners, Planning Aid’s work in getting people involved in the planning process, and even our code of professional conduct based on equality and respect. It’s also about ensuring a diverse profession through our bursary scheme to help students from varied backgrounds or those living with a disability into planning. Planning is about emancipating people – recognising intersectionality can help us to understand how.

“TO CREATE SPATIALLY JUST PLACES, WE NEED A PLANNING SYSTEM THAT PROTECTS AND EMPOWERS MARGINALISED GROUPS”

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p16_17_blogs.indd 17

24/02/2017 16:58

N AT U R A L C A P I TA L A C C O U N T I N G

IF WE WANT TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, WE NEED TO INCORPORATE IT INTO CORPORATE AND NATIONAL ACCOUNTING ON WICK KS SYSTEMS, DIETER HELM TELLS SIIMO “I’m half East German, so I’m almost allergic to grand plans. But I do not believe we will preserve and enhance our natural environment by treating it as a discrete set of marginal choices without thinking of it in terms of systems. Our economy totally depends on those systems.” Dieter Helm, Oxford University economics professor and independent chair of the government’s Natural Capital Committee (NCC), is in full ﬂow. “What would happen if you were deprived of this asset? The economy would collapse. Where would your water come from? What do you think your food would be like with the declining quality of the soils? Take all these things away, what would be left? Nothing.” Helm talks for an hour, more or less exactly, barely giving space for an edgewise word. He’s forthright and somewhat fastidious, more than once stressing his political independence and the distinction between his views and those of the committee he chairs. Occasionally his academic veneer gives way as Helm leans forward to expound a point with greater passion. We’re talking about the newly published fourth annual NCC annual report to government. Improving Natural Capital carries 16 recommendations

which form a “coherent framework” for delivery of the imminent 25-year environment plan. “The central object is to leave the natural environment in a better place for the next generation, and the 2011 paper [The Natural Choice white paper] is now six years ago,” he observes. “Here we are, nearly halfway through this Parliament and very little has happened – and this is a manifesto commitment by the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. It’s time to get a move on.” Natural capital, according to the report, is “the elements of the natural environment which provide valuable goods and services to people”. This includes ecosystems, species, freshwater, land, minerals, the air and oceans. Natural capital accounting – which embeds the natural world into accounting systems – is controversial to some because it can be said to undermine the idea that nature has an intrinsic, unquantiﬁable value.

PHOTOGRAPHY | PETER SEARLE

T H E PL AN N E R \ M A R C H 2 0 1 7

p18_21_interview_.indd 18

27/02/2017 12:07

“DOES IT MATTER WHAT THE WATER SYSTEM COSTS? ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS WHAT THE COST IS TO MAINTAIN IT INTACT”

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p18_21_interview_.indd 19

27/02/2017 12:07

N AT U R A L C A P I TA L A C C O U N T I N G

Proponents of natural capital accounting, however, would say that efforts to preserve biodiversity are failing; only by getting it onto balance sheets can we give governments and businesses an inarguable motive to invest in natural capital, as they would other assets. But valuing nature is not simple. “Why do you want to know what the value of the asset is?” asks Helm. “Suppose I say to you ‘Look, we need clean water in perpetuity’. Does it matter what the water system costs? All you need to know is what the cost is to maintain it intact. “Issues arise if you are going to damage a capital asset. The practical question is: ‘Is it worth it? Are the gains from building the houses so great as to offset the damage you are doing?” He cites the case of Twyford Down in southern England, effectively spliced by the M3 motorway to reduce pressure on the Winchester bypass. “You can carry on with the traffic you originally had without doing this, and you are saying is the down is worth more than the cost of the traffic,” Helm explains. “For example, if it costs £300 million a year in lost time in traffic all you are asking is: ‘Is the down worth £300 million a year?’. “You could put a tunnel through it. Costs are completely different now. A tunnel would have cost £90m and we didn’t put a tunnel through it, so you decided that the down was not worth £90m or more.” Helm insists that natural capital accounting is a “hard” concept. “It’s about assets, it’s about accounts, it’s about capital maintenance, science, threshold safe limits, economics and economic valuation of benefits.” The ‘historic cost’ accounting used by most businesses to account for traditional assets is inadequate to account for natural capital, he says. “You acquire an asset, depreciate it and get your money back. But most natural capital assets are more like water company assets. They are assets that we want, effectively, in perpetuity. “In current cost accounts you don’t depreciate an asset, you just want to maintain it. Instead of depreciation, you pay capital maintenance – the amount of money required to keep an asset in a state for service.” Helm’s committee is working with the Office for National Statistic to develop national natural capital accounts. A template has been provided to businesses, too, and a ‘how to’ manual is in the offing to meet the demand from “community groups, water companies, cities”. He worries that if rigorous practice isn’t promoted from the outset, natu-

C V

HIG HL IG HT S

DI ETE R HE LM Born: 11 November 1956 Degree: DPhil, University of Oxford Recen nt timelin ne:

199 93

of Science and Technology

Worked on DTI’s Energy Advisory Panel until 2003

200 07

200 02

CBE for services to energy policy

Member of DTI’s Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board

200 04

20111 Appointed to assist European Commission in preparing Energy Roadmap 2050.

Appointed to Prime Minister’s Council

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p18_21_interview_.indd 20

20112 Appointed Chair of new Natural Capital Committee to independently advise government on state of England's natural capital. Three State of Natural Capital reports published in 2013, 2014 and 2015

20115 Natural Capital: Valuing the Planet

and The Carbon Crunch published

20115 Reappointed Chair of Natural Capital Committee

20117 NCC publishes Improving Natural Capital, the third State of Natural Capital report

ral capital accounting will go the way of sustainability and become a “woolly concept” for which everyone has their own definition. “There’s a right way to do this and there are wrong ways of doing it. What worries me is the speed with which everyone is coming up with their own ways of doing it,” he says. “We cannot have nice woolly concepts in the situation in which we find ourselves. Environmentalists need to be every bit as good as business men and people dealing with other assets. The environment is too serious to leave [solely] to amateurs. It has to go up another intellectual gear. It has to go with economics and economic benefits.” There is, he says “tonnes of evidence” that nature contributes to wellbeing and working ability. “Big economic benefits come from this. There are also considerable benefits in the sense that if you look at how we spend environmental money we don’t get much for our bucks. We spend £3 billion on agriculture, most of which is paying people to own land. Just think what you could get for that or even a smidgeon of that.” The benefit of Bre exitt “If you go back to the great planning acts after the Second World War, people asked a big broad question: ‘What kind of country do we want? What kind of land use do we want?’ “When we joined the EEC in the 1970s, we never asked ourselves whether we really want the land use that goes with EEC membership and we ushered in a decade of enormous destruction to our landscape I M AG E S | PE T E R S E A R L E

27/02/2017 12:08

“IT’S ABOUT ASSETS, IT’S ABOUT ACCOUNTS, IT’S ABOUT CAPITAL MAINTENANCE, SCIENCE, THRESHOLD SAFE LIMITS, ECONOMICS AND ECONOMIC VALUATION OF BENEFITS”

for almost no economic benefit.” Born in 1956, Helm grew up the grandson of an Essex farmer in the years between the end of rationing and the UK’s entry into the European Economic Community. “My father was a prisoner of war,” he recalls. “They were sent to work on the farms in Britain. My background in Essex is a world in which nobody went to university. It’s all about agriculture, and most people left school at 15. “I spent my childhood in the Essex marshes, among Brent geese and elm trees, on my grandfather’s farm with its 350 acres set on hard Essex clay and divided into 15 fields. In the ’70s I watched it being sold, and all the hedgerows being denuded and it all destroyed and made into a field.” “All my life I have been passionately interested in the natural world and environment. But I became an economist. It’s all about the allocation of scarce resources – and there’s no scarcer resource than the environment.” Helm developed expertise in infrastructure, energy, transport and water. He became a respected academic, thinker and writer, an adviser to governments. “In the last 10 years,” he explains, “having thought about climate change, I moved on to the natural capital territory where I think hard economics has a lot to offer.” Helm rails against the Common Agricultural Policy and its system of rewarding farmers for denuding land of its biodiversity. Brexit, he argues, is a “massive discontinuity” that offers us a powerful incentive to ask what kind of country we want.

He advocates a system of paying landowners to act as guardians of natural capital. We spend £3 billion on agricultural subsidies each year for an industry that generates just £7 billion in revenue, he points out. The subsidy would be better spent investing in natural capital, he says. Natural capital accounting is one element in a system-wide transformation of the way we view and manage land. Reflecting the NCC report, he argues that we need to reconsider the “functions, objectives and duties” of National Parks, not least by widening their environmental remit. We must work with the National Infrastructure Commission to have natural capital impacts properly considered in infrastructure plans. We must create new wildlife corridors in collaboration with National Parks, landowners, local authorities, developers and infrastructure providers. We must also address the lack of environmental quality and accessibility of the green belt, potentially one of the greatest natural capital assets we have, because of its proximity to settlements. The 25-year plan n The urgent pressures of climate change and population growth mean that we now have to make difficult system choices, Helm insists. Improving Natural Capital hints at a systemic framework in which these choices can be made. “My vision is that the 25-year plan is the overarching framework within which Brexit, the environmental plan and agriculture should be set,” says Helm. But current government’s commitment to environmental issues and climate change mitigation is uncertain. Brexit is a huge distraction and potentially a threat to existing environmental protections. “The jury’s out. If politicians decide not to do this or not to prioritise the 25-year plan, that’s democracy,” Helm concedes. “But they won’t do it in ignorance of the economic benefits they will forgo by not doing it, because we will give them clear independent advice.” Leadership is critical. “It’s a question of putting in place a proper legal framework to take this forward. In that regard, we say that someone has to be in charge of the plan itself.” So, despite his “allergy”, we talk about plans. “It’s become an unfashionable word, the word ‘plan’. But actually there is a series of systems involved here: local ecosystems, broader ecosystems, the national ecosystem.” Systems management requires a coherent plan, one able to break down “siloed” responsibilities to move towards a holistic vision nature and society. Helm cites water management as an example: “We provide water in a silo. So we never really thought about catchment system operators.” He says we are now in a context in which we have “massive structural changes” forthcoming. “To find a comparative point in recent history where there are so many substantive points on the table in one, you have to go back to the period after the Second World War. “We need more creative considerations for thinking nationally and longer term. We have to stop thinking about the environment as a constraint and start thinking about it as a part of the economy.” n To read a fulle er versiion of th his in nterrview w, with h addiitio onal mate erial on green belt and d naturral capittal pion neer pro oje ectts,, ple easse visitt http://tinyurl.com m/p plan nnerr03177-na aturral-c capiita al Download Impro ovin ng Natu ural Cap pita al herre www.gov.uk/gove ern nment/p publlicattion ns/na atura al-c capita al--co ommitte eesfourth-state-of-n natu ural--cap pital--rep port

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p18_21_interview_.indd 21

27/02/2017 12:08

R EG I O N A L D E V O LU T I O N

BALANCE OF POWER I L L U S T R AT I O N | P E T E R C ROW T H E R

T H E P L AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p22-25 NORTHERN POWER.indd 22

24/02/2017 16:58

THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE IS THE GOVERNMENT’S FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME FOR REBALANCING THE UK ECONOMY. HOW HAS THE VOYAGE GONE SO FAR AND WHAT LIES ON THE HORIZON? HUW MORRIS REPORTS As an entrepreneur with enormous business, infrastructure and property assets across the UK and the north of England in particular, John Whittaker likes to cite a Japanese proverb: Vision without action is a daydream. Action without a vision is a nightmare. “Put action and vision together and you get an explosion of economic activity,” says the chairman of the Peel Group, who with his partners has invested £5 billion across the North. Peel’s extensive interests include MediaCityUK, airports such as Doncaster Sheffield, Durham Tees Valley and Liverpool John Lennon as well as Newcastle’s intu Metrocentre. The North, he says, “has been our focus for several decades” and will remain “at the heart of what we strive for”. Whittaker sees a “new impetus on promoting international trade and investment with local, national and international partners” after Brexit. The launch of a UK industrial strategy will “help to focus all our minds on what we in this country are good at and what new local and global opportunities we can build on”. Whittaker’s words are an enormous vote of confidence in the Northern Powerhouse. At around £317 billion annually, the Northern economy contributes a fifth of the UK’s output. The Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review estimates that raising its performance to the UK average would make it £37 billion bigger today. The idea of a regional economic ‘powerhouse’ was championed by ex-chancellor George Osborne to create a Northern rival to London and the South-East. “We should not deny the importance of the former chancellor in raising the Northern Powerhouse as a policy priority and putting it firmly on the agenda,” says Bob Wolfe, honorary secretary of RTPI Yorkshire, and chair of the Great North Plan Project Group. After his departure from office, Osborne wondered whether the policy had suffered a “wobble”. Lord O’Neil, the minister in charge, resigned saying that while the strategy would “certainly continue to get a lot of policy priority” the Northern Powerhouse may not get “sole attention relative to other regions”. Lord Kerslake, now president of the Local Government Association, says the Northern Powerhouse is at a “fork in the road” requiring “more local leadership to succeed”. Prime Minister Theresa May’s answer to these issues

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p22-25 NORTHERN POWER.indd 23

24/02/2017 16:59

generates as much heat as light. The government’s industrial strategy promises to direct infrastructure investment to rebalance the economy and tackle deprived areas of the country. This is accompanied by a £556 million package for 11 local enterprise partnerships in the North. Ironically, this funding highlights challenges facing the Northern Powerhouse. The ﬁrst is Brexit. Between 2007 and 2013, the three Northern regions received nearly €2.9 billion from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) – out of a UK-wide total of €9.8 billion – to support infrastructure, regeneration and training. More than 70,000 jobs were created as a result of EU investments in the same period.

Warning signs Manchester university professor of spatial planning Cecilia Wong says £556 million “seems a lot of money but it’s really a gesture”. She adds: “London is overheating with a shortage of housing, land and high traffic levels among other things and we need to find another place to grow.” Brexit may also mean the government will in the long run ‘prop up London’ as money will be used to rescue the market there first. “If the Northern Powerhouse is successful, who will take up the jobs, considering the skills of the labour market? We can’t recruit people even in the universities to do certain high-skill posts. “The government is saying we will give you infrastructure and you will grow, but we need people to drive this forward and we don’t know where they will come from. We need to have people with the skills and relationships between different places so they can see they are a part of this growth,” adds Wong. Leeds City Council economy and regeneration chief officer Tom Bridges says tens of thousands of jobs locally depend on overseas firms. The city attracts massive investment from China, France, Germany, Spain and Estonia among others, as well as hundreds of students to its universities. “A major challenge will be supporting businesses and key institutions, particularly the availability of talent and workforce,” he says. “This is particularly

“LONDON IS OVERHEATING WITH A SHORTAGE OF HOUSING, LAND AND HIGH TRAFFIC LEVELS AMONG OTHER THINGS AND WE NEED TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO GROW”

important for the digital, construction and ﬁnance industries among others, but also universities and key public services like the NHS and the council. “It highlights the challenge to our skills and schools to get people job-ready and that they have the resilience to access opportunities in a changing economy.” The £556 million package has led to grumbling – most of it privately expressed – about an east-wide divide within the Northern Powerhouse. Greater Manchester, way ahead in the devolution stakes, was the biggest winner with £130.1 million,

THE GREAT NORTH PLAN – THE PLANNING PROFESSION’S RESPONSE The Great North Plan (GNP) is a joint initiative between IPPR North and the RTPI to show how planning can bring together the building blocks of an economic strategy for the region. The RTPI is calling on local authorities, government and businesses to make full use of the region’s planners and plan-making process. “Local authorities in particular need to use their combined local planning, economic development and regeneration powers to guide private sector investment and to lead the process of change,” says head of policy Richard Blyth. “For any approach to successfully deliver the Northern Powerhouse vision we must have the community’s support and input. It is critical we properly incentivise the delivery of housing by assuring communities they will get money for health, transport and schools if they sign up for housing in their area.” Wolfe says the GNP is wider than city regions or local enterprise partnership areas and not about reinventing regional spatial strategies. However, the GNP could be a vehicle to achieve cooperation across administrative boundaries. The GNP seeks a role for all places, not just cities, which it can be argued, will or can look after their own destiny, he adds.

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p22-25 NORTHERN POWER.indd 24

24/02/2017 16:59

R EG I O N A L D E V O LU T I O N

China in the North A major delegation of Chinese businesses visited the UK in February looking for new commercial partnerships in the Northern Powerhouse region. Members of the China-Britain Business Council, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of Commerce UK, met business leaders from Northern cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. The delegation was keen to meet businesses in advanced manufacturing, healthcare and aerospace, but sought opportunities in all sectors. Manchester and Sheffield have already been targets of Chinese investment. But Xu Jin, minister counsellor of the Chinese Embassy’s economic and commercial office, says the potential for investment elsewhere in the region is huge. “Cities across the north of England all have deep culture and history in a variety of different sectors and industries, including creative, trade, telecommunications, healthcare, high-level manufacturing and R&D. China remains open to business opportunities with these sectors from across the region.”

followed by Liverpool with £72 million. “Greater Manchester has always had strong, eﬀective leadership and it’s diﬃcult for other places that have not had it,” says Wong. “The united image projected from Greater Manchester does attract jealousy, especially when the press and outside investors then equate Manchester with the Northern Powerhouse.” It’s a potentially toxic issue. One observer privately said part of the problem had been various parts of the North seeking to secure devolution deals and with them more control over resources, only for these to be scuppered by behindthe-scenes lobbying by local MPs who dislike the idea of elected mayors. Bridges takes an alternative view. “We are most successful when we have made a powerful, collective case for the North. What matters is not so much what

I L L U S T R AT I O N | P E T E R C R O W T H E R

p22-25 NORTHERN POWER.indd 25

any part of the North gets in funding, but what it gets in powers and resources to grow the economy. The real story is still the North-South divide. “It’s also about how we give communities and city regions in the North the power to drive forward. That is best done when we work together.” His point ties in with concerns about the future of towns and communities outside the major cities – places that one observer described as “home to rugby league and lower division football clubs”. Another observer said there had to be a “genuine policy agenda for these places, some of which have been left behind by economic change and voted for Brexit – it can’t just be about resurgent cities”. Wolfe sees this as a wider opportunity for the Northern Powerhouse. “Any such strategy should be inclusive,” he says. “The real question is what happens to those towns that sit outside the major powerhouse conurbations – essential communities such as Huddersﬁeld and Blackburn, and the rural hinterland and its economy that gives the North its identity and quality of life.”

goods to reach international gateways”. However, there are considerable causes for optimism. The region has huge experience of successful cross-boundary working, with a litany that includes the Northern Way and Transport for the North. International investors, particularly from China, are very interested in the aftermath of Brexit, a decline in prime stock in London and the fall in sterling (see box, China in the North). Real estate specialist CBRE says 81 per cent of office deals under offer in 2015 in the Big Six (led by Manchester and Leeds and including Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow) concerned international investors. “The Northern Powerhouse is a strong brand that travels well overseas,” says Bridges. “It offers a safe, globally recognised investment.” The planning profession is also coming to the table. The RTPI is working with the Institute for Public Policy Research North on a Great North Plan (see box, The Great North Plan). Moreover, an analysis by the British Property Federation (BPF) and GL Hearn in the autumn found planning authorities in the Northern Powerhouse decided 22 per cent more major applications per resident than their Causes for optimism Greater London counterparts last year. Transport is another issue. Research by the BPF chief executive Melanie Leech says Independent International Connectivity it is “encouraging to see the North live up Commission (IICC), led by Transport to its ‘powerhouse’ moniker, and to be for the North chair John Cridland, warns powering ahead with its development that attempts to rebalance the economy pipeline”. will stall unless links to airports are The flagship policy looks like sailing modernised. for some years to come. One major While the North accounts for around investor in the region says: “The Northern 25 per cent of the UK’s population, its Powerhouse has always been there – it’s seven airports handle just 15 per cent of just a case of what it’s called.” all airport passengers. The IICC claims the Wolfe says its destiny lies number of air passengers close to home. “Essentially in the north could nearly its success is in the hands double to 75 million by “A MAJOR of those who live and work 2050 with modernised CHALLENGE WILL in the North,” he says. “We road and rail links and new BE SUPPORTING have said that any planning international destinations BUSINESSES ahead must be with the from airports such as AND KEY consent of those who are in Manchester. INSTITUTIONS, the North. When government Cridland says that while PARTICULARLY industry says it has money the North’s ports and THE AVAILABILITY or to spend on projects or airports are key economic OF TALENT AND infrastructure, there needs assets, poor access “is WORKFORCE” to be a clear view of the holding them back, with investment priorities and how congestion on our roads towns and cities can shape up and railways making it for the future.” difficult for people and

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

24/02/2017 16:59

P L A N N I N G A N D P O LI T I C S

T H E P L AN N E R \ M A R C H 2 0 1 7

p26-29 pp.indd 26

I L L U S T R AT I O N | T O B I A S H A L L

27/02/2017 12:17

WHAT’S DRIVING REFORM IN THE UK’S FOUR W PLANNING SYSTEMS? DAVID BLACKMAN LOOKS AT WHAT WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THE INTERPLAY OF PLANNING AND POLITICS FROM WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE FOUR COUNTRIES

One United Kingdom. Four diﬀerent and increasingly divergent planning systems. Since the turn of the millennium, planning policy has been devolved to a greater extent across the UK. With each of the UK’s four planning systems undergoing reform, this process is set to accelerate even further. The big political divide is between England and the other three parts of the UK. Northern Ireland has a unique power-sharing arrangement under 1999’s Good Friday Agreement. Wales has had some form of Labour government since devolution, while the left-of-centre Scottish Nationalist Party has been in power for nearly a decade north of the border. In England, by contrast, the Conservatives rule the rroost roost, entrenched by y th the recent English sh Vot Votes for English Laws rules. This Eng

inevitably gives English planning reform a free market tinge, albeit some reforms proposed by the Scottish government are heading in a similar direction. Perhaps the biggest difference between England and the other UK territories, though, is sheer size. England’s population was 53 million at the time of the 2011 census, more than 10 times that of Scotland. “The scale of the planning community makes it much easier to do things in a more inclusive way. We can get a lot of key stakeholders together in one room to discuss the issues,” says Craig McLaren, director of the RTPI in Scotland. The RTPI’s head of policy Richard Blyth agrees that this is an important difference in the way that planning policy is shaped across the UK. “Other countries have smaller policy communities. The difference might be that they go about how to change it in a consensual manner,” he says, pointing to the lack of consultation with outside bodies in the run-up to the English housing white paper’s publication in February. This more consensual style is reinforced by the parliamentary voting systems. First-past the-post tends to deliver single-party majority governments in the UK Parliament. By contrast, the devolved bodies all employ an element of proportional representation, which is more likely to lead to coalitions. Variations can also be explained by the pressure on land across and within the constituent parts of the UK. House builders seeking to develop new homes around Edinburgh complain nearly as loudly as their counterparts in England’s Home Counties, reflecting how local development pressures are often a bigger factor than political cultures. In terms of resourcing, the left-ofcentre SNP government has been just as tough on local ccouncil spending as its Tory counterparts Welsh councils were initially in Westminster. Wes shielded from the full brunt of austerity, says the shielde RTPI in Wales’ Roisin Willmott, but they are now feeling cuts. What’s driving planning reform across the Wha and can we draw any conclusions about the UK, an interplay between planning and politics from interpl these reforms? r

“Local development pressures are often a bigger factor than political cultures”

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p26-29 pp.indd 27

27/02/2017 12:21

P L A N N I N G A N D P O LI T I C S

Northern Ireland

In one corner of the UK, planning has become more political in the past two years. In 2015, responsibility for planning decisions was devolved from unelected officials at the Northern Ireland Executive to local government. Planning had been taken out of the hands of councils during the Troubles as part of a wider effort to prevent the kind of discrimination that had helped to fuel discontent among the minority Catholic population. As part of the process of normalising Northern Ireland’s political process, decisions over applications were restored to the 11 district councils. “That is a huge culture change for people in Northern Ireland,” says Roisin Willmott, the RTPI’s director for Northern Ireland. The past three planning ministers in Northern Ireland, who have been from the Sinn Fein or Social Democratic and Labour Party, have all seen the benefits of planning, ng, she adds. Northern Ireland has seen painstaking efforts to foster an inclusive political culture, resulting in a greater flourishing of community planning there than elsewhere in the UK. The idea of community planning is to coordinate the provision of public services in line with local people’s priorities. Although the idea may have first emerged in England in the late 1990s, Northern Ireland has broken new ground by creating a statutory link between the community and land use planning processes. But Northern Ireland’s acute political divide still bedevils its planning process, says Gavan Rafferty, lecturer in spatial planning and development at Ulster University. Pointing as an example to debates over the growth of the Belfast-Dublin corridor, Rafferty says: “Some politicians might view it as an ‘all-Ireland’ approach that must be avoided at all costs. “Lots of planning issues are polarised with an added layer of ethno-nationalist debates you wouldn’t get in England.” Commenting on the recent breakdown of the Stormont government, he says: “We are not out of the woods in the way a lot of people involved in planning and regeneration were hoping.”

“Lots of plann g are polarised with an added layer of ethnonationalist debates you wouldn’t get in England”

England

Nowhere in the UK, it could be argued, has planning become as politicised as it did in England during the run-up to last year’s passage ssage of the Housing and Planning Act. Nick Clegg had few doubts about the ideological tinge of Conservative planning g policy – in his memoirs, he recalls George Osborne’s reaction to his lobbying for more re affordable housing: the then Chancellor of the Exchequer dismissed Clegg’s concerns on grounds that it helped to “create Labour voters”. For many, the introduction of the Starter Homes policy was the most visible manifestation of this ideological approach ide to plan planning – mainly because d discounted homes for fi first-time buyers were b being offered at the expense of affordable rented re housing. Coupled with the introduction of the Right to Buy for housing introductio associat association tenants, the policy represented a conscious harking back to the iconic pro-home consci ownership policy of the Thatcherism era. own More broadly, the act’s introduction of the ‘permission in principle’ rules marked a further deregulation of planning. All of these steps followed the introduction of permitted development rights and the scrapping by the coalition government of the regional spatial strategies that had formed the main plank of strategic planning across England. “They had a view that the state is bad and they had get rid of it,” says Hugh Ellis, policy director at the Town and Country Planning Association. But there is a twist in this tale. The ink was barely dry on the Housing and Planning Act when the UK voted to withdraw from the EU, sweeping away prime minister David Cameron, chancellor George Osborne and their advisers. This month’s housing white paper shows the new government performing a volte-face on many of the policies introduced by the act, the bulk of which haven’t even be implemented. The Starter Home planning policy, for example, has been quietly abandoned, with councils told instead that they should ensure that a tenth of all developments should be affordable housing that can be rented. The white paper has received a mixed reception; its proposals have been broadly welcomed as sensible steps towards a more functional planning system. But some commentators regret that the communities secretary has sidestepped radical measures they feel would transform house building in England.

“They h that the state is bad and they had get rid of it”

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p26-29 pp.indd 28

27/02/2017 12:21

Scotland

Wales

Throughout the lifetime of devolution in Wales, planning has enjoyed a political respect that it rarely receives on the opposite side of Offa’s Dyke. Having a chartered town planner as the country’s first planning minister represented a good start for the discipline’s credibility – and not just any planner, but Sue Essex, doyenne of Wales’s academic planning community. “We’ve always had ministers who have made positive noises about the value of planning and haven’t made statements that demoralise planners,” says Neil Harris, senior lecturer in the school of geography and planning at Cardiff University, adding: “Devolution has sheltered Wales from much of the policy decisions and actions that have been made in relation to the planning system in England.” Since a 2011 referendum granted law-making powers to the Welsh Assembly, Wales has been able to frame its own planning legislation. The fruit of this is the Planning (Wales) Act 2015, which is designed to strengthen the plan-led system. This replaces the Wales Spatial Plan with the more prescriptive National Development Framework (NDF). Roisin Willmott, the RTPI’s director for Wales, says the introduction of the NDF is a “fundamental change” that reflects a generally sympathetic approach to planning. “There is a recognition in Wales that we need to plan strategically.” Notably, the Welsh government has also passed the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, which sets out public service goals that all Welsh authorities will be required to meet. Willmott says this act’s provisions go beyond the concepts of sustainable development that have underpinned modern UK planning theory and practice. Wales’s commitment to ‘One Planet Living’ can also be seen in its embrace of measures to support onshore renewable energy – just one area where the planning debate has a very different tone in Wales. Debate about house building, too, is less intense because of the relative lack of pressure in the countryside vis-à-vis England, says Wilmott. Planning reform reflects the more consensual nature of politics in Wales than in England, says Harris. Wales’s Labour government has a knifeedge majority, meaning it must demonstrate that its measures will work. “In England, the Conservative Party has been in total command of Parliament and been able to deliver its agenda. We’ve not had that in Wales,” he says.

“We’ve alw had ministers who have made positive noises about the value of planning and haven’t made statements that demoralise planners”

Popular support is growing again for independence for Scotland. But when it comes to planning policy, the Scottish government seems to be following – at points – an English lead: January’s Scottish planning white paper contains measures that have much in common with policy south of the border. It nods to greater use of simplified planning zones and permitted development rights, now hallmarks of English planning policy. Moreover, there is a proposal to abolish the strategic development plans that cover Scotland’s four biggest city regions. Cliff Hague, emeritus professor of planning at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, doesn’t see the Edin white paper as distinctively Scottish. “The major whi focus is strengthening the planning system as a tool foc for delivery, especially of housing, which seems to echo quite strongly the messages we’ve been hearing ech from ministers in England,” he says. fro But, unlike south of the border, individual local planning authorities haven’t been left to fend for pl themselves and strategic planning has not been th scrapped, but shifted to a Scotland-wide level in the sc form of the National Planning Framework. fo Craig McLaren, director of the RTPI in Scotland, ssays the days of Scotland taking its lead from England are over. “There’s a lot of ‘read across’ of political ideas from different countries,” he says. A distinctively Scottish flavour can be seen in measures to empower communities, including the right to be consulted on development plans, local reviews of planning decisions and a requirement that development plans should take account of community planning. Land reform is ﬁrmly on the agenda, and the recent Community Engagement Act has given grassroots groups the powers to buy assets. “It’s created an atmosphere of much greater community engagement,” says McLaren. But some in the private sector fear that this boost to community empowerment could frustrate the white paper’s professed commitment to improve delivery. Stephen Tucker, partner in Barton Willmore’s Edinburgh office, worries that some of the proposed nning reforms could further politicise planning process in ways that stymie development. lopment. y such a big part “I’ve never seen local politics play in planning decision-making and, perhaps more worryingly, that has spread into national i l politics,” liti ” he says. “The politics has become more cautious, short-term and focused on the next election.”

“I’ve never seen local politics play such a big part in planning decisionmaking”

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p26-29 pp.indd 29

27/02/2017 12:22

p30_PLN.MAR17.indd p42_PLN.JAN17.indd 22

22/02/2017 16/12/2016 12:01 12:58

LANDSCAPE

INSIGHT

Tech { L A N D S C A P E

P32 TECH P40 LEGAL P42 CAREER P51 EVENTS

PLAY DAYS: PLYMOUTH TOYS WITH LOCAL OPEN DATA TO CREATE ITS CITY PLAN BY SHARING DATA THROUGH DIGITAL PLATFORMS WITH LOCAL PEOPLE AND TECH DEVELOPERS, PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL IS TRANSFORMING THE WAY IT ENGAGES WITH COMMUNITIES “The Play Days have just gone from strength to strength,” says Plymouth City Council’s neighbourhood planning manager Hannah Sloggett. Yes, you read that correctly. But Play Days aren’t some newfangled scheme to bring people together by liberating their inner child. Or rather they are, but the play has a purpose – to toy with city data in ways that can improve planning and public service delivery. The ‘players’ are community groups, council officers, local tech developers and built environment professionals, students, even national park employees and anyone else

with an interest in using open data to improve the experience of living in Plymouth, the South-West’s secondlargest city. It started, says Sloggett, with wanting to improve information for residents during the creation of the award-winning Plymouth Plan. “We wanted to use data to better understand local communities – are people living in bigger houses than they need? Are they fuel-efficient? In terms of transport data, how are people travelling to work?” The result was “50-odd” datasets that gave planners a rare insight into their city. It also enabled Sloggett and

her colleagues to post information online that addressed common concerns about the plan. “All the data related to what people raised around new sites,” says Sloggett. “For example, ‘My GP is at capacity and I can’t get an appointment’, ‘I can’t get my child in the local school’, and so on.” With access to data, people were able to make better-informed observations about the proposed Plymouth Plan, “massively improving” the quality of the consultation. It was a turning point. “Making all this information publicly available started me on this

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p31_32_Tech_landscape.indd 31

24/02/2017 17:00

INSIGHT

T {L A N D S C A P E Tech open data journey, because I saw its Each is driven by what Sloggett calls value in engaging with communities “civic developers". and finding different ways for local Aside from know-how, the tech authorities to tackle some of the community brings an “open, sharing” challenges they have,” says Sloggett. mindset that is spreading beyond the So she and colleagues started DATA Play sessions. As Sloggett collecting all the data they could observes, council departments are find, from council departments and sharing information more willingly external organisations. In so doing, and there’s even now an informal they identified hurdles to data group learning to use digital tech in collection – such as institutional their everyday work. ‘silos’ and the fact that swathes of “It’s much more about the culture useful information were “locked up” of cities and authorities. It’s about in evidence reports, often in formats the relationships and the ways of such as PDF, from which it was hard working with different to extract information digitally. organisations,” she says. Money from the DCLG’s ‘Delivering Work is continuing to build a Differently in Neighbourhoods’ fund citywide dashboard and an open helped to scale up the data capture online repository for the city data project. “We used some of that to collected through DATA Play. It’s start DATA Play, to open up our data being done at minimal cost, too. “I and bring together struggle with the whole communities, digital and big budget smart city “IT’S MUCH tech people,” she adds. agenda,” says Sloggett. “I MORE ABOUT DATA Play Day 1 was think there are other THE CULTURE an experiment – to see routes to doing that OF CITIES AND whether sharing open [using data] than the AUTHORITIES. data could help people multimillion-pound IT’S ABOUT THE understand their city routes that are not RELATIONSHIPS better and build achievable or replicable WITH DIFFERENT relationships between for most authorities.” ORGANISATIONS" the council and Plymouth now finds Plymouth’s tech itself a pilot authority community. Play Day 2 with the Future Cities offered financial rewards Catapult’s Future of for ideas about using the Planning programme data productively, with (featured in last month’s support from experts and city Tech Landscape). As the project leaders. Subsequent Play Days have develops, Sloggett is keen to work out addressed themes such as health, how the city can use data to monitor green space and neighbourhood the delivery and performance of the planning. Plymouth Plan. Early results of the ‘citizen science’ In particular she is interested in project are promising: residents and how digital technology and live data developers have embarked on updates can enable plans to “adapt schemes that range from building and be more flexible” – in other local data dashboards (containing words, how planning can achieve the anything from house prices to waste Holy Grail of ‘real-time’ local recycling figures) to using sensors to planning. With more projects like find out how many people are using DATA Play that goal might edge just a local parks. little closer. More than one idea has start-up investment potential, says Sloggett. n DATA Play: www.dataplay.org.uk These include a virtual reality tool to n Raw datasets: http://thedata.place/ guide people through Plymouth’s organization history using information from the n Examples of data visualisation: city archive, and a tree database. www.dataplymouth.co.uk

DANIEL MOHAMED is founder and managing director of Urban Intelligence

Opinion: Are we ready for the future of planning? A ready and reliable flow of data will be a prerequisite for a more digital and integrated planning system. For example, standardised housing market assessments and live data on development will require a move away from PDF reports, and we will need a sophisticated infrastructure of data collection, standardisation and monitoring. There are hurdles to overcome. The first is that data management is expensive. We have been spoiled by ‘free’ services such as Google, but forget that these data managers have received billions in investment and have significant revenue streams. Should the government pay, given the public importance of planning? Is the government even capable of paying for and delivering high-quality services? Alternatively, we could use private-sector data brokers to aggregate data; they often have better access to data and offer superior services, which could result in overall efficiencies. One planning officer suggested to me that developers should provide their own monitoring data on completions. Could we expect them to do this properly? Then we need to consider how we can get organisations to work more effectively with data. Data.gov.uk has become a central repository for public sector data, but the data hosted there has been released in a number of formats and with a variety of licensing restrictions. Much spatial data in the UK contains data from Ordnance Survey, Land Registry and Royal Mail. The protection of intellectual property by bodies charged with statutory public tasks is often a barrier for other public bodies making their own data open and usable. It also prevents the creation of a universal property database that all data managers (public and private) can plug into easily, based on a single data set such as the Unique Property Reference Number. Should this public sector information be reusable? Yes, but the tricky task lies in finding the balance between making it available and sustaining its proper provision and maintenance. What should be the next steps, and who should take them? Let’s hear your thoughts. n Urban Intelligence is a property technology start-up by the Future Cities Catapult. Tweet your thoughts to them and us: @UrbanIntelUK and @ThePlanner_RTPI or email us at editorial@theplanner.co.uk

T H E P L AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p31_32_Tech_landscape.indd 32

24/02/2017 17:01

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Read by the RTPI’s 23,000 members, The Planner reaches in excess of 8,000 more planners than its nearest competitor.

What if equality initiatives meant more business?

ABCted i Aud

Our features and editorial coverage reﬂect the views and concerns of the UK’s leading town planning professionals. CONTACT

If you want to reach the valuable audience, please contact: darren hale@redactive.co.uk or call 020 7880 6206

The Planner house_all sizes.indd 4

Get the MOST From your

training Budget

22/02/2017 11:18

From £199 per place

Save up to 50% on delegate places with the Season Ticket Scheme.

How will you benefit? Places from as little as £199 Access to over 60 events An account manager to help manage your bookings and reduce paperwork

How to purchase a Season Ticket

020 3122 0138 | rtpiconferences.co.uk/seasonticket Season Ticket valid until 31st December 2017

p33 Advertorial.indd 31

nternational Women’s Day – which this year falls on 8th March – is always an opportunity to consider issues of inequality in any given profession, and it’s chastening to find that challenging gender inequality in the planning profession is of particular importance here in 2017. After all, it’s hard to deny the evidence of a gap between the sexes. Elsewhere in this edition of The Planner, Monica Lennon points to a recent Office of National Statistics report that indicates how, in broad terms, a 26 per cent pay gap between men and women exists in the planning sector. Meanwhile, Carole Anne-Davies, chief executive of the Design Commission for Wales, explains how women in planning can often be higher qualified yet less frequently promoted. How can this be? And more importantly, what can be done? The answer to the first question is undoubtedly historical, and as with many professions there is perhaps little to gain from dwelling on the past. But as for action? Well, making the workplace more appealing to women would be a start. And by appealing I don’t mean the quality of the workplace per se (although that’s doubtless an issue for some companies). Rather, it’s the quality of the company structure that could make all the difference. Perhaps this could be evidenced through, for example, the use of nongendered incentive schemes; maternity pay rates that go beyond the statutory minimum; an environment that welcomes mothers returning to the workplace. Perhaps more planning organisations could make a public commitment to a sensible gender balance across all levels of management? Indeed, promoting awareness of such a gender balance policy, or committing to diversity pledges where they exist could do much to change an organisation’s cultural dynamic for the better. Perhaps it might also help that organisation sell its planning credentials to clients, the underlying message being that here is an organisation more likely to recognise how women and men use public space in different ways and consider that in their advice to clients. With all of this in motion, we could then hope to see the fight for equal pay resolve itself.

CHELSEA PEGRAM Permanent consultant, Oyster Partnership

27/02/2017 12:09

INSIGHT

Nations & Regions focus { EAST OF ENGLAND

A delicate balance The East of England is a region of contrasts. Encompassing six counties (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk) and nearly six million people, it has London overspill in the south, coastal tranquillity in the north; the historic spires of Cambridge in the west, offshore wind farms in the east. Though known for its historic cities, the region showcases the achievements of town planning through the 20th century in the original garden cities at Letchworth and Welwyn, and the first wave of new towns in Basildon, Harlow and Stevenage. Agriculture remains the dominant

land use. But the East of England is also home to three ports handling millions of tonnes of cargo a year and a burgeoning oﬀshore wind industry that could support thousands of jobs. It also has the UK’s fourth busiest airport at Stansted, a growing international airport at Southend and multiple science parks that fuel a growing high-tech economy. Connectivity is key, with government money funding east-west rail links and an expressway between Oxford and Cambridge, which is preparing for an elected mayor under the Greater Cambridge City Deal. A garden town

and three new garden communities are planned in Essex to cater to the region’s growing population. Tensions between housing, industry, infrastructure and environment are considerable. Green belt pressure is notable around Cambridge in particular; erosion is signiﬁcant in coastal areas. The East is an area of acute environmental sensitivity, vulnerable to water shortage and severe weather events. Yet the drive for growth is taking shape, with Local Growth Fund money beginning to ﬂow into the region. There is much for planners to engage with.

MAJOR PROJECTS

Interview: The challenge of growth Garden towns and villages Harlow and Gilston has been announced as the site for a new town on garden community principles with up to 50,000 homes. Colchester, Tendring and Braintree have been earmarked for three garden communities to provide up to 40,000 new homes and 45,000 jobs. tinyurl.com/ planner0317-harlow-gilston

East Anglia Array Up to six oﬀshore wind farms, collectively known as the East Anglia Array, could deliver up to 7.2GW of power through 1,200 turbines – enough to power 500,000 homes. The ﬁrst phase, the £2.5 billion East Anglia ONE, will provide 714MW by 2020. tinyurl.com/ planner0317-east-anglia-array

North West Cambridge development This £1 billion, 150-hectare universitydriven expansion will provide 3,000 new homes (including 700 for university staﬀ and 1,500 for private sale); accommodation for 2,000 postrgraduates; 100,000 sq m of research space and community facilities. tinyurl.com/planner0317-cambridge

“It’s a very exciting time for the East,” says Wendy Hague. The RTPI East of England chair is talking about growth prospects for the region and strategically important schemes impending, from new towns to rail links, to oﬀshore windfarms. Four planned garden settlements are the biggest projects, she says. A full garden town is planned for Harlow and Gliston; three smaller garden villages are in the pipeline for North Essex. The garden community “brand”, says Hague, is attractive to the region’s growing and ageing population – the East is a popular destination for retirees in particular. Besides, it’s the spiritual home of new towns. 2017 sees the 70th anniversary of Harlow and Peterborough’s 50th. Last year Stevenage celebrated its 70th. There are Letchworth and Welwyn, too. But such growth has its challenges. Health services are under stress. The demise of spatial planning inhibits the ability of authorities to work together to meet spatial requirements. “Informal networks of regional bodies” are still

extant, but “the duty to cooperate must still be extremely challenging for any professional person to work with”, says Hague. The region, too, is particularly vulnerable climate change and must make diﬃcult decisions about coastal defence under pressure of declining budgets. “Our risks are so much higher,” she says. “We don’t have the budget we had for coastal defence. It’s very much about management of high-risk areas.” Planners must think strategically and long term, she says. The forthcoming mayoral election (4th May) for the new Greater Cambridge devolved area is an opportunity for planners to make themselves more visible – and the RTPI itself will be holding a hustings. Despite the challenges, Hague is optimistic. “There’s a key opportunity for professionals in both public and private sectors to work together, for the cross-fertiliation of experience and ideas.”

T H E PL AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p34-35 regional focus.indd 34

27/02/2017 16:54

Next month:

Scotland Valuable skills RTPI research has identiﬁed a shortage of experienced planners in the East of England. Yet, with so many large strategic projects in the oﬃng, opportunities are manifold. The growth outlook suggests that a variety of hard and soft skills could be valuable in the East of England over the next few years. In particular, RTPI members have highlighted the need for skills in:

n Marine spatial planning n Large-scale residential planning n Planning for research and high-tech industry incubation n Environmental impact assessments n Economic development n Local planning n Presentation and negotiation n Seeing from both the private and public points of view. Find planning jobs in the East of England on Planner Jobs: http://jobs.theplanner.co.uk/

RECENT SUCCESSES

Signposts Chelmsford City Park West – This mixed-use redevelopment on the former Anglia Ruskin University Central Campus won the RTPI East planning award in 2016. It includes the restoration of historic buildings for homes and commercial use. Phase 1, with more than 200 homes and a 65-bedroom care facility, is now complete. www.cityparkwestconsultation.co.uk/

Rendlesham Neighbourhood Plan – Suﬀolk’s only neighbourhood plan to have made it to adoption, this achieved 97 per cent approval. It’s considered exemplary, with high engagement and consideration for the development needs of a complex community close to a former USAF airbase. It was the 2015 joint RTPI regional award winner, along with...

RTPI East of England has a nine-person regional management board and a 30-strong regional activities committee. The 2017 regional chair is Wendy Hague and the region is represented on the RTPI General Assembly by Charlotte Burton of Cambridge City Council.

n RTPI East of England web page, with news, newsletters, events, committee members, etc: tinyurl.com/planner0317-NRF-east

n RTPI Regional contacts: tinyurl.com/planner0317-NRF-east-contacts

n Young planners in the East of England tinyurl.com/planner0317-NRF-east-YP Email: rtpieeyoungplanners@outlook.com

background.html

Hillington Square, King’s Lynn Hadleigh Park Olympic Mountain Bike Legacy Project – Hadleigh Park hosted the 2012 Olympic mountain bike race. The project aims to establish a lasting sporting and green infrastructure legacy for the community and visitors – and Hadleigh Park is the only Olympic mountain bike course open to the public. http://hadleigh-park.co.uk/ride/track/

– The £30m refurbishment of this 1960s ‘slab block’ estate is the biggest regeneration project in King’s Lynn. The site covers 2.43 hectares and includes refurbishment of 320 ﬂats, remodelling of the estate layout and public realm improvements. Community involvement has been integral to the scheme, which has been praised for improving social and environmental conditions.

n Regional conferences and events: tinyurl.com/planner0317-NRF-east-events Notable 2017 events include ‘Urban Regeneration – How to Succeed’ at Anglis Ruskin University on May 24, and ‘Garden Communities and Delivering Major Development’ in Colchester on October 11.

n Courses: The only RTPI-accredited course in the region at present is the MSc in Town Planning at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford. The University of Hertfordshire is seeking accreditation.

n Email: eastofengland@rtpi.org.uk n Twitter: @RTPIEastofEng n Find your RTPI region: www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p34-35 regional focus.indd 35

27/02/2017 15:23

INSIGHT

DiF { D

DECISIONS IN FOCUS

Decisions in Focus is where we put the spotlight on some of the more signiﬁcant planning appeals and court cases of the last month – alongside your comments. If you’d like to contribute your insights and analyses to future issues of The Planner, email DiF at editorial@theplanner.co.uk COMMUNITY

Javid approves agriculture-toburial grounds change of use ( SUMMARY Communities secretary Sajid Javid has supported an inspector’s decision and allowed the change of use of agricultural land in Maylands Fields, Romford, to an Islamic burial site, despite the site’s location within the green belt. ( CASE DETAILS Both main parties accepted that the proposed development would be inappropriate within the Essex green belt. Javid added that while the change of use from agriculture to cemetery accords with council policy DC45, which details the limitations to land use within the green belt, he agrees with the inspector’s conclusion that this was based on guidance which has been superseded by the National Planning Policy Framework. Javid noted that the volume of development on the site would be increased, and the two pavilions and wudu building suggested would be more apparent from within the site than the existing

T H E P L AN N E R \ M A R C H 2 0 1 7

p36_39_dif.indd 36

barn. That said, the very nature of the development meant that the essentially rural character of the site would remain, said Javid, and the proposal would assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment. He judged that the impact on the character of the site would be “neutral rather than detrimental” and that the proposal would “complement the amenity and character of the area through its appearance, materials used, layout and integration with the surrounding land”. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The secretary of state noted that the Islamic faith has speciﬁc burial requirements, and that the existing Gardens of Peace cemetery is currently the only one in north-east London providing “properly” for Muslim burial, with remaining capacity put at between 2.5 and ﬁve years. The increased future populations of Muslims in Havering, and the proximity of the site for a Muslim population of “well over 500,000” were seen as important considerations weighing in favour of the proposal.

Appeal Ref: APP/ B5480/W/15/3132860

Temporary permission has been given for a lap-dancing club in Southsea town centre to ascertain its eﬀect on surrounding businesses

HOUSING

Javid allows 871 homes for Lichfield ( SUMMARY Communities secretary Sajid Javid has approved the development of two schemes equalling 871 homes in two villages near Lichfield, Staffordshire, but refused permission for 180 homes for a third site nearby. ( CASE DETAILS An appeal proposal for 750 homes in Curborough had been refused by the inspector

because of the impact on two heritage assets, the loss of veteran trees, and what he assessed to be no more than a “marginal” need for the development. But despite assessing, unlike the inspector, that Lichfield District Council could in fact demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land, Javid said the provision of market homes and 25 per cent affordable housing advanced the social and economic roles identified in paragraphs seven and eight of the NPPF which were not diminished by the council’s positive housing supply position. He determined that the I M AG E S | A L A M Y / I STO C K

27/02/2017 12:24

The visual impact of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh would not be compromised by a development of 10 homes

intrinsic landscape quality of the site and its immediate environs was not high, its rural quality having been diminished by several urban or human-made influences, and that the site was adequately placed for sustainable transport access. Although less than substantial harm was found in relation to the setting of a grade II listed farm house and the grade I listed Lichfield Cathedral, as well as the loss of some veteran trees and ancient hedgerows, Javid said this harm was outweighed by the scheme’s social benefits. Javid agreed with a separate inspector’s decision to allow 121 homes to be built in the village of Arlewas, Burton upon Trent, again giving significant weight to the provision of affordable housing given the “acute” need for housing of this nature in the district. As with the Curborough scheme, Javid judged the Liverpool method to be appropriate for tackling Lichfield Council’s historic shortfall in housing supply, and judged that the council was able to prove a housing land supply position of 5.11 years. He assessed that there would be no material impairment of the Arlewas Conservation Area and that the council’s concerns about the impact on living

conditions of residents from issues including car parking, road safety and risk of crime were untenable. ( CONCLUSION REACHED But he agreed with an inspector’s decision to refuse 180 homes for Fisherwick, after judging that the scheme was not in a sustainably accessible location and was not of a scale and nature appropriate to its locality.

Appeal Refs: APP/ K3415/A/14/2224354 APP/ K3415/A/14/2225799 APP/ K3415/W/15/3024063

COMMERCIAL

Adult entertainment venue unlikely to deter town centre visitors ( SUMMARY A lap-dancing venue has been approved for the town centre of Southsea, Portsmouth, after concerns about its impact on the vitality of the area were refuted. ( CASE DETAILS Inspector Jo Dowling noted that the Albert Grove and Elm Grove District Centre,

within which the appeal site is located, is characterised by a variety of specialist and independent shops, bars and restaurants. She considered that the venue would have a very limited physical impact on the street and the wider district centre and would not alter the current composition of the primary frontage. Concerns were raised, particularly by local residents, that locating a lap-dancing venue here would discourage people from visiting the area and raised concerns about safety, particularly for women and children, to the detriment of the vitality of the district centre. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Dowling accepted that there was a lack of conclusive evidence either way on this matter, but contended that because it was a late-night venue the proposal would not operate at the same time as a majority of daytime uses, and would not be out of place given the eclectic mix of both day and night uses in the area. However, she did suggest that the council should implement a condition through which permission would be granted for a temporary period initially, which would allow the impact on the district centre to be assessed properly.

Appeal Ref: APP/ Z1775/W/16/3153456

HOUSING

Arthur’s Seat views retained in Edinburgh housing scheme ( SUMMARY A reporter has approved the erection of 10 houses on an inﬁll site in Edinburgh, after assessing that key aspects of the Cragmillar Park Conservation Area, including views to Arthur’s Seat, would not be compromised. ( CASE DETAILS Reporter Lorna McCallum noted that the site is currently open land that is used for informal recreational purposes – mostly dog walking – but said she was not convinced it made an important contribution to the essential character of the conservation area. Forty-two per cent of the site would remain as accessible open space and the appellant agreed to contributions towards a grass sports pitch. Although in the emerging local plan the site continues to be designated as open space, McCallum noted that the plan was at an early

MARCH 2017 / THE PLANNER

p36_39_dif.indd 37

27/02/2017 12:24

INSIGHT

DiF { D stage, and did not think that this “modest” scheme would compromise its aims through prematurity. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Importantly, McCallum considered that the ridge heights of the dwellings would respect the neighbouring properties, and that confining development to the northeast of the site would ensure the retention of principal views out of the site towards Arthur’s Seat. Following the relocation of a listed pavilion from the site, McCallum said development should be allowed.

Appeal Ref: PPA-230-2172

Communities secretary Sajid Javid and transport secretary Chris Grayling agreed that a ‘Cranfordspeciﬁc’ insulation scheme should apply for residents near the green belt site

DECISIONS IN FOCUS INFRASTRUCTURE

Heathrow works approved by Javid and Grayling ( SUMMARY Communities secretary Sajid Javid and transport secretary Chris Grayling have approved works at Heathrow’s northern runway to allow for eastbound departures, despite ﬁnding that a necessary ‘acoustic barrier’ would constitute inappropriate development in the green belt. ( CASE DETAILS Both secretaries of state noted that the appeal for development came about as Heathrow Airport Limited

(HAL) considered that it did not possess the necessary infrastructure to permit regular scheduled easterly departures over Cranford from its northern runway, should wind direction make this preferable. Easterly departures had historically not been allowed because of the Cranford Agreement – a ministerial undertaking intended to protect Cranford from departure noise. The works sought included minor site alterations, including to some pavement areas within the airport, and the erection of an acoustic barrier on land to the south of the village of Longford adjacent to the airport, part of which would lie within green belt land. The purpose of the

acoustic barrier is to protect the residents of the heavily populated area of Cranford from the high noise levels experienced on the ground from departing aircraft on easterly departures. The secretaries of state agreed that the mitigation measures to protect the living conditions of adjacent residents and the functionality of some schools, which included the addition of insulation and ventilation, would “be proportionate, particular to the development, adequate and appropriate”. They also agreed that the implementation of a ‘Cranford-specific’ insulation scheme to those who would be eligible for relocation assistance was a necessary measure. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Although it was agreed that the barrier would negatively affect the openness of this part of the green belt, they found that arguments relating to the public benefits of the scheme, including the fairer distribution of noise around the airport, counted as very special circumstances sufficient to allow development in the green belt in this case.

Appeal Ref: APP/R5510/A/14/2225774

COMMERCIAL

Non-industrial use allowed at ‘Riverside Opportunity Area’ ( SUMMARY An inspector has allowed the change of use of part of an existing warehouse

T H E P L AN N E R \ M A R C H 2 0 1 7

p36_39_dif.indd 38

I M AG E | A L A M Y

27/02/2017 12:24

at Creekmouth in Barking to banqueting facilities and storage, despite the area being allocated as employment land within a Strategic Industrial Location (SIL) in the London Plan. ( CASE DETAILS Inspector Jonathan Parsons noted that despite the land technically being safeguarded for employment purposes, Barking and Dagenham Borough Council had not sought to object to the proposal on these grounds. This was because the site also lies within the area covered by the London Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF), which envisages the creation of residential communities and sustainable industries. The council felt that the proposal

should be judged against these priorities rather than the local plan employment policies. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Under the OAPF the area surrounding the appeal site would be developed for housing in a staged manner. While noting that the banqueting facility, which would be used mainly for weddings, would generate traﬃc and activity, Parsons felt that this could be dealt with through planning conditions. The transport impacts of the development would also not be severe subject to conditions restricting hours of operation.

Appeal Ref: APP/ Z5060/W/16/3156585

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Wind farm plan refused at Gortin ( SUMMARY Plans for 14 wind turbines have been refused for a site near Gortin, Northern Ireland, after the landscape impacts were deemed unacceptable. ( CASE DETAILS Commissioner Rosemary Daly said that in respect of grid connection, it was accepted that the wind farm was within the potential catchment of the Newtownstewart Cluster and that it would be reasonable to assume that this would represent the most likely distribution connection arrangement for the proposal. She said it was also reasonable

to assume the plan would be delivered on time to meet the provinces’s 40 per cent renewables target in 2020, and dismissed concerns about the scheme’s impact on tourism. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Assessing landscape impact, Daly judged that the wind farm would be out of place and prominent from key viewpoints, aﬀecting users of the popular Robbers Table walk. From some points there would be an “overwhelming and adverse impact” on the landscape of the area that would impact on the character of the Sperrins AONB. These outweighed the scheme’s beneﬁts, she said.

Appeal Ref: 2013/A0228

KEEP UP ONLINE WITH THE PLANNER’S WEEKLY NEWSLETTERS Keep abreast of the very latest appeal stories uploaded daily at www.theplanner.co.uk — and subscribe to our new weekly Decisions Digest newsletter. Every Monday a selection of the latest appeal decision and legal news stories will be delivered to your inbox at 7:30am. Decisions Digest is one of three weekly newsletters from The Planner. Our Tuesday edition covers the week’s major planning stories, while the Friday Digest concentrates on project and policy stories from across the UK and Ireland. Visit www.theplanner.co.uk/the-planner-e-news to sign up. And don’t forget to download our tablet app by visiting www.theplanner.co.uk/app – the same full magazine experience as our print title, with the added bonus of live links to all published URLs.

MARCH 2017 / THE PLANNER

p36_39_dif.indd 39

27/02/2017 12:25

INSIGHT

LLegal landscape BOUTIQUE LAW FIRMS: FINDING A NICHE New law firms, while news, are not necessarily deserving of a full page in a specialist magazine like The Planner. But when we heard about the founding of Town LLP, we had to invite the founders to write for us as it reflects a trend of ‘boutique’ but ‘fullscale’ practices that’s now apparent in other professional service sectors. It’s the first we know of to do so in planning and it might well be a bellwether of market change. Town also has a healthy approach to inclusivity that dovetails with this issue’s broader theme. Founding partner Meeta Kaur offers her insight. Less than a year ago a small group of planning lawyers were coming together around a single new idea. Fast-forward to 3 January and Town Legal opened its doors as the first full-scale specialist planning law firm of its kind. Those initial conversations brought together five experienced planning solicitors from three city law firms: Patrick Robinson and Elizabeth Christie from Herbert Smith Freehills, Clare Fielding from Gowling WLG and Simon Ricketts and me from King & Wood Mallesons. The sixth partner is barrister Mary Cook, a former head of Cornerstone Barristers. A major motivation in establishing Town was a

desire to provide a highquality, flexible service in a way that works for clients, while continuing to work on interesting projects. This aspiration inevitably meant working outside of ‘Big Law’, its bureaucracy and more inflexible management structures. Large law firms are still ideal for carrying out big transactional work and they provide an excellent structured and comprehensive career for many lawyers. But planning is low on the investment priority list of any large international law firm. And so it seemed increasingly clear that planning as a specialist practice area could be more efficiently provided from a boutique-style firm. As planning lawyers, we typically work alongside

Meeta Kaur lawyers in different practice areas from other law firms, especially where the client adopts a panel approach to its legal needs. Sitting in a separate office from the other lawyers we work with was never going to be a problem. A key part of the Town philosophy is to work collaboratively in providing services to clients. Collectively, Town has many years of legal planning experience, so the idea is very definitely that clients should benefit from all that experience, not just that of the lawyers directly assigned to their project. All six partners, associates and other staff share an open-plan office. The structure and ethos is deliberately non-hierarchical, and the firm operates a John

“IT SEEMED INCREASINGLY CLEAR THAT PLANNING AS A SPECIALIST PRACTICE AREA COULD BE MORE EFFICIENTLY PROVIDED FROM A BOUTIQUESTYLE FIRM”

Lewis-style profit structure across all its staff. Although not intentional, we are proud that Town is a majority female partnership, and take our diversity credentials seriously. We have started to engage with other groups on diversity issues, and intend to build on that. Another distinctive aspect of Town is that it has solicitors working alongside a highly experienced barrister. The intention is not that all our clients must instruct her, but Mary’s presence gives the collaborative style of Town a unique dimension. It also gives us the ability to provide a fast and seamless service should a client need it, something that is already proving useful for clients who want joined-up advice from both a solicitor and counsel quickly. Projects we are acting on include 22 Bishopsgate, which will be the tallest building in the City of London once completed, as well as the mixed-use redevelopment of Battersea Power Station. Exactly a week from the time of writing, we are due in in the Supreme Court acting for Richborough Estates in one of the most important cases to come before the courts, on the interpretation of paragraph 49 of the NPPF. We are acting on the Parkhurst Road inquiry in Islington, where the major issues centre on the politically sensitive matter of viability and its impact on affordable housing supply. Specialist consultancies have trodden this path successfully before. We are sure that there will be challenges, but looking over the laptop at a roomful of likeminded planning lawyers, this is already feeling like home. Meeta Kaur is a founding partner of Town Legal LLP

T H E P L AN N E R \ MA R C H 2 0 1 7

p40-41_LegalLandscape.indd 42

24/02/2017 17:01

LATEST POSTS FROM THEPLANNER.CO.UK/BLOGS

B LO G S The government will have to do much more than the ‘carrots and sticks’ approach oﬀered by its housing white paper to conjure up a way to solve the chronic housing shortage in England and Wales

L E G I S L AT I O N S H O R T S Judicial review granted over cables plan

Will the housing white paper deliver? Tim Willis and Matthew Stimson The government has finally unveiled its much-anticipated draft Housing White Paper (HWP). But despite the big build-up, the document falls short in detail and struggles for new ideas or innovative thinking. Instead, it follows the rather disappointing and obvious mix of ‘carrots and sticks’ first mooted in the 2016 Autumn Statement. The problem remains a basic one: there is simply not enough money available to fund enough public sector housing to pick up the shortfall left by private house builders. In addition, any new public sector housing built for rent is at risk of being lost to the market in a very short timescale as a result of heavily discounted purchase prices being offered to tenants under the Right to Buy/Acquire schemes. It follows that public sector engagement with, and cooperation from the private sector is critical to unlock new sources of funding for all types of housing development. But to be attractive to private sector developers and investors, schemes that they fund will not only need to be viable but profitable. That in turn means the government and local planning authorities (LPAs) making tough choices when it comes to the extent to which Section 106 Obligations and CIL requirements can be imposed. Hopefully, government proposals in the HWP to review Section 106 obligations and CIL will introduce more flexibility to a system which can stall, delay, or in some cases prevent housing schemes coming forward. The HWP also identifies a number of themes and objectives which the government wants to address including concerns raised by developers that are linked to the perceived delays and

inefficiencies of the current planning process. These include delays and uncertainties with the local plan process; how to drive forward and deliver consented development schemes; how to deliver more public/ private homes at an affordable rent; and measures to boost the reuse and redevelopment of brownfield land and increase density of development in urban areas. And even then there are still an unfortunate number of elephants in the room when it comes to the physical ‘delivery’ of housing ready for occupation. In essence these are not purely planning related and cannot easily be dealt with by changes to planning policy and process; they are legal and physical impediments to securing final built development which cannot be resolved by securing an early planning permission or introducing measures which compel developers to implement and/or complete development by a certain date. The overall availability of developable sites is also not assisted by a lack of desire on the part of the government to engage in any public debate on the future of green belt land. To the contrary, the government’s stated intention in the draft HWP is to continue to protect the green belt from development unless there are “exceptional circumstances”. Delivery is key here and as the government rightly accepts, that will rely heavily on cooperation between landowners, local authorities, professions and other institutions. To that extent it is vitally important for key stakeholders to engage in the current consultation process on the draft HWP, which closes on 2 May.

“THERE ARE STILL AN UNFORTUNATE NUMBER OF ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM WHEN IT COMES TO THE PHYSICAL ‘DELIVERY' OF HOUSING READY FOR OCCUPATION”

Tim Willis and Matthew Stimson are on the Planning Team at Shoosmiths LLP

Campaigners ﬁghting an overhead cables scheme for parts of rural Denbigshire and Conwy have won the right to a judicial review. Following a public inquiry last year, energy secretary Greg Clark approved SP Manweb’s proposal for 17km of power lines linking Clocaenog wind farm to a substation at Glascoed. SP Manweb has said the decision to have a review does not change its programme. The Pylon the Pressure group says the cables, which will carry supplies from four wind farms in the Clocaenog and Brenig areas, should be laid underground. The High Court hearing is due to take place in Llangefni in April.

Essex wins a village green designation Essex County Council has routed a challenge to its decision to register land that is part of the Port of Mistley as a town or village green (TGV). The claimant, port operator TW Logistics (TWL), had asked the High Court to reverse the registration to declare that the land was not a TVG, saying: • During the 20-year period to September 2008 there had been various signs in place that were eﬀective to render recreational users of the land contentious, alternatively permissive, and so not “as of right”. • The land had not been used for “lawful sports and pastimes” within the meaning of section 15 of the 2006 act, but rather in the manner of a highway; and • Registration of the land as a TVG would be incompatible with the statutory regime under which the Port of Mistley was operated. The council, as registration authority, contended that the land was correctly registered. Mr Justice Barling rejected TWL’s claim, saying the matters it had raised did not provide grounds for the registration to be reversed.

Council prevails in enforcement decision Cornwall Council has successfully defended a High Court challenge to its decision not to take enforcement action over unauthorised development at a quarry in the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The council granted permission in April 2015, but that decision was quashed in the High Court. In the meantime, Shire Oak Quarries bought the site, and erected a fence around part of the perimeter. Following the judicial review, the company did not have permission to do so. On 29 September 2016 Cornwall decided not to take enforcement action in respect of this unauthorised development. Opponents to re-opening of the quarry sought to challenge this decision. But Mr Justice Hickinbottom ruled that the claim was unarguable and refused permission to proceed with judicial review. He said the council could not be criticised for deciding “not to take immediate further enforcement action in respect of the fence, in circumstances in which, at present, there is no evidence that it will have any adverse eﬀects on bats, or any other habitat or species”.

MAR C H 2 0 1 7 / THE PLA NNER

p40-41_LegalLandscape.indd 43

24/02/2017 17:02

INSIGHT

Career { D E V E L O P M E N T EFFECTIVE COVER LETTERS

A cover letter is an integral part of any job application, and arguably the hardest bit to get right. How do you write a letter that gives you an edge? Martha Harris asked recruitment specialist cialist Kirsty Hall

Kirsty Hall

iates. KDH Assoc f o r e that a d n u ll, fo tressing en’t a s H , y s t d s d r a i , she at ar says K s e avoided skills th common mi your CV should b mple, by noting y l l a e r a a what’s on your CV – for ex gaps in “This is plicating on s and any had,” e c n a t s m u Simply re r should expand irc ver history. te current c ob move you’ve e cover let er from your job j ain your ou are l y y p r x e y e v h e w f o n t n n i i o d place o expla e spin easy to o t v o i g d t e i a e s n o o p s e a th ng “It’s al n’t feel ry to put . “Coveri t. But do ct, and t gnificance of your i s l a n o employmen Keep this succin .” i dit ing “ unity kes on ad are at the beginn erence nonshe adds. ew opport letter ta ef n u r r o a e y n v a r o f c o c i f u a V o ill ters, your C ll. “Y looking n a u n H h a h s le, and w b t y o o a r j t s n e a ” h t , t r e o c o p n t m e i i t For some ore xper evan re even m hy work e t are rel letters a don’t have lengt achievements tha nded person.” n to a d to explai cally and elated ell-rou r w r e k a t career an r t o e e w r l a n r cove specifi or no t you use your for them academic sense tha d g a l n u i r o k e h r d s o a w e u r ly: “Yo sted in give the important y you are intere h But most w ” . r y e n y a ve emplo the comp prospecti you perfect for s what make to tailored lways be h a c d r l a u o e h s s it ur re letter – esearch. oking 2. Do yo he cover do your r you’re really lo t u f o o y y e m r e u n s f d e i a e e e k t r h a u t m b , s s o, so site, count paste i pplying t ing at their web nkedIn ac se in your a i L Copy-ande r d a n a u o k r e loo ny y itte e th the compa n be as basic as look at their Tw cts and referenc e – j o r r e p h t y “This ca r e u k f n not what s then go ’ve had o employer, e h t r to impres t successes they o f do en t you can about rec tress wha s u o y ” . e r r su lette ly, make Important r you. o f do they can onality,” tone t your pers ate tone. h f g o i e r s n e e e a s e th propri rmal ry to giv ate an ap t e 3. Strik r d c n a o t a more fo n o t , s n y r a c e t n p r a o t t p l s m u r i cons he fi t’s l style property rite in t e adds, i ersationa “Always w Nevertheless, sh well-established -up, a more conv een.” . a art etw says Hall are applying to g to a st here in b by an HR manager f applyin en opt for somew d I a e . r d “If you e e t b a i h about apprec oubt t oing to d g e b n s i i now lots y k a f r m I e t t o . t n g e n l y tone i a l r m a u e o y f y the re app ancy eader. “I ber that may be mo g consult of your r nsultancy, remem echnical terms. o t t plannin plaining the Be aware c n n e y i d t a n r l e e p p p x e o e d and of ex al pr an in at a glob o avoid acronyms the director of em the disservice s h o t , t g o n d g i n t n i ’ n t n pla it. “For ou’re wri are a planner, do overdoing them stand f o y “But if y y r e a h w t s e e t

V y your C just cop t ’ n o D 1. take,”

– but b now tha that mak and you k I (or similar).” an go a long way ly strong brand P c l T a R y e r r m e y t a n t a s acro sincere fl hat a company ha A little think t u o y f i example,

p42_43_dev_landscape.indd 42

27/02/2017 12:40

JOBS

Make Planner Jobs your ﬁrst port of call for town planning jobs, careers advice and the latest people news from across the sector. Visit jobs.theplanner.co.uk

out from their compet ition and that you fee l this demonstrates they are, then say thi how progressive s.”

4. Be mindful of stru cture A cover letter need not be any longer tha n one side of A4 and a PDF to avoid the ris is best sent as k of format errors ari structure: sing. Kirsty advises the following Paragraph 1: “Explain why you are writing, company, and why you why you want to work for thi are interested in the s position they are adv you are writing specul ertising. If atively, explain tha t you admire the com appreciate being kep pany and would t abreast of upcoming opportunities. This tailored, compelling paragraph must be and devoid of errors . If you have come int someone from the com o contact with pany, this is the per fect place to mentio Paragraph 2: “Give a n it.” brief explanation of circumstances, but do your background and current not fall into the tra p of providing your Paragraph 3: “Pick thr life story.” ee are as tha t are listed in the job des either direct the rea cription and der to that experienc e in your CV or – eve experiences that you n better – choose haven’t included the re. If you are applyi think about the skills ng speculatively, you have that align with the ethos of the would complement cur rent gaps you think company or that they have in their ser Paragraph 4: “This sho vice.” uld be your closing note of gratitude for paragraph. Asserting the reader’s time and your interest, a meet you’ are all tha an ‘I would welcome the opportunity to t you need to say her e.”

5. Check and check ag ain

“A good command of wri tten English is essent roles,” says Hall, “an ial to the vast majori d your covering letter ty of planning this. is an ideal opportuni ty to showcase “Check grammar and spe lling obsessively, mak the structure and tha ing sure that you’re t it flows, rather tha happy with n looking like a jum extracts from your CV. ble of cut-and-paste “The most common err or that I see in a cov they are addressed to; ering letter is a mis take in who this is such a fundam undermine all of the ental oversight that hard work you have put it will totally Check the name of the into the rest of you r application.” person you are writin g to, if available, appropriate generic or give an address such as “Dear Sir /Madam” if unsure. Above all, though, “ge nuine enthusiasm for the top thing that a a role and/or compan prospective employer y is probably will look for, and can over an applicant wit h more experience or bet give you an edge ter academic results”. Kirsty Hall is the fou nder of KDH Associate s, a bespoke recruitme clients within the bui nt service for lt environment sector . For more information on how to write the per Indigo Planning’s Suz anne Joseph on the Pla fect cover letter, read our Q&A with tinyurl.com/Planner03 nner Jobs site: 17-IndigoPlanning

COVER LETTER CHECKLIST

Keep it short and punchy

Expand on your CV – don’t just repeat it

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

p42_43_dev_landscape.indd 43

Tailor your letter to each employer

Do your research on the role and the company

Use it as an opportunity to demonstrate that you are a well-rounded candidate

Stress what you can do for the company, and not the other way around

Get someone else to double-check your letter for sense and typos

Send it as a PDF

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

27/02/2017 13:05

NEWS

RTPI {

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

New framework oﬀers Wales chance to deliver a fresh vision ROISIN WILMOTT, FRTPI, RTPI CYMRU DIRECTOR The framework oﬀers a unique chance to examine the spatial needs of Wales

The National Development Framework (NDF), as introduced by the Planning (Wales) Act 2015, has the potential to be a dynamic new approach to the big spatial questions in Wales. Wales had been groundbreaking in the introduction of the Wales Spatial Plan, but unfortunately it lost its way and people lost confidence in it. A fresh opportunity now arises for it to be innovative; the NDF will have ‘teeth’ in that it will be a Development Plan – a marked difference to the Wales Spatial Plan. However, this may be a concept that non-planners will need to adjust to. Having development plan status is an important reason to get it right. The Welsh Government is currently inviting evidence to inform the NDF. Its invitation document is purposely light on detail because it wants to see innovation and new concepts, and not stifle ideas. The NDF will be an all-Wales spatial framework and will form part of the development plan system in Wales. It will sit above Strategic Development

T H E PL AN N E R \ M A R C H 2 0 1 7

p44_47_RTPI_news.indd 44

Plans (SDPs) (also introduced by the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 and are likely to only be introduced in parts of the country) and Local Development Plans (LDPs). The idea is that issues will be considered at the most appropriate spatial level. The consultation states: “All plans are important and it is the alignment of plans at all levels, working together, that will help us achieve our national goals.” Unquestionably, this will take time, and probably more than one iteration of the plans. We must be patient, but put in the effort to get it right. The NDF will not replace Planning Policy Wales (PPW), which will continue to provide national planning policy, although there may be some changes to adapt to the NDF. The NDF will provide spatial policies of national importance. A significant steer for the NDF is the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015. This affects the approach taken in writing the NDF, the need for a longterm approach, preventing problems

occurring, integration with other public policy, collaboration and involving people. The NDF must also meet seven well-being goals put in place by the act, which have been developed to help create the Wales we all want to live in. All evidence submitted must explain how it meets the well-being goals. In order to seize the full opportunities offered by the new NDF, there is a need to look beyond infrastructure projects that have sat on the shelf, or at least look at them with a new focus. The NDF offers a unique chance to examine the spatial needs of Wales and plan for them effectively over the long term. The lessons of the Wales Spatial Plan must be learnt; a national spatial framework helps us make the difficult decisions for locating development in the right place, connected through infrastructure and with a more positive relationship to the natural environment and our communities. The Welsh Government is at the same time establishing a National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (separate to the UK commission). It will be essential for this commission to work within the parameters of the NDF; the commission could provide important input into informing the NDF. The NDF offers a vehicle for the commission’s evidence to be taken forward. Will the commission understand the development plan concept? RTPI Cymru will make every effort to ensure that this is understood. RTPI Cymru’s Policy and Research Forum will be submitting evidence and has been talking to RTPI members across Wales to help inform the response. The call for evidence and projects closes on 7 March 2017. The NDF is due to be published in March 2020. n Further details can be found at: tinyurl.com/planner0317-walesframework I M AG E | A L A M Y

24/02/2017 17:11

Editorial E: rtpinews@rtpi.org.uk

RTPI (switchboard) T: 020 7929 9494

Registered charity no. 262865 Registered charity in Scotland SCO37841

3 POINT PLAN A planner explains how they would change the English planning system

Lorayne Woodend DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY DELIVERY OFFICER, SOUTH LAKELAND DISTRICT COUNCIL Exploring and understanding the context and needs of a place to plan for its sustainable future, taking into account the things that are important for it, should be a hugely important and exciting task. Planning is meant to be about this, but the tools we have at our disposal through the system only allow us to perform a fraction of this role. Many elements that are imperative for genuine place-shaping and sustainable development are dismissed as ‘not planning’ or otherwise undervalued by the system. Current approaches to community engagement are failing to do what they say on the tin. The methods are outdated and onerous; people are tired of being ‘consulted’. Those we want to hear from are seldom heard. Technology has to be part of the answer, and issues of resources must be addressed. But mindset – how we as planners perceive and value communities and ‘the public’ – also has a big part to play. Neighbourhood Planning has the scope to sow the seeds of this much-needed change.

A fully informed and debated review of the definition of sustainable development

Bringing community engagement in planning into the 21st century

3 A supported, meaningful and consistent approach to monitoring

We used to have a prescribed set of indicators for monitoring the local development framework, but even then, some of the data was diﬃcult to gather. Notwithstanding recent white paper proposals, sources have since changed or disappeared and there’s no longer a requirement to submit a monitoring report, but monitoring the impact of your local plan policies is important. We need proper support and relevant, complete and consistent data to ensure that monitoring can be done meaningfully.

COMMITTEE CONCERNS: BRIEFING FROM THE CHAIR The Education & Lifelong Learning Committee leads the work of the RTPI on accreditation of planning education; training and qualiﬁcations; careers; and monitoring CPD. Its Chair, Professor Tony Crook, gives an update on the year’s priorities. Supporting students through Future Planners bursaries and increasing awareness of planning as a career choice Exploring new pathways into the profession with the development of RTPI apprenticeships with employers and universities Supporting universities through improvements to RTPI accreditation requirements from the Education Review In its Lifelong Learning role, the committee has a strategic overview of CPD provision and the development of online training through RTPI Learn. Our objective of supporting professional development & standards of RTPI Members includes advising on existing and new CPD programmes and supporting the formulation of an in-house training package. We look to support members at all stages of their career and to inspire new planners, hence the continuation of our ‘Routes to Education’ project to ensure ﬂexibility of access to the profession whilst maintaining educational quality. n www.rtpi.org.uk/bursary n www.rtpi.org.uk/apprenticeships

POSITION POINTS

RTPI SCOTLAND GREETS DRAFT CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN The draft Climate Change Plan was laid in the Scottish Parliament in January. This route map to a lower carbon Scotland targets zero-carbon electricity by 2030, and, by 2032, near-zero emissions in the services and residential sectors and a fall in transport emissions of 32 per cent. RTPI Scotland has welcomed the measurable outcomes identiﬁed, and the recognition of the role of planning in shaping a low-carbon country. There is, however, an over-reliance on advances in vehicle and building fabric technology to cut carbon emissions, with the opportunity to reduce journeys through good placemaking especially not recognised.

n tinyurl.com/planner0317-draft-climate

A ROUTE MAP TO A BETTER IRELAND The Irish Government’s National Planning Framework will set a new strategic planning and development context for all regions of Ireland until 2040. It sets a strategic, high-level framework for the co-ordination of a range of national, regional and local authority policies and activities, planning and investment. RTPI Ireland sees it as a chance to provide a route map to a better Ireland in uncertain times. It must be truly ambitious to deliver sustainable development and economic growth, tackle climate change, and inﬂuence strategies and resource allocation to provide certainty for communities, developers and investors.

n http://npf.ie/

MAR C H 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

p44_47_RTPI_news.indd 45

24/02/2017 17:12

RTPI { INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY –8 MARCH

Gender Equality & Planning: Implementing the New Urban Agenda HOW AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT CAN HELP TO DELIVER GENDER INCLUSIVE PLACES VICTORIA PINONCELY, RESEARCH OFFICER The New Urban Agenda (NUA) was adopted at the United Nations Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. The NUA provides the road map for sustainable urban development in our cities over the next 20 years, and its implementation will contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. The RTPI inputted in the drafting of the NUA and was actively involved at Habitat III through speeches at side events, workshops, and exhibitions to highlight the vital contribution of planners to sustainable urbanisation. The gender question and how we engage women fully in shaping the city and ensure basics such as that they feel safe was particularly prominent at Habitat III, and the NUA calls for gender equality through sustainable and gender-inclusive cities.

T H E PL AN N E R \ M A R C H 2 0 1 7

p44_47_RTPI_news.indd 46

SDG 11 (the ‘urban goal’) calls for making cities and urban settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, and commits to provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces, with explicit reference to women. The NUA oﬀers a chance to respond to improve the spatial conﬁguration of cities and places in a gender-inclusive way, ensuring participation by all groups. Planners and urban designers have a key role to play in this. To achieve greater gender equality, we need to create mixed-use, accessible and safe places with short travel distances between work, childcare, schools, shops and services, better transport, and user-friendly urban spaces. Ultimately, this will be better not only for women, but for everyone. n More on the RTPI’s work on inclusivity: tinyurl.com/zuj838h I M AG E | G E T T Y

NEWS

NEW MEMBERS

CHARTERED MEMBERS ELECTED OCTOBERDECEMBER 2016 “Many congratulations to all of our new Chartered Members. Employers rightly recognise the hallmark of the professional expertise and integrity conferred by chartered status. Being a chartered member of the RTPI makes you part of a large professional team involved in a diversity of work designed to create better places.” – Stephen Wilkinson, RTPI president Ailsa Anderson (elected in September 2016, apologies for the omission from December’s issue) Amie Baxter Hala Bennett Alastair Chapman Charlotte Crack Christopher Dolling Michelle Edser Stuart Freeman Richard Greig Tessa Morton José Reis Nathan Renison Amanda Seedhouse Sophie Hinton Giulia Acuto Charlotte Allen Martin Almond Jamie Atkinson Selwyn Atkinson Thomas Bode Joanna Bowyer Ruth Bryan Kieran Carlin Alexander Cole Klara Crowley Alan Davies Ronald Davies Marie Dos Charles Dunn Natalie Fellows Alexander Fradley Alexander Gandy Cecil Gray Julie Gray Shruthi Guruswamy Thomas Hallett Emma Harding Christopher Harris Laura Henry Alec Hickey Simon Ible Anne Joseph Catherine L’Estrange Gregory Llewellyn Catriona MacArthur Alistair MacDonald Ryan McTeggart Lauren McHugh Joshua Mellor Thomas Mills Michael Mulgrew Shams Namazie Craig O’Connor Yvette Ralston

Edward RhysThomas Owen Robinson Craig Ross Emma Rowan Jennifer Ryan Kevin Savage Shane Scollard Gemma Smith Laura Stewart Sarah Sutcliﬀe Andrew Taylor Kirsty Wilkinson Ben Williams Thomas Wilson Marc Zablotny Deepak Gopinath George Whalley Jonathan Brookes Michael Chalk Mark Chevis Rebecca Eades Duncan Law Grady O’Brien Iain SutherlandThomas James Turner Alistair Yates Darren Abbott Husam Al Waer Ziad Alameddine Thomas Allington Robert Allison Catrin Asprey Natalie Belford Nicholas Clough Garry Colligan Mark Dauncey Alexia Dodd Philip Drane Trudi Elliott Susan Field David Givan Adam Halford Christopher Hannington Jane Jones Anastasia Kaspari Clara Kerr Marek Mackowiak David Marjoram Kevin Morley Oliver Owen Mark Pettitt Andre Pinto Michelle Smith Rosslyn Stuart Victoria Taylor Martin Tedder Felicity Thompson Kayna Tregay Lindsay Trevillian Katherine Wood Alasdair Adey

Jennifer Angus Harriet Barber Hollie Barton Eleanor Bird Christopher Brady Elizabeth Bricknell Olivia Carr Sara Cockburn Rosanna Cohen Donna Collier Alice Cosnett Taya Cotterill Zachary Croft Sian Davies Rebecca Dolphin Danielle Dunn Jessica Evans Caitriona Feeney Monica Forde Ciaran Hagan Vanessa Harrison Fiona Harte Keith Henderson Louise Hinsley Amy Hordon Katie Hughes Andrew Jalali Edward Jones Alice Kennedy Eleanor Kirton John Londesborough Bethany McQue Gila Middleton Luke Mills Oliver Milne Laura Morris Katy Mourant Alice Nunn Charlotte Orrell Katherine Pang Danniella Persaud Mark Pickrell Fiona Reid Natalie Render Timothy Rogers James Rooke Vanessa Rowell Thomas Sadler Maria Sheridan David Shiels Katharine Slack Ryan Snow Olivia St-Amour Amy Stone Helena Taylor Jade Tilley Kate Timmis Jeﬀrey Tweddle Darren Venables Clare Williams Lewis Williams Lewis Wright George Yates

24/02/2017 17:12

RTPI Y ACTIVIT E PIPELIN Current RTPI work – what the Institute is doing and how you can help us WHO WILL WIN THE RTPI AWARDS FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE 2017? The shortlist has been announced and tickets are on sale – the countdown is on! With 14 categories for teams, projects and individuals and, of course, our coveted Silver Jubilee Cup, awarded to the entry considered the most outstanding from among all the project category winners, the awards ceremony on 15 June in London promises to be an exciting and unforgettable evening. We’d love for you to join us and help celebrate all the great work planners have done over the past year. View the shortlist and book your tickets now at: www.rtpi.org.uk/ape2017

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE SCOTTISH YOUNG PLANNERS’ CONFERENCE The Scottish Young Planners’ Conference 2017’s packed programme focuses on developing essential skills. Sessions on leadership from Nicola Barclay, chief executive of Homes for Scotland, and innovative working from Irene Beautyman of the Improvement Service will equip delegates to be inﬂuential and eﬀective in a reformed planning system. Hands-on workshops on development economics, networking and mediation will promote active debate and participation. International contributions will place our responsibilities as planners in the global context of the New Urban Agenda. The conference will be held at The Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling on 22 March. Registration is available now at: www.rtpiconferences.co.uk

WHAT’S NEW AT THIS YEAR’S PLANNING CONVENTION? What makes a successful night-time economy? Is the concept of Smart Cities a choice between smart or sustainable? How can planners support the humanitarian sector after disaster? These are just some of the key questions that will be addressed at this year’s Planning Convention on 21 June in London. This year, for the first time, we are also offering an ‘Ask the Chief Planners’ session. In this session, five chief planners will give us their views on what the current planning landscape looks like and what the future will bring, followed by a Q&A session during which delegates will have the opportunity to put their questions directly to the chief planners.

n Make sure you don’t miss out on these exciting sessions. Book your

RTPI SHORTS

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT CONSULTS ON FEES CAP The Scottish Government has published the first half of a two-stage review into increasing planning fees. It proposes an initial raise in the cap for fees charged for major applications to £125,000. RTPI Scotland welcomes the proposal, while it is accompanied by further investment in the resourcing of planning authorities targeted at enhancing performance. Effective resourcing ensures that local authorities can dedicate more time and resources to identifying and delivering projects with partners. RTPI Scotland’s analysis of local government resourcing data shows that staff levels across planning departments have fallen by about 25 per cent since 2009 amid a loss of £40 million from planning budgets. These figures highlight that clear action is needed to find innovative ways to raise revenue and improve services. This depends on continuing to develop clear and dynamic performance criteria and rewarding qualitative and quantitative improvement in processes and outcomes. The recently launched Scottish Government consultation on planning includes measures to quantify the quality of outcomes as well as the speed of process. The consultation closes on 27 February.

MEMBER DEATHS It is with great regret that we note the deaths of the following members. We oﬀer our condolences to their families and colleagues. Dennis Michael Berryman Robin Godfrey Booth Peter Walding Bryant Michael George Burry Keith Douglas Clarke Peter Burrough Clarke James Arthur Cowlin George Philip Crutcher Martyn Edwards Donald Kitson Entwistle Keith Garton Denis Byrne Harrison Stuart Beaumont Hart Joseph Max Hirsh Simon Christopher Holding Elizabeth Anne Howe William Livingstone Stuart Anthony Thomas Norman Teague Anthony David John Winters

South West East England South East South East East England East Midlands East England South East Wales North West East Midlands South East London South East North West West Midlands North West

tickets now: www.planningconvention.co.uk

IRELAND’S FRAMEWORK LOOKS TOWARDS 2040 The Irish Government’s National Planning Framework will set a new strategic planning and development context for all the regions across Ireland between now and 2040. It sets a strategic, high-level framework for the coordination of a range of national, regional and local authority policies and activities, planning and investment. RTPI Ireland is a part of the NPF Advisory Group, providing advice and evidence to government on the best approach for the plan. RTPI Ireland is consulting widely with its members to oﬀer constructive ideas to inﬂuence government and help shape its vision. If you would like to contribute email: contact@rtpiireland.org

CONDUCT & DISCIPLINE PANEL Two members have recently been found to have breached the Code of Professional Conduct by the RTPI Conduct and Discipline Panel. Tracey Francis was randomly selected by the institute as part of the CPD monitoring exercise in 2012 and failed to comply. Robert Reynolds was randomly selected as part of the PII monitoring exercise in 2015 and failed to comply. The panel agreed to terminate their memberships following earlier periods of suspension for failing to comply with the necessary regulations.

MAR C H 2 0 1 7 / THE PLA NNER

p44_47_RTPI_news.indd 47

24/02/2017 17:13