The Planner March 2019 by The Planner

MARCH 2019 A SECOND GARDEN CITY REVOLUTION // p.4 • EMBRACING DIVERSITY // p.18 • BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO INCLUSIVE DESIGN // p.26 TECH LANDSCAPE: DE RISKING THE PLANNING PROCESS // p.31 • NATIONS & REGIONS: WALES // 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

HOW CAN PLANNING BETTER REFLECT THE COMMUNITIES IT SERVES?

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Different Perspectives, Outstanding Results At SNC Lavalin’s Atkins business, we believe that, in today’s global market, diverse groups make better decisions and that better decisions lead to better business results and better outcomes for the communities we serve. We’ve set ourselves a challenge, to build on the great work we’ve done so far by pursuing improvements for all underrepresented groups and promoting a more inclusive culture for all employees. Our diversity and inclusion priorities are encompassed in all activities of the business: from initial recruitment and onboarding stages, further development and advancement, engagement and sharing examples of role models, to enabling people to see the connection between such priorities, business strategy, and our core values.

Women make up over half “of our Planning team and we’re making huge strides in attracting Planners from different cultural backgrounds. Working in such a diverse and inclusive environment reaps huge rewards for the team, the company, our clients and the communities we work with. Joanne Farrar, Director of Planning

”

If you would like to work for our progressive and diverse team, please look at the Planning opportunities on our website www.careers.atkinsglobal.com/planningjobs. We’re looking for enthusiastic Senior, Principal and Associate level Town Planners to join our progressive and dynamic team, we can offer some really exciting and challenging strategic planning and development and infrastructure consenting opportunities across all sectors.

D&I Partners

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CONTENTS

MARCH

06 NEWS 4 Path to a second garden city revolution 6 Rosewell review calls for inquiry timescales to be slashed by five months 7 Govan waterfront plan signed off by council 8 Planning suffers as austerity hits urban areas hardest 9 Civil servants give goahead to major Belfast office scheme 10 NAO: Government should take planning more seriously’ seriously system ‘more

OPINION

14 Louise BrookeSmith: The Tardis and our diverse world

20 19

“I WOULDN’T HAVE GONE INTO PLANNING HAD I NOT HAPPENED TO CHAT TO A GREAT SUPPLY DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY TEACHER DURING MY GCSES”

16 Richard Douglas: We need to look at the person, not their haircut 16 Danna Walker: Planning planning’s future 17 O Oli Pinch: Diversity: Am I part of the prob problem? 17 Ch Charlotte Morphet: How filling the data gap coul help to fill the could gend gap gender

15 QUOTE UNQUOTE

“THE PATIO WOULD BE AN ATTRACTIVE ENVIRONMENT TO DRINK, DINE AND TO SIMPLY ENJOY THE COMPANY OF A LOVED ONE ON A WARM SUMMER EVENING” INSPECTOR D M YOUNG REF CASE APP/X1925/W/18/3205685 ENTERS A PERHAPS UNEXPECTED STATE OF REVERIE

INSIGHT

FEATURES

31 Tech landscape: Grace Manning-Marsh tells Simon Wicks why Land Enhance can improve applications while releasing planners from a laborious task

18 The argument about why planning should embrace diversity within its ranks is clear. But what about the how? Serena Ralston finds out 22 How does the planning profession address the key issue of adequate representation 26 Why, asks Huw Morris, are we so bad at planning and designing environments that work for everyone? 34 Nations & Regions: Wales

38 Cases & decisions: Development decisions, round-up and analysis 42 Legal Landscape: Opinions, blogs and news from the legal side of planning 44 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 50 Plan B: Flagging up a few issues

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NEWS

Report { GARDEN COMMUNITIES

Path to a second garden city revolution By Laura Edgar

Fionnu ala L

In 2014, the government launched the garden communities programme, with the aim to deliver 200,000 properties by 2050. The communities could n no be garden villages, providing en 1,500 homes to 10,000 homes, or garden towns, providing upwards of 10,000 homes. They are expected to be well designed, locally led and distinct. Community facilities should be provided and the housing of a high quality, with integrated green spaces. There are 23 garden towns and villages being developed, from Carlisle to Kent. Work is under way on more than 10,000 homes; 40,000 are expected to be either under way or completed by 2022. In August 2018 housing secretary James Brokenshire launched a new programme of garden communities. This second phase under the garden communities prospectus closed for bids in November. The Planner has spoken to Fionnuala Lennon (FL), the head of garden communities at Homes England, to see where the current garden communities are in their programme, what can be expected from the second phase and a new toolkit, which Homes England hopes to launch this year as a resource for those exploring garden communities.

Q. How are you ensuring that garden city principles are embedded in the schemes you have received for the second round? FL: The garden communities prospectus, published in August 2018, set out a number of qualities that we believe successful garden communities share. These include:

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To wn

• Having a clear identity and being wellmechanisms and tools they would use to designed; supporting delivery of homes, secure delivery of the quality aspects of employment, local retail and community the garden community programme. uses, and generous green spaces; • Places where legacy and Q. How will you make these stewardship arrangements are places diverse and inclusive? in place for the long-term Do they include a mix of care of community assets; tenures, from one-bed • Designed with input ﬂats to retirement homes from the existing and and accommodation future community, and that means the elderly businesses; and less able can live at • Built at a scale that home but also receive e rd Bicester Ga supports the infrastructure to appropriate care? enable residents to meet their FL: The scale of garden day-to-day needs; communities means they should be • Places that support integrated transport able to deliver a wide range of homes to options and are designed to support create a diverse and sustainable place and healthy lifestyles; and bidders are asked to identify the range of • Places that are designed to be resilient homes their proposal will deliver. in adapting to future change. Drawing from current garden villages Bidders to join the programme were and towns, Bicester is a transformational asked to indicate in their bids how their garden town that will deliver 13,000 new proposed garden communities would homes based on a whole town approach. address these qualities and also what It is a great example of ambition in I M AG E S | I STO C K / S H U T T E RSTO C K / A L A M Y / I N FO G R A PH IC : HOM E S E N G L A N D

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PLAN UPFRONT

delivering a range of housing tenures and types across new development including the Graven Hill self and custom-build scheme, which is the largest scheme of its type under way in the UK and provides more choice for people keen to design and build their own homes.

FL: A Garden Communities Toolkit is being developed by Homes England, which draws on the experiences of the garden communities already in the programme and is intended to provide a resource for anyone interested in exploring how a garden community might be taken forward. It will include case studies of each of the garden towns and villages that are currently d ar St part of the programme. Cuthbert’s G

FL: We were keen to attract proposals that are ambitious in respect of delivering great new places people will want to live and work in, particularly where they are addressing local housing need. Key aspects include design quality, strategic ﬁt, and deliverability of proposals.

Q. Do the applications cover all of England? Are there commonalities between the applications? FL: Circa 100 bids were submitted and entries came from all over England. There is a really interesting range of proposals in the bids – from new urban garden quarters, to proposals intended to transform an existing place, to new stand-alone communities. A number of bids have been submitted by the private sector with the support of the relevant local authority.

Q. Ones who are already part of the programme, how advanced are they?

Q. How are they dealing with design? How are they ensuring diversity of housing, avoiding the monotony of some of the developments we see? FL: All of the garden communities in the current programme are serious about delivering great new places. Many have established bespoke design and placemaking panels as a mechanism to help steer the design agenda, for example, Otterpool Park in Kent. Others use design codes or other design guidance developed to complement the delivery of masterplans for their garden communities, e.g. Bicester Garden Town and North Northamptonshire Garden Communities. Of course having a skilled staﬀ resource on board and a positive working relationship with developers is important to achieving great design. Bidders to join the programme have also been asked to identify what mechanisms and tools they will use to drive forward implementation of their design agenda for their garden community proposal.

Q. Are local SMEs involved in delivering the communities, and will they be for the new ones? FL: Yes, the new prospectus establishes that it is expected that a diverse range of housebuilders will be involved in delivering the new

garden communities. SMEs and specialist housing providers are operational among a number of the places that are part of the current programme, such as Taunton Garden Town.

Q. Are there any areas of innovation being showcased in the programme? FL: We’re seeing some great examples of innovation in planning and delivery emerging in the current programme. From exploring opportunities to embed technological innovation (Didcot Garden Town), to being innovative in engaging with the community on their proposals (St Cuthbert’s Garden Village at Carlisle), to exploring new ways of delivering large-scale proposals of this nature using mechanisms such as locally led development corporations, which were legislated for in summer 2018. Given their scale, many of these communities will be delivered over the next 20-30 years and the challenge is how to design and plan new places that will adapt to changing lifestyles and technological advances, such as autonomous vehicles.

Q. What is Homes England’s role in supporting delivery of garden communities? FL: As the government’s housing accelerator, Homes England has a major role to play in supporting the delivery of garden towns and villages, which is reﬂected in our recently published Strategic Plan. We work with delivery partners in the garden towns and villages to establish bespoke support packages, which include planning enabling, potential for capital investment or loans and other interventions that will best drive delivery of the Taunto nG new places. We also work a closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in administering capacity funding to local authorities that are part of the programme, to enable them to secure the resources they need to help deliver these largescale and complex projects. n Tow en rd

FL: Currently there are 23 places that are part of the programme. Many of these are delivering homes already, for example: Bicester Garden Town, North Northamptonshire Garden Communities, Didcot Garden Town and Longcross Garden Village. Of those not yet on site, many are advanced in their planning and delivery profile and are likely to start development on site in the next 12-18 months; while others are still at planning policy stage. A benefit of having projects at different stages is the shared learning available in respect of taking forward an ambitious garden community project between the local authorities involved.

en e Vil lage, Carlisl

Q. What are the speciﬁcs that you have requested and are looking for?

Q. Can you give a breakdown of the toolkit?

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NEWS

Analysis { PLANNING APPEALS REVIEW

Rosewell review calls for inquiry timescales to be slashed by five months by Huw Morris Planning appeal decisions could be cut by five months with the average time ‘slashed’ from 47 to 26 weeks, according to an independent review. A lack of “suitably qualified inspectors” is hampering moves to set up inquiry hearings on time, the review headed by economist Bridget Rosewell found. Appeals are also held up by “outdated administrative processes and poor IT infrastructure”. The study said the most contentious planning cases could be decided up to five months faster, and some in half the time. Reforms suggested include committing the Planning Inspectorate to introducing an online portal for the submission of inquiry appeals and a strategy for recruiting more inquiries so that inquiries can be

scheduled sooner. It also calls for early engagement between the inspector and all parties, with this to begin at no later than the seventh week after the start letter. “It’s critical that all parts of the planning system contribute towards the eﬃcient delivery of the homes we need as well as the refusal of those which don’t meet our high standards,” said Rosewell. “My review found, with commitment for all involved, that speeding up inquiries can be achieved through straightforward reforms, shaving months oﬀ the current time it takes for inspectors to make a decision.” The Planning Inspectorate will now work on an implementation plan for the review’s recommendations.

Housing and communities secretary James Brokenshire said 47 weeks on average is “far too long to wait for a decision on something so important as a proposal for new development”. He welcomed Rosewell’s review for setting “a clear direction of travel on how we can ensure the appeals inquiry process is ﬁt for purpose”. RTPI chief executive Victoria Hills said: “Many of the proposals are timely and sensible, but questions remain about the resourcing which must underpin them, not only at local authority level but nationally. We welcome the Planning Inspectorate driving forward its transformation programme, but more funding is needed to take on these recommendations. “Government needs to take into account the practical impact of new policies and reforms on the consideration of evidence at inquiries. There is a danger that near-constant planning reforms over the last few years have produced signiﬁcant uncertainty. “We particularly welcome the proposal to use digital to engage with communities. That’s why the RTPI signed an agreement with the Government’s Future Cities Catapult to maximise the opportunities for digital planning.”

Scientists call for relaxation of fracking earthquake rules by Huw Morris Nearly 50 geoscientists are calling on the government to review the fracking earthquake limit and suggest that it should be relaxed to boost the industry. The scientists claim the limit, for tremors above 0.5 local magnitude, is “set very conservatively to be triggered by extremely small seismic events”. They call for a “ﬁrm but realistic regularity framework” to support the development of shale gas in the UK. In a letter sent to The Times last month,

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the scientists said the limit “is very far below the levels set in other countries or for other comparable industries in the UK such as quarrying, mining and deep geothermal energy. “It is widely believed by industry, and among informed academics, to be so low that it threatens the potential development of a shale gas industry in the UK.” The letter points out that when the limit was initially set in 2012 the Department of Energy and Climate Change had pledged to review it as the experience of fracking in the UK developed.

The scientists urge the government to instruct the Oil and Gas Authority to commission an expert review of the present threshold without delay. The letter, which has 49 signatories, was coordinated by Leeds University professor of petroleum geo-engineering Quentin Fisher and Ernest Rutter, professor emeritus at Manchester University’s school of earth and environmental sciences. I M AG E S | S H U T T E RSTO C K / I STO C K / A L A M Y

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PLAN UPFRONT

Govan waterfront masterplan signed oﬀ by council

Tool launched to address post-permission delays A prototype tool has been developed to address problems that become apparent in the post-permission phase by simplifying the application process to create more transparency. PLANtraq was launched by Future Cities Catapult in February, alongside a report that informs the tool. Digitising the Planning System Part 3: The Post-Permission Planning Process aims to address the frustrations planners, developers and consultants have voiced about this stage of the planning process. Issues that have not been resolved before approval can be listed at the planning conditions stage, resulting in a more difficult list of issues to manage and that require more time to resolve. The report cites the Letwin and Raynsford reviews of the planning system, which found there is enough housing with planning permission to meet demand but they are either delayed or have expired because of the post-permission side of planning. There will be three entry points into the tool, one each for members of the public, case officers and agents or developers. Each user has a different interface offering them different access and features. The live timer will date the decision notice and alert users if there is an impending expiry date or a deadline for particular conditions. It will update if the permission is implemented. n Read the Future Cities Catapult report at its website: bit.ly/planner0319-PostPlanning

Glasgow City Council has signed off a masterplan designed to change the face of Govan. The £56.8 million scheme will regenerate a key area of the city’s waterfront. The Water Row blueprint involves a mixed-use development providing 200 new homes (159 flats and 41 terraced houses/townhouses mainly for midmarket rent) and 3,500 square metres of commercial space for businesses. It also means the Govan-Partick bridge, connecting both sides of the Clyde with a network of onward walking and cycling routes, gets the green light. In addition to high-quality public space, the project includes proposals for the redevelopment of the A-listed Govan Old Parish Church, which has a nationally significant collection of early Christian carved stones. It is set to become both a cultural facility and an enterprise hub. Kenny McLean, city convener for neighbourhoods, housing and public realm, said: “The masterplan points the way forward to a comprehensive regeneration of a location that will grow in importance to the city in future years. Water Row will be a focal point in the regeneration of not only Govan, but the banks of the Clyde and the growing connections between communities and organisations on both sides of the river.”

Brokenshire wants ‘fresh thinking’ on planning recruitment Housing secretary James Brokenshire used the occasion of the RTPI’s annual parliamentary reception last month to admit that government must do more to support the profession and to give it the respect it deserves. Brokenshire agreed with new RTPI president Ian Tant that the lack of planners in senior positions on local councils – identiﬁed in RTPI research conducted late last year – was “a real impediment in terms of how we are able to move forward with the delivery of our homes agenda”.

Speaking of the government’s housing targets, Brokenshire said that “skills, expertise, capacity and capability on the planning side will be so important as we look to deliver on that agenda”. “This is more than just funding; it’s about ensuring we have a plan in place to recruit and train the next generation of planners. It’s why RTPI initiatives such as the Future Planners bursary are so badly needed, bringing students from other disciplines into this essential profession.” Brokenshire spoke of his enthusiasm for working with the RTPI since his

appointment in April of last year, and in the months ahead. “We must open up the conversation on recruitment,” he added. “We need fresh thinking on how we bring this critical profession [to the attention of] more people. As a profession, you serve diverse communities; so it is essential you reﬂect that too. That’s why I share your desire to see more viable routes into planning. Graduate schemes, yes – but equally, through our supporting of local authorities to develop their own training and skills initiatives as well.”

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NEWS

News { Planning suffers as austerity hits urban areas hardest Cities across the UK have borne the brunt of real-terms local government funding cuts in the past 10 years, and planning suffered some of the deepest cuts. Cities Outlook 2019 finds that despite being home to just over half of the population, cities have endured 74 per cent of cuts. This equates to a reduction of £386 for each city dweller since 2009/10, compared with £172 for those living outside of cities. The Centre for Cities’ annual economic health check notes that the top five worst-affected cities are in the north of England, with Barnsley the hardest hit. The demand for social care is increasing financial pressures. In 2009/10, four of 62 cities spent most of their budgets on social care – now half of them do. Although cities have become more efficient as a result, money spent on other services has been cut, with planning and development spending “especially squeezed”, said Andrew

Carter, CEO at Centre for Cities. “Across English cities spending on these fell by 41 per cent; while in Burnley and Hull, where planning and development were hit particularly hard, spending fell by 70 per cent or more since 2009/10. “Well-run planning and development services are essential if we are going to build the hundreds of thousands of homes needed to tackle the housing crisis. Therefore, the much-promised ‘end of austerity’ must apply to councils’ services as well as to Whitehall,” he said. The RTPI has long campaigned for government and local authorities to

Air Corps proposals threaten Irish wind farm development Ireland’s green power companies have told The Planner that they want an urgent meeting with the defence minister over draft proposals from the Air Corps which, says the sector, risk making nearly 30 per cent of the country a ‘no-go’ area for wind turbines. The Irish Wind Energy Association has written to defence minister Paul Kehoe. The letter says that the association’s own land-mapping analysis suggests that the Air Corps proposals would “eﬀectively prevent the development of new wind energy projects in approximately 29 per cent of the country”.

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The association warned that not only would this prevent the development of new projects, but also threatened existing wind farms. The letter adds that the development

assign more resources to planning teams, Victoria Hills MRTPI, chief executive at the RTPI, told The Planner. Last year, this campaign resulted in planning fees going up and the money ring-fenced to planning departments. “However, there’s no doubt that planning in England does continue to face some serious challenges. Our recent study found that planning has been relegated in many local authorities to a largely reactive, regulatory function making it harder to undertake long-term strategic thinking and professional discretion. In these cases, austerity has eroded planning’s ability to serve the public interest.” n Read the Centre for Cities report: bit.ly/planner0319-outlook

and expansion of renewable energy is essential “if we are to decarbonise our economy and play our part in the ﬁght against climate change”. The defence forces told The Planner that the Air Corps position paper was a “draft document that outlines the organisation’s concerns about the impact wind farm development may have on safety and capabilities”. It said the paper was compiled in line with international practice and considered the necessities to defend the state. “The draft proposals request planning authorities, in certain areas, to engage in consultation to ensure any potential interference with operational requirements is minimised. Work is continuing with a view to reaching a ﬁnal policy position.” I M AG E S | G E T T Y / S H U T T E RSTO C K / I STO C K

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PLAN UPFRONT

Planned rail station between Cardiﬀ and Newport gains traction

Civil servants give go-ahead to major Belfast office scheme Northern Irish civil servants have approved another regionally significant development. It comprises one of the biggest office schemes ever proposed for the capital. Belfast Harbour’s City Quays 3 development will provide nearly 24,000 square metres of grade A office accommodation on a site near the M3, close to both Clarendon Dock and Clarendon Quay. The £46 million 16-storey project in the harbour area will be a new neighbour for the AC Marriott Hotel and the City Quays 2 building. The Department for Infrastructure insisted that “the proposed office building would be compatible with the area given the recent developments of similar design at City Quays”. The department has issued a notice of opinion to approve permission. New powers granted to civil servants in November mean that opinions can now be officially adopted in the absence of a minister.

Ambitious proposals for a new park-and-ride mainline rail station and business district located between Newport and Cardiff have made significant progress. The Welsh Government, along with financial services giant Investec and entrepreneurs Nigel and his son Andrew Roberts, have established a holding company, South Wales Infrastructure Ltd (SWIL), to deliver the proposed Cardiff Parkway train station on the South Wales-to-London rail line at St Mellons. As part of the partnership, the government will become a shareholder and investor in SWIL. The government and Investec will provide equal funding for the next phase of the development. The aim is to submit a planning application by summer for construction to begin in 2020. The station would be served by trains to Swansea, the Cardiff Capital Region, London, Bristol and Birmingham. Through its investment the government will also have a stake in the project’s proposed 65-hectare business district close to the station, which could see up to 278,700 square metres of grade A office space built in the long term.. The project, unveiled two years ago, would involve the first mainly privately funded railway station in Wales since rail nationalisation. Ken Skates, economy and transport minister, said: “As well as the obvious day-to-day benefits for commuters, this will also help to manage congestion and reduce air and noise pollution in central Cardiff.”

Article 4 direction proposed to manage HMO conversion in South London Croydon Council plans to issue an Article 4 direction to protect family homes from conversion into houses of multiple occupation (HMO). Properties with multibedrooms can be converted to HMOs that can be lived in by three and six unrelated people through permitted development rights. This means the work required does not need to go through the full planning process and be approved by the council

before it can be done. The Article 4 direction would require owners to seek planning permission for the conversion. The council plans to implement this in January 2020. The borough has lost hundreds of family homes to HMO conversions over the past 10 years. A consultation will be held on the proposals until Friday 8 March. Alison Butler, deputy leader and cabinet member

for homes and gateway services, said: “It is clear it is becoming more and more important to protect family homes in Croydon. While we recognise the need for HMOs, we can already see that in some parts of the borough there are just too many HMOs in a small

area for the local infrastructure to cope. “This Article 4 direction will enable us to ensure we have a supply of decent housing for Croydon families to live in, as well as giving our residents moving into newly converted HMOs reassurance around basic rights, such as space requirements.”

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NEWS

News { NAO: Government should take planning system ‘more seriously’ calculate the number of new homes needed in their area – currently under review – reduces the need for new homes in five out of nine regions, “which could hamper local authorities’ plans to regenerate”. The NAO also expressed concern that while MHCLG has produced an estimate of the funds needed for the infrastructure to support new homes, future costs are uncertain. This is compounded by government departments not being required to align their investment strategies with local authorities’ infrastructure plans. The NAO also feared that measures addressing developer contributions will not take effect for several years, so that if developers negotiate a lower contribution because they will be “unable to maintain profit margins” either less infrastructure

PLANNING STATISTICS FOR SCOTLAND

n Full report: bit.ly/planner0319-NAO

4,677

Source – Scottish Government: bit.ly/planner0319-ScotPlans

The ﬁrst six months of 2018/19 saw 52 major housing developments decided in average of

There were

6,796 local development decisions decided in Q1 of 2018/19.

37.0 weeks. The average decision time for 112 major developments concluded in the ﬁrst half of 2018/19 in Scotland was

34.6

will be built or local authorities and / or central government will need to pay more. The time it takes for the Planning Inspectorate to determine appeals was also mentioned as an impediment (see news, p.6), while it was still too early to determine if the revised NPPF published will be eﬀective. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “It is clear the planning system is not working well. The government needs to take this much more seriously and ensure its new planning policies bring about the change needed.”

weeks.

HOMELESSNESS IN ENGLAND

A National Audit Oﬃce (NAO) report has labelled the government’s planning system as ‘underperforming’ and unable to demonstrate how it can deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. While acknowledging recent reforms by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to help English local authorities, the NAO believes MHCLG cannot demonstrate that it is meeting housing demand eﬀectively. In the report, Planning for New Homes, the NAO notes that, on average, 177,000 homes were built each year between 2005/06 and 2017/18 – but that a 69 per cent rise in the average number of new-build homes necessary to meet the Government’s new homes targets. The NAO says that compared with the need assessesment previously used, the standard method for local authorities to

people sleeping rough in England on a single night in autumn 2018, 74 people more than a year earlier

146 14%

people recorded sleeping rough in London

of those sleeping rough were women

Source – UK Government (pdf): bit.ly/planner0319RoughSleeping

CONSTRUCTION SMES

42% 64%

of builders have detected signs of a weakening housing market

of construction SMEs reported struggling to hire carpenters and joiners. 61 per cent are having diﬃculty hiring bricklayers.

33%

of construction SMEs are anticipating higher workloads in the ﬁrst quarter of 2019. This is a decline of 36 per cent when compared with the previous quarter.

87%

of builders think material prices will rise further in the next six months, and increase from 86 per cent in Q3 of 2018.

66%

of construction SMEs expect wages and salaries to increase over the next six months, compared with 58 per cent in the previous quarter.

Source: Federation of Master Builders (pdf): bit.ly/planner0319-FMBsurvey

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I M AG E | I STO C K

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LEADER COMMENT

Opinion onn Working towards a robust approach to diversity – It’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that planning is the professional discipline – among the many currently tackling the issue – most in need of a robust, considered and demonstrable approach to diversity. After all, what is planning if it is not considering all the groups potentially affected by the development proposals it deals with? If it is not, in the pursuit of best practice and thus best possible outcome, employing a sufficiently inclusive and representative workforce? I was struck by a comment piece we feature this month from Future of London’s Oli Pinch (you’ll find it on page 17). His argument is that diversity leads to innovation: “If we want to develop new solutions for the problems we face, we must invite people with different experiences and ideas.” This, to me, goes to the heart of the issue. It is surely

Martin Read a simple and undeniable truth that inclusivity equals better perspective. Diversity of representation may be a complex issue for the planning profession to address, but at its root it is still a basic question of considering inputs, outputs and outcomes. Some of these can be basic design considerations. Have a wheelchair user feed into plans for a new oﬃce building and associated space, for instance, and its design is likely to change

in important ways. But of course it is just as much a question of ensuring the gender and ethnic balance necessary to ensure the best possible outcome, whatever the proposed project. More women and BAME faces in leadership roles can only help, and statistics show that in this regard there is much still to do. For sure, the balance of men to women in positions of authority remains absurdly tilted towards the former. Some statistics suggest that men occupy more than one in seven leadership roles. Untenable? Surely. Routes into the profession are critical, and to this end the RTPI is developing its own diversity initiatives. The institute is working on an

“AT ITS ROOT IT IS A BASIC QUESTION OF CONSIDERING INPUTS, OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES.”

action plan to give form to its vision statement, published last year, committing itself to increasing diversity within the profession more generally. Meanwhile, at the RTPI parliamentary reception last month, housing and commnunities secretary James Brokenshire accepted that the conversation about recruiting planners needed to be "opened up", with "fresh thinking" required to bring the value of a career in planning to the attention of a more diverse audience. What also impresses is the capability and fresh thinking of the many organisations formed to promote more diverse planners and planning (we cover a selection of these in our feature on page 22). This edition of The Planner, will, we hope, help put a spotlight on the issues of representation that the profession is now addressing. It’s an important, multifaceted issue – and one we will surely return to in the months and years ahead.

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£120 – UK £175 – Overseas Average net circulation 18,373 (January-December 2016) (A further 5,700 members receive the magazine in digital form) © The Planner is published on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) by Redactive Publishing Ltd (RPL), 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL 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 part 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 PCP Ltd.

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CORRESPONDENCE

Inbox

YOUR NEWS, VIEWS AND QUESTIONS F E E D B A C K

Jane Gibson – Wonderful to get the magazine ‘naked’, a great step forward. However, although having no major sight issues I seem to be struggling to read some articles. The ‘Happy Planners’ report was extremely diﬃcult to read – in fact some text I couldn’t decipher. As part of my planning training I was lucky enough to work for Oxford City Council, which was very keen on accessibility – and we went beyond the wheelchair. Please ﬁnd attached a link to making text more accessible – font, background, capitalising, contrast etc., especially on glossy paper should all be considered in the round rather than as it looks on a screen. Jane Gibson, Director of Park Direction and Planning, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority

(Editor’s response: We are of course concerned to ensure that the magazine is legible for all of our readers and we apologise for the unnecessary diﬃculty you have been having. We are working on this issue with our design team and you should notice the diﬀerence over the coming months.)

Gemma Bassett – I’m an MRTPI planner, recently moved from London to Sydney, and it’s struck me since relocating that UK planning recruitment has lost its enthusiasm and direction. We’re quick to blame lack of interest from graduates

Katherine Evans coming through the system, but what about retention of existing planners? When was the last time a planner in the UK read a job advert that listed discounted gym membership offers? Or how about and social club benefits? It just doesn’t happen. The standard phrase ‘competitive rates and package’” sums up nearly all planning adverts, private or public sector, and austerity is only partly to blame. Luckily, Sydney isn’t suffering from austerity. Both local authority and private sector firms are desperate for planners, making their job adverts stand out in any way they can. Salaries (OK, yes, they are double that of the UK) are published, and if you work for ‘X’ you get free lunchtime or evening yoga and pilates, ‘Y’ offers football, badminton and lunchtime socials, and don’t forget about ‘X’, where they have car allowances and cycle-towork schemes. Flexi-days are standard in Australia. These things need not cost money for companies and authorities to provide. Most planning departments I’ve worked in have selforganised sports teams, and one even offered reduced council gym membership and free swimming, which I only found out after I accepted the job. It’s time the UK jazzed up its planning recruitment if it really wants experienced planners to stay in planning. It’s time to start advertising the perks as well as the places. Gemma Bassett MRTPI, Specialist planner, City of Sydney

– The NAO report Planning for New Homes (see news, page 10) won’t come as a tremendous shock to those in the planning sphere. Clearly, myriad issues exist when it comes to both being in a position to deliver housing stock commitments and ensuring that appropriate infrastructure can be funded and delivered. The blame for the current state of affairs cannot simply be laid at the feet of developers. The reality is that resourcing for local authority planning departments has been slashed, with significant declines in funding between 2010 and 2017. Such funding declines clearly come at a cost in terms of outcomes. The UK planning system remains extraordinarily, and, many would say, unnecessarily, complex, with complicated means of exactly how infrastructure needs to be funded and delivered. These requirements change from region to region, making the hurdles to infrastructure funding and delivery all the higher. Successful funding requires navigating a complicated labyrinth where the system is slow and not joined up at all. Further potential delays within government departments or local authorities themselves certainly don’t help move these things through swiftly. While the government has looked at ways of speeding up housing delivery through permitted development rights, these policies can have a knock-on effect in terms of infrastructure delivery and local authority funding as a result of loss of

planning application fees. Some eﬀorts have been made to unlock resources, including the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund. But more needs to be done to ensure we are not just delivering housing, but also the infrastructure that connects communities and facilitates jobs. A good place to start could be implementing the recommendations from the Community Infrastructure Levy Review of October 2016. Katherine Evans, Partner and Head of Planning, TLT

Keith Meredith – Regarding housing for older people, I accept the desirability of their having adequate opportunities for social contact with their adult children and their grandchildren. But I do not accept any requirement for older people to share homes with younger members of their extended family.They need social contact with them, but they also have a right to the privacy and autonomy that comes with having one’s own self-contained dwelling. It is a duty of our profession to plan suﬃcient homes for all households be able to have their own self-contained accommodation. Allow me also to endorse the piece by Sarah Clinch in respect of Green Belts (The Planner, January 2019): subject to normal safeguards, limited spatial expansion of cities should be allowed as needed so that no-one is pressured to leave to ﬁnd a decent place to live. Keith Meredith MRTPI

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

O Opinion

The Tardis and our diverse world Like our parents before us, we can cite enormous changes in the way we live now compared with our childhoods; changes in how we treat each other, what we eat, how we are educated, how and where we live, shop, or enjoy our spare time. From my mum’s mantra of “I never saw a banana until after the war” to my daughter not knowing what a record player is, times change and technology moves forward. I’m sure our grandchildren will be amazed to learn that we used to gather around a single black-and-white TV to watch a white-haired doctor with two hearts saved the universe every Saturday night. The past 50-odd years have seen conﬂicts and political upheavals but also a change in social culture that has seen the generic role of women move from homemakers to braburning feminists and then a steady albeit slow change to equality in almost all aspects of life, career choices, pay and status. Some communities see that equality helped along by quotas; others prefer a more osmotic approach. Of course there are the exceptions but generally the move to a fair and equitable role for men and women is universally accepted and anything to the contrary tends to be shouted about and ridiculed. And so it should be. Whether you are bored by it or not, diversity is the new sustainability in terms of how we should all be living. Anything less is just #NotAcceptable. But

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14 Dr Louise_March 2019_The Planner 14

exceptions do occur because we are human and cultural changes are very hard to successfully impose. A change in attitude and personal reaction takes years and sometimes generations. I have been one for keeping my matches in my pocket and simply getting on with the job in hand but sometimes that job presents an opportunity to shine a light on stereotypes. I was late to a business function once and crept into the back of a packed room at an international cricket stadium. I turned to a waiter – black trousers and white shirt – and asked for an orange juice, which he duly brought to me. Polite conversation ensued of “Was I there with my boss?” and “Did the waiter work long hours?” Half an hour later when

“THE ONLY SENIOR INTERNATIONAL JOB NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO A WOMAN IS BEING THE POPE – AND EVEN THAT COULD CHANGE” we were both on the stage, I realised he was Jonathan Trott, of international cricket fame, and he realised I was President of my Institution. We never let on that we were both embarrassed by our stereotyping of each other. Like many property students in the early 1980s, I was one of very few women on my Sheﬃeld Poly course. I recall writing an essay about a ﬁctional development company. Mine was called

‘Brooke-Smith and Daughters’ – and I got extra marks for having a ‘vivid imagination’. But culture and attitudes to diversity have since changed. Companies recognise it, business cases endorse it and legislation enforces it and the only senior international job not currently available to a woman is being the Pope – and even that could change. The question is how long is the wait. I am proud that planning is the epitome of being fair, providing equal access and equal opportunity to everyone in a community be it men or women, gays, straights and everyone in between, black or white, liberals or extremists. That’s what inclusion is all about, making space for everyone. So yes, today we have a Ms Doctor Who and potentially when a ‘Bond, Jane Bond’ hits our iPads, she will be measured by her exploits and abilities, not the size of her boobs or whether she can cook. To me, that’s progress.

Dr Louise Brooke-Smith is a partner at Arcadis LLP and UK Head of Development and Strategy Planning I L L U S T R AT I O N | Z A R A P I C K E N

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Quote unquote FROM THE RTPI AND THE WEB “I know this is more than just funding; it’s about ensuring we have a plan in place to recruit and train the next generation of planners” DHCLG SECRETARY JAMES BROKENSHIRE LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

“It takes a real eﬀort to pursue detail il while keeping an eye on the horizon” NEW RTPI PRESIDENT IAN TANT GETS THE PLANNING PROFESSION IN PERSPECTIVE

“Proceduralism – a ‘box-ticking’ culture – has closed down a lot of the space planners traditionally had for reﬂection, professional discretion professio proactove planning” and proact THE NEW RTP RTPI REPORT, SERVING THE PUBLIC IN INTEREST ON THE ‘HARSH ENVIRONMENT’ LPAS LPA FIND THEMSELVES IN

“The patio would be an attractive environment to drink, dine and to simply enjoy the company of a loved one on a warm summer evening” INSPECTOR D M YOUNG REF CASE APP/X1925/W/18/3205685 ENTERS A PERHAPS UNEXPECTED STATE OF REVERIE

“In a society where the wellbeing of all is the ultimate objective, with the public purse under pressure, such private-sector support for the wider public good should be encouraged” INSPECTOR FRANCES MAHONEY ON WHETHER A PROPOSED COMMUNITY WOODLAND PARK SHOULD BE FUNDED BY NEARBY HOMEOWNERS

“From Essex to Eccleston, as long as the planning system remains broken we will never build the 800 homes a day we so desperately need” RICO WOJTULEWICZ, HEAD OF G HOUSING AND PLANNING POLICY FOR THE HOUSE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

“Places where authorities put planning at the heart of their corporate strategy are successful places to live” VICTORIA HILLS MRTPI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE AT THE RTPI

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

O Opinion

Richard Douglas is associate director of Pro Vision planners, architects and urban designers

We need to look at the person, not their haircut

The que question of ethnic diversity in society soci is often framed as a problem, including in the construction industry, where one’s ethnicity or race can, or can be perceived to, provide barriers to entry. I am mixed-race, with a black Caribbean father and a white British mother. Growing up, my race did not significantly shape my perception of who I am. Studying architecture at university I achieved well academically, spoke well and presented myself professionally. I had, however, grown a sizeable but smart Afro. When applying for jobs, I often sensed unease as many interviewers stared at me – or, more accurately, my hair. After many failed attempts, I cut off my Afro and subsequently secured a job at Pro Vision, where I remain. The company did not employ me to increase ethnic diversity but because I was the right person for the job. Pro Vision sponsored me through my diploma and postgraduate diploma in architecture – practical help that made a huge difference to my progress. Whether my barriers to entry were perceived or real, I cannot say. It is a reality, though, that ethnic minorities are less likely to enter the construction industry. While non-white workers make up 12 per cent of the overall working population,

Danna Walker is an architect and founder and director of Built By Us

Planning planning's future

in the construction industry they constitute only 5.7 per cent. This is not a problem, as long as this is not driven by systems preventing access and opportunity within the industry. Discrimination is about removing an individual’s power to choose in any given situation. I was inspired to enter architecture by a desire to create beautiful, functional objects. That most well-known architects were white did not bother me. But many others do not feel the same. Naturally, people often aspire to and feel more comfortable around those of similar racial or ethnic origins. More visibility of ethnic minorities at senior levels and in public positions in the industry would provide inspiring role models. But this should not be achieved through ‘positive’ discrimination. People should be judged on ability and merit, not skin colour. Historic prejudices against ethnic minorities are not overcome by now discriminating against the ethnic majority. Diversity has been described as ‘the art of thinking independently together’ and it has deﬁnite beneﬁts in construction. The industry must strive to reduce barriers to entry and provide opportunities to all. Diversity then becomes not a problem but an outcome of a properly working system.

“I HAD, HOWEVER, GROWN A SIZEABLE AFRO… I OFTEN SENSED UNEASE AS MANY INTERVIEWERS STARED AT ME – OR, MORE ACCURATELY, MY HAIR”

2 BLOG

BLOG

Diversity and inclusion are a set of principles princ and strategies which aim to build spaces in culture, public life and work which harness the strengths and value the potential contribution of all. Sounds good, right? So why has it proved so challenging to achieve in many sectors, including planning? I believe that exclusion operates as an ecosystem encompassing the foundations of society, including social, cultural, educational and economic norms. While this system needs individuals to contribute to the exclusion of others, the vast majority of those taking part do not question their actions or the fact that there is so little diversity in some professions; it has become normalised. Planning seeks to balance the built environment ecosystem, but how can this be truly possible when planning does not reﬂect the society it serves? Lived experience, new approaches and skills are essential to drive the creation of greater communities for all. Here are just three things the planning profession can address that will make a change: 1. Address discomfort. Many people feel uncomfortable about even debating diversity. Whether it is fear of causing oﬀence or not fully understanding the issue, start with gaining insight from those you want to include.

2. Go beyond policy. Naysayers often dismiss potential positive actions by pointing to a nicely drafted policy on their website. Policies set out aims and objectives, but they are not the same as living and breathing inclusion as a culture. Many baulk at the idea of taking action, citing concerns about quotas and ‘positive discrimination’. In truth, positive discrimination that benefits women or minority groups is a myth – at present, the only people that benefit from actively recruiting and promoting individuals based on their background and connections are those in the majority. The Equality Act 2010 does allow organisations to take positive action to address gaps in re p re s e n ta t i o n, however. Look at your company’s attraction, recruitment, and progression activities holistically. 3. Assume nothing. Organisations often view diversity as something that would be nice to have but is not an essential business strategy. In reality, positive action is an investment that can provide huge benefits to an organisation, such as bringing new skills, increasing employee engagement, improving productivity, innovation and decision-making. I believe that embedding robust strategies to foster diversity and inclusion are not only essential for the 21st century but long overdue..

“LOOK AT YOUR COMPANY’S ATTRACTION, RECRUITMENT, AND PROGRESSION ACTIVITIES HOLISTICALLY”

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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

Oli Pinch is head of networks for Future of London

Diversity: Am I part of the problem?

mi I’m a middle-class white male in mid my mid-thirties. There are more of me in the built environment sector than any other demographic. Despite appearances, I’m an advocate for diversity, leading Future of London’s Speaker Diversity Network. This initiative promotes opportunities for underrepresented groups and brings fresh voices to the urban debate. This could be a problem, but I see my ‘lack’ of diversity as a strength. It’s an opportunity to stand out from my peers and show a way forward. Achieving real diversity doesn’t mean moving people like me out of the way; for me, it’s about using my privilege to practice inclusive leadership and give opportunities to people from underrepresented groups. This isn’t easy for everyone and even the vocabulary – BAME, disabled, people of colour, LGBTQIA – can be confusing and diﬃcult to use correctly. We need to get comfortable with these terms. There is already considerable evidence for why diversity is important. One statistic shows that where at least 30 per cent of a business’s board is female, the company is likely to boost its bottom line. The ﬁgure may not tell the whole story and could motivate people for the wrong reasons, but the point is that diversity brings innovation. If we want to develop

4 BLOG

BLOG

Charlotte Morphet MRTPI is co-founder of Women in Planning

How ﬁlling the data gap could help to ﬁll the gender gap

new solutions for the problems we face, we must invite people with different experiences and ideas. What matters now is how to achieve this. We need to give people within under-represented groups opportunities to grow their confidence, hone their craft and share perspectives. Our own initiative is a case in point. Future of London’s Speaker Diversity Network provides free, small-group public speaking workshops with honest feedback from peers and experienced presenters. Tied to that effort, FoL hosts a vetted ‘Speaker Bank’ of sector experts from varied disciplines and backgrounds who can be matched to events. The Network also invites organisations to publicly pledge to put forward people from under-represented groups and to avoid speaking on single-demographic panels – and to invite those event hosts to contact FoL for help. Cross-sector groups can use this and initiatives like it to break down barriers and inspire new people into the sector so that one day I won’t be the most dominant demographic in the room. Until then, I’m fortunate to work for a small, diverse and forwardthinking organisation that is not afraid to put a white male forward to speak on this issue. It’s allowed me to become part of the solution.

“IF WE WANT TO DEVELOP NEW SOLUTIONS FOR THE PROBLEMS WE FACE, WE MUST INVITE PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES AND IDEAS”

In 2017, the RTPI conducted a member membership survey. Two of its findings di have stuck with me: first, that “women were more likely than men to indicate that they had experienced many of the barriers to professional advancement”; second, 386 RTPI members said that gender had acted as a barrier to their professional advancement. It’s something I had suspected from speaking to Women in Planning members. But when asked about diversity in planning for The Planner magazine last March, I was unable to provide concrete data to answer questions about the number of women in leadership roles and the issues that women are facing in planning and the wider built environment sector. As co-founder of Women in Planning, I found myself dissatisfied and slightly annoyed. As a planner leading on the commissioning of evidence to underpin a local plan, this lack of insight didn’t sit well with me. So Women in Planning has begun researching the questions that I couldn’t answer. Our research has three components. First, we set out to understand how many women are in leadership roles in private sector planning consultancy. Second, we will be doing the same research but looking at local authorities. And we are setting up an annual Women in Planning membership survey to ask women in the profession and

the wider sector what challenges they face. The aim is to ensure that our network provides the support that will empower women working in planning. It’s also so that we, as planners, can have a proper discussion about diversity, inclusion and equality issues. So who is leading planning? In a survey of 379 planning consultancies websites across the UK, we found a combined total of 1,016 chief executives, managing directors, senior directors and directors working in planning roles. Just 17 per cent of them were women. When looking at just the top tier (CEOs, MDs, senior directors) there were 13 per cent women and 87 per cent men. At director level only, 19 per cent were women and 81 per cent were men. Men still predominate in this area of planning so there is a lot to do to ensure more women reach leadership level. I am interested to see the results for local authorities. Then we will start to have a clearer picture of how many women are in leadership roles across planning as a whole. Later this year, we’ll launch our annual membership survey to ﬁnd out more about women’s experiences in planning. The outcome from all this work will be an informed discussion about what positive actions we can all take for the beneﬁt of the profession and wider sector.

“AS A PLANNER LEADING ON THE COMMISSIONING OF EVIDENCE TO UNDERPIN A LOCAL PLAN, THIS LACK OF INSIGHT DIDN’T SIT WELL WITH ME”

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THE ARGUMENT ABOUT WHY PLANNING SHOULD EMBRACE DIVERSITY WITHIN ITS RANKS IS CLEAR. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HOW? SERENA RALSTON FINDS OUT HOW PLANNING CAN RECRUIT FOR DIVERSITY

Arguments in favour of diversity in the planning profession are well rehearsed – and were widely covered by The Planner in its diversity issue in 2018. Aside from the ethics of the issue, employers are increasingly grasping the many practical advantages. The answer to the question ‘why’ is largely settled, not least because it has commercial benefits. Research by McKinsey and Company, ‘Delivering through diversity’, has made it plain that companies whose workforce reflects the demographic make-up of the community they come from perform better financially. In a planning sense, as The Planner has previously explored, greater diversity supports a better understanding of the interests, aspirations and concerns of the communities that are being planned for. As Jan Bessell, RTPI fellow and strategic planning adviser at Pinsent Masons LLP, says: “Diversity makes you think more creatively, you see things from varied perspectives and you have access to 100 per cent of the talent and potential.”

The law ﬁrm, which has the UK’s largest planning and environment team, ranked ﬁrst in Stonewall’s top 100 LGBT employers for 2019. But if the ‘why’ question is resolved, what about the ‘how’? How planning organisations actively recruit so that they look more like the communities they serve remains a tough challenge. As Bessell points out, organisations and individuals need to consider all strands of diversity to become truly inclusive – whether gender or sexuality, social status, ethnicity, disability, or religion. But, she cautions: “That takes time, understanding and relentless

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I M AG E | G E T T Y

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R E C R U I T I N G FO R D I V E R S I T Y

you serve diverse communities; so it is essential you reﬂect that too. That’s why I share your desire to see more viable routes into planning.”

Vision thing

eﬀort and enthusiasm to continually educate, benchmark and monitor progress. It’s also a profession-wide responsibility.” The RTPI is developing its own diversity initiatives and government has recently recognised the importance of the issue. In January, James Brokenshire, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, echoed the RTPI’s calls for action at the institute’s annual Parliamentary Reception, saying: “We must open up the conversation on planning recruitment. We need fresh thinking on how we bring this critical profession [to the attention of] more people. And as a profession,

In general, progress is being made. The RTPI committed publicly to increase the diversity of the profession in a vision statement published last November. An action plan will be developed this year. The RTPI General Assembly, too, is increasingly diverse – more than half its members are now women, although chief executive Victoria Hills says there is work to do on securing better black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME), age and disability representation within the institute’s governance structures. Yet the evidence shows that the profession lacks the diversity of many of the communities it serves. The RTPI’s 2017 membership survey found that 40 per cent of members were women, although 50 per cent of new entrants to the profession are now women, so this proportion is moving towards parity. In other respects, however, representation is poor. Just 7.4 per cent of the RTPI’s membership is from a BAME background. Although up a couple of percentage points on ﬁve years before, this is still roughly half the overall ﬁgure of 14 per cent of the UK’s working age population. Four per cent said they had a disability, compared with around 18 per cent of the UK population as a whole. Four per cent described themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or other. A stumbling block for recruitment is that the pool of candidates remains stubbornly small. Freddie Bell, senior consultant at recruitment consultancy Mattinson Partnership, says: “Board members within the private sector are still often white, male and older, and the key problem is that the pool from which to draw a workforce at all levels is just not diverse enough.” In Bell’s view, change needs to start as early

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R EC R U I T I N G FO R D I V E R S I T Y

as school. “To be a planner at the moment, you need to have a degree. If you don’t know about planning before making your university choice, how will you ﬁnd out? Planners need to go into schools en masse and engage with a younger generation more than they currently do.” Mattinson Partnership has teamed up with the Urban Land Institute’s Urban Plan educational workshops programme, which has now reached more than 2,500 pupils in 100 schools since its launch, with more than 400 industry volunteers engaged across the country. Abraham Laker, associate director at planning consultancy RPS Group and an RTPI General Assembly member, was one of the few that found out about planning at school – but it was by chance rather than design. “I wouldn’t have gone into planning had I not happened to chat to a great supply design and technology teacher during my GCSEs. At my secondary school, the career choices were very traditional.” Laker, who is making diversity his particular cause as a General Assembly member, points out that the RTPI Future Planners scheme sends planners into schools, an initiative that should start to capture a more diverse range of people.

Active recruitment At university level, many organisations and recruitment consultancies connect with a network of universities to ensure that their scope is not limited to just one or two institutions. The RTPI oﬀers annual student bursaries for those with a disability or from a diverse background. It also oﬀers a technical support apprenticeship scheme and is developing an undergraduate apprenticeship. Specialised industry networks such as BAME

“IF YOUR WORKPLACE ISN’T AS DIVERSE AS SOCIETY, IT’S DIFFICULT TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS THAT REFLECT RESIDENTS’ CULTURALLY DIVERSE INTERESTS AND ISSUES”

in Property, Women in Planning and Planning Out are also helping to grab young people’s attention in a bid to stimulate change. As for recruiting organisations themselves, they need to make sure that recruits from diverse backgrounds can see employees who look like them in the workforce. HTA Design provides a good example of how inclusive workplace and recruitment policies will organically generate a more diverse workforce (see box, left). Focused recruitment policies can also provide

A C U LT U R E O F D I V E R S I T Y

Like many consultancies, HTA Design’s website pictures its employees in the ‘People’ section of its website. A scan though the page reveals a good proportion of employees from ethnic minorities, suggesting that the organisation is successfully recruiting from a wide range of social groups. Currently, for example, HTA employs four chartered RTPI planners; three are women and two from BAME backgrounds. Senior planner Natalya Palit

was recently awarded the RTPI’s 2018/19 George Pepler International Award. As planning partner Dr Riëtte Oosthuizen notes, a practice with a visible culture of diversity and inclusion is more likely to attract suitable candidates from a wider range of backgrounds. Some will be the right candidate for the job and get it, along with their picture on the ﬁrm’s website, creating a virtuous circle. But there is much more to

the HTA approach than appearances. “We take positive steps in ensuring that our practice is a great place to work and we believe that our success relies on the active encouragement of contributions from a diverse range of people both within and outside the practice,” remarks Oosthuizen. For example, HTA also has a Diversity and Inclusion Group within the practice that consists of partners, human

resources staff and employees from different levels from across the practice. It has a designated room for prayer and quiet reflection, and HTA Incl., an LGBTQ+ Network Group. Staff undergo diversity and inclusion training as part of their induction. It has built external relationships too, with groups that promote diversity, including Stonewall, Women in Property, the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, and Rethink Mental Health.

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BARRIERS TO DEVELOPMENT

26%

of people with a disability agreed that disability had been a barrier to their progress in the profession

29% 48%

of Asian planners,

of black/black British planners and

12%

of people with mixed ethnicity said that ethnicity had been a barrier to progress, compared with just 2% of RTPI members overall

a foundation for diversity. This may require training anyone involved in recruitment in inclusive methods, including an awareness of unconscious bias – something that Laker considers a major barrier. At Pinsent Masons everyone involved in recruitment is given training that focuses on inclusive recruitment practices. This includes, for example, considering the balance of people on interview panels, reflecting diversity in recruitment campaigns and advertising in places that reach beyond the mainstream and into more diverse audiences. The firm also attends and promotes diverse recruitment events such as supporting DiversCity, which raises awareness of legal careers among LGBT students. Pinsent Masons’s ‘Early Talent Team’ also uses a specialised recruitment tool developed by Rare, a graduate recruitment firm. The ‘Rare Contextual Recruitment System’ (CRS) has ‘contextualised’ (i.e. compared against publicly available indicators relating to socioeconomic status) more than 100,000 candidates; in doing so, it has built one of the largest data sets of the social status of top graduates in the UK. Firms who have the tool embedded in their own recruitment databases ask a series of questions relating to a candidate’s socioeconomic status. These are then set into context using publicly available information to measure

24%

of women said that gender had been a barrier to progress, compared to 11% of RTPI members overall

17%

of gay and lesbian respondents said that sexuality had been a barrier to progress in the profession

People from all of these groups were also much more likely than the RTPI membership as a whole to cite a lack of career mentors and role models as a barrier to progress in the profession. Source: 2017 RTPI Member Survey

their achievements against a baseline norm. In so doing they can fairly compare applicants whose grades may differ by measuring relative disadvantage along with performance, taking into consideration factors that include postcode, school quality, eligibility for free school meals, refugee status, time spent in care. and so on. The CRS is based on a two-year research project conducted by Rare, and sponsored by international law firm (and founding partner of the CRS project) Clifford Chance. Aside from the tool, the project’s outputs include research reports into the influence of social status on graduate employment. The tool is now in use by dozens of private and public sector employers and around 50 per cent more people from disadvantaged backgrounds are getting jobs with these employers as a result. Anecdotal evidence suggests that they continue to perform above expectation in the workplace. Positive discrimination, although generally unlawful in the UK, and the difficulties of favouring one group over another, are potential challenges. Bessell stresses that evolving a truly inclusive culture and workforce requires that recruitment processes are designed to ensure that any adverse impact on candidates is minimised and that positive action is well understood and informed. For example, a classic example of a wellintended recruitment tool with an unintended consequence is the group exercise, sometimes used in early talent recruitment. This tends to work better for middle-class, privately educated candidates who are coached on presentation skills and group interaction than it does for candidates from less advantaged backgrounds. They are simply more self-assured. It is clear that the appetite for change is there within planning and the built environment industries – but the knowledge of how to achieve this is still filtering through. Nevertheless, initiatives to foster greater diversity are beginning to take effect. Some would argue that the desired changes cannot happen quickly enough. As Laker says: “Planners’ work affects the built environment and society as a whole. If your workplace isn’t as diverse as society, it’s difficult to make good decisions that reflect residents’ culturally diverse interests and issues.”

n Serena Ralston is a freelance journalist

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ALL INCLUS A NEW VISION

INCLUSION, BRICK BY BRICK

RTPI The institue has been strengthening its commitment to diversity in the planning profession via number of initiatives. . In Novermber 2018, it published a vision statement that summed up its intentions. It reads: “The RTPI will seek to be and promote the planning profession to be as diverse as the communities it represents. We will act inclusively, treat everyone fairly, and seek to provide a culture which delivers the best outcomes for the diverse society in which and for whom we work.” Releasing the statement, Victoria Hills MRTPI, the RTPI chief executive, said the diversity of the organisation’s membership was increasing. “But there is more work to do to encourage the best talents into the profession regardless of background, gender, age or disability. It is only by “THE RTPI WILL having a profession that SEEK TO BE truly represents the AND PROMOTE community it serves that the built environment can THE PLANNING PROFESSION TO BE be planned to be accessible and inclusive to AS DIVERSE AS THE COMMUNITIES IT use by all.”

REPRESENTS”

Built By Us A social enterprise, Built By Us helps organisations across the built environment to develop more inclusive workforces. It was founded in 2016 by architect Danna Walker, who was becoming frustrated with the “fits and starts” of efforts to improve diversity in the built environment industries. It aims to create a sustainable support platform and is funded by a mix of industry sponsorship and professional fees. It offers three main services: n Mentoring programmes for individuals that address leadership, diversity and skills. n Consultancy to help organisations improve their own approaches to diversity and inclusion. n Talent-spotting to help organisations fill specific roles from the widest pool possible. “We’re finding a growing interest in thinking proactively about how we can address diversity, inclusion and equality within the built environment professions,” says Walker. The construction industrypresents particular challenges because it is so varied. But Walker is confident that change is possible. “It’s not easy to take a whole industry in one direction. It takes time for ideas to trickle through and become mainstream.” Read Danna’s thoughts on page 16 of this issue.

n www.rtpi.org.uk

Twitter: @RTPIPlanners

n www.builtbyus.org.uk/ Twitter: @builtbyusuk

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PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN PLANNING

IVE

STATISTICS SUGGESTS THAT PLANNING AND RELATED BUILT ENVIRONMENT PROFESSIONS ARE NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UK POPULATION AS A WHOLE. SIMON WICKS PROFILES SOME OF THE ORGANISATIONS WORKING TOWARDS GREATER DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND REPRESENTATION IN PLANNING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

BRANCHING OUT

DIVERSITY FRONT AND CENTRE

Planning Out “It started out as a networking group aimed at increasing the proﬁle of planning as a diverse profession to work in,” says co-chair Yohanna Weber of the LGBT+ network founded in 2016. “It’s the idea that planning is a public interest service and we make places, so you need a profession that’s representative of those communities and societies that we want to serve.” Planning Out has branched beyond networking and panel discussions to advising the Mayor of London on the London housing strategy, and local authorities on local plans. 2019 will also see the publication of a planning toolkit for anyone who wants to create an LGBTfriendly venue, development, or event. There may also be the unveiling of a pink (as opposed to blue) plaque in homage to an element of London’s LGBT “WE MAKE PLACES, heritage. SO YOU NEED A “We had 600 people on PROFESSION THAT'S our mailing list and we REPRESENTATIVE thought, ‘There’s potential OF THE to do a lot more here’,” COMMUNITIES says Weber. n www.eventbrite.

co.uk/o/planningout-10909526837 Twitter: @PlanningOut

AND SOCIETIES IT SERVES”

Future of London – Diversity Speaker Network How can built environment professionals find new solutions if they keep asking the same people? Future of London’s Speaker Diversity Network aims to “make event rosters as diverse as London” itself. The rationale is obvious – a breadth of experience adds depth and nuance to any discussion. But it also tells people from underrepresented groups that the built environment professions are for them, too. There are three elements to the network: n A Diversity Pledge, which asks signatories to commit to five actions, including avoiding singledemographic panels. n A Speaker Bank that offers a network of vetted professionals from many backgrounds. n The Speaker Showcase: free presentation training and networking opportunities. “We started the showcase series to make sure the speakers we put forward are ready,” says Lisa Taylor, chief executive for Future of London. “We can see what level of event participants are ready for, and they get personal feedback in a friendly environment with peers and mentors. It may be one of the most useful things we do.” Read Oli Pinch’s thoughts on page 17. n www.futureoflondon.org.uk/networks/diversity

Twitter: @futureoﬂdn

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PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN PLANNING

FOCUS ON ETHNICITY

RAISING PROFILES

BAME in Property Founded in December 2017 by Priya Shah, BAME in Property made an immediate splash, with three sellout events in 2018. There was clearly an appetite for a support network for Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) property professionals and planners. Its aim is to “bring more ethnicity to property, from a recruitment perspective as well as a planning delivery perspective”. Shah says: “We aim to highlight why ethnic diversity is important in the property and planning sectors, why it is important to have role models in higher positions to lead by example for future generations and why ethnicity is important to help create more diverse and inclusive communities.” Events are already in the diary for 2019, including a Parliamentary reception and a Black History Month event, and BAME in Property is working starting to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on diversity issues. “I never imagined it would gain as much traction and support as it has,” says Shah. “There is considerable impetus in the sector to make some real changes with regards to diversity – not just BAME diversity, but more generally with gender and socioeconomic background, too.”

Women in Planning Women in Planning is an independent network to “promote a diverse, equitable and inclusive planning sector”. It was founded in 2012 by two young planners, Charlotte Morphet and Alison McLintock, who were frustrated by the lack of women in prominent and visible positions in the sector. “I noticed at meetings there were sometimes no women in the room,” explains Morphet. “Or I would deal with women by email but not meet them at initial project meetings. I found it odd that there weren’t high-proﬁle women everywhere.” The network has grown at pace in the last two years and now has 13 regional branches in all nations of the UK, with more in the pipeline. Morphet puts the growth down to awareness among women that “the issue hasn’t gone away”. Research into the gender pay gap, for example, has revealed that women are still at a disadvantage. Women in Planning is now branching into training and research. “I’m hoping from our research that there will be a proper conversation about diversity in planning,” says Morphet. Read Charlotte’s thoughts on page 17 of this issue.

n https://becg.com/bame-in-property/ Twitter: @BAMEinProp

n https://www.womeninplanning.org/ Twitter: @WomeninPlanning

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WE KNOW THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST AND WE HAVE MORE THAN LIKELY MISSED SOME REALLY GREAT INITIATIVES. WE’D BE VERY HAPPY TO HEAR ABOUT THEM. PLEASE EMAIL US: EDITORIAL@THEPLANNER.CO.UK A PUBLIC STATEMENT Public practice A social enterprise that places “outstanding” placemaking professionals with local authorities – providing public sector employers with access to a wide pool of talent at signiﬁcantly lower cost than recruitment agencies. As reported in February’s issue of The Planner, Public Practice is already proving a considerable success even after just a single cohort of placements. Why are they in our diversity issue? Two reasons: n Many of their ‘associates’ come from the private sector and wouldn’t previously have considered careers in public planning. So they are diversifying the experience, skills and outlook of public sector planning teams. “MANY WOULDN'T n The ﬁrst cohort of HAVE CONSIDERED associates is extremely PUBLIC SECTOR diverse in terms of age, CAREERS. THEY gender, and ethnicity. ARE DIVERSIFYING Diversity, while not THE SKILLS, necessarily a stated EXPERIENCE intention, is at the heart of AND OUTLOOK OF their practice. PUBLIC SECTOR n www.publicpractice.

org.uk Twitter: @PracticePublic

PLANNING TEAMS”

RECRUITING FOR DIVERSITY Source Social Value A social enterprise trading for just a year, Source Social Value recruits into the built environment industries with an eye to increasing diversity, and provides consultancy to employers wishing to build a more representative workforce. Source was founded by planner Liane Hartley and HR professional Sharron Clow – both of whom have worked on big infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and HS2. “There was a lot of emphasis on these specific projects on targeting under-represented people, such as women in construction,” explains Clow. “We both felt that ethically, this is what employers should be doing anyway.” Source Social Value is now a tier 1 supplier to HS2 and is working with a wide range of employers and candidates across the built environment industries. It’s a Disability Confident signatory and even mentors candidates to prepare them for roles. “I worked with a young man who is a recovering stammerer,” says Clow. “He was not able to get into a role. People were just not giving him an opportunity [even though he was overqualified for some roles he applied for]. We spent two months working with him and preparing him for interviews. He’s now got a job.” n https://sourcesocialvaluecouk.wordpress.com/ Twitter: @source_socval

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steps in the opposite direction. You’re potentially in conflict with other people trying to access that building. If you are using a manual wheelchair it can be very difficult pushing yourself up a ramp with no rest platforms. That can be dangerous because you might lose power and roll back.” Barton is not alone. The Commons Women A SIGNIFICANT PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION LIVES and Equalities Committee in 2016 found disabled people’s lives are still needlessly restricted WITH A DISABILITY OF SOME KIND. WHY THEN, ASKS despite more than 20 years of laws prohibiting HUW MORRIS, ARE WE SO BAD AT PLANNING FOR AND discrimination and requiring accessibility. The barriers are numerous: low numbers of DESIGNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT WORK FOR EVERYONE? accessible homes, buildings without step-free access or poor signs, lack of lifts or accessible toilets, workplaces people cannot enter, hearing hilip Barton knows all loop failures, unsuitable surfaces, streets where about the barriers disabled the removal of kerbs or controlled crossings make people face every day. navigation unsafe, while transport has its own sad An independent litany. This leads to everything from exasperation consultant, planning through to isolation. inspector and Scottish Sarah White, head of policy and campaigns for reporter, he is also a Sense, a charity that supports people with complex wheelchair user. Simply disabilities, says disabled people are “unable to entering buildings or fully participate in society” and such barriers moving about public spaces “prevent them from forming social connections”. is an “experiential deficit”. What’s more, disability is not Steps are a major obstacle. always visible. Deafness, mental “These days, especially for public “IT’S NOT health problems, ME and autism buildings, the design of ramps varies POSSIBLE TO are all good examples of conditions greatly. Sometimes a ramp is at the ADDRESS ISSUES that disrupt one’s ability to negotiate side of the steps, which is fine, but UNLESS THE the world. Indeed, the World Health you have this experiential deficit as POLICIES ARE Organisation has a ‘social’ definition you can’t approach the building and WRITTEN THAT of disability as “a mismatched don’t appreciate it in the same way as ALLOW YOU TO interaction between the features of a an able-bodied person. DO THAT” person’s body and the features of the “Sometimes ramps intersect with environment in which they live”. steps,” he continues. “Everybody The 2011 Census found that 18 per moves up in one direction while a cent of the UK’s population – around wheelchair user has to go across the 11.5 million people – have a longterm health problem or disability. In short, most people know someone with a disability. You are also more likely to be disabled the longer you live; nearly 80 per cent of people aged 85 or more are disabled, according to Disability Sports. Despite countless documents, guidance, advice, research and a consensus that designing inclusive places benefits everyone, why are built environment professionals still struggling to help a substantial and growing part of the population? “The main barrier is our attitude towards inclusivity,” says Julie Fleck, former principal

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access and inclusion adviser at the Greater London Authority. Fleck, who headed the Built Environment Professional Education Project, a government paralympic legacy project, cites the Olympic Park for the 2012 games as a high point for UK inclusive design, driving “the whole of the organisation, not just as a planning issue, and embedded right at the start”. “The main thing is how do planners and built environment professionals address the needs of disabled people and take the time to learn about them or whether we reproduce the environment in our own image and exclude a lot of population.”

“THERE IS A RECOGNITION ACROSS THE INDUSTRY OF THE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT INCLUSIVE DESIGN BUT A CONSISTENT LACK OF UPTAKE”

Accessible housing The revised National Planning Policy Framework makes few references to disabled people. There’s a nod towards inclusive design, an acknowledgment while “delivering a sufficient number of homes”, a sentence when promoting sustainable transport and a mention in the glossary. The accompanying National Planning Practice Guidance is light on homes for disabled people. The Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 placed a duty on the secretary of state to provide guidance to local authorities on how they should reflect the needs of older and disabled people when drawing up policies. This has yet to appear. Research in 2018 by Habinteg, a housing association that puts the needs of disabled people at the heart of its offer, looked at accessibility requirements in two-thirds of England’s local plans. The number of planning authorities making a firm commitment to building accessible housing is 32 per cent. Just 18 per cent are committed to a proportion of homes to be built to either the Wheelchair Housing Design Standard or Category 3 within the Building Regulations. By contrast, Habinteg chief executive Sheron Carter praises the London Plan and those for THE EQUALITY ACT 2010 The Equality Act 2010 introduced a public sector equality duty. This is relevant to planning applications, appeals and any development proposals affecting the rights of disabled people. Section 149(1)(a) requires decisionmakers to “tackle the consequences of past decisions which failed to give due regard to the duty”. Philip Barton applied this as a Scottish Reporter last year when he overturned a refusal by South Ayrshire Council for a part change of use of a building to form a commercial teaching swimming pool in Coylton. (PPA-3702067). The pool was already in operation, providing a bespoke service to, among others, disabled children whose needs

could not be met at other local public swimming pools. Section 149(1)(b) includes the need to advance equality of opportunity between persons. Barton ruled that learning to swim is a key life skill and dismissing the appeal would deprive disabled people of a service that is not available on an equal basis with their able-bodied peers. Section 149(1)(c) deﬁnes the duty’s third element. The service provided by the pool was helping disabled people to learn to swim, allowing them to participate more fully in society. Barton also cited section 149(6), which says complying with the duty may involve treating some people more favourably than others.

Liverpool and Leeds for adopting the 90/10 approach to new-build – 90 per cent of homes should be accessible and adaptable while 10 per cent should be designed specifically for wheelchair users. “These areas also focus on providing inclusive communities with better social infrastructure,” she says. “This is using insight as well as resources to deliver what diverse populations need.” A familiar problem is the austerity agenda and cuts to planning staff. “There’s not enough of them anymore,” says Fleck. “Many boroughs don’t have access officers and no listed buildings or historic building expertise because we’ve sacked them. Planners have had to become experts in many things whereas 10 to 15 years ago you had specialist staff. “You have to churn through applications so quickly that you just put conditions down and then the poor building control officer is trying to sort out stuff that should have been done at preapplication stage.” Planners rely on building regulations to ensure a minimum level of accessibility. “However, it is often too late to change a design once it has received planning permission,” says planning inspector Barton. Most commentators agree that a unified permission regime, where planning, building control and licensing are considered together, as recommended by the House of Lords, would help to ensure that disabled people are

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I N C LU S I V E P L A N N I N G

fully considered. The government shows little sign of accepting this. Part of the answer is using existing tools. Applying the public sector equality duty under section 149(1)(a) of the Equality Act 2010 is one avenue, says Barton (see box). But Fleck’s point about professional attitudes remains. In response, the Design Council has launched its Inclusive Environments CPD. This free online course for built environment professionals provides an introduction to inclusive design. Its seven modules take the learner through what inclusive environments are, why they are important, and how to achieve inclusive environments at each stage of a project, from brief setting to management. (bit.ly/planner0319-DesignCouncil) Elli Thomas, lead adviser in the Design Council’s architecture and built environment team, says the initiative aims to counter professionals’ lack of understanding of inclusive design in its broadest sense. “The default is to deliver the minimum to meet regulatory requirements in relation to access only,” she says. “There is a recognition across the industry of the tools available to support inclusive design, but a consistent lack of uptake. Inclusive design is seen as a specialism and a building control issue rather than part of every built environment professional’s job. “The impact is that inclusive design is not written into planning policies and design briefs, and buildings and spaces are still being built and managed to be exclusive and not welcoming to all.”

Bespoke training programme

“HOW DO PLANNERS AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT PROFESSIONALS ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF DISABLED PEOPLE AND TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THEM?”

Fleck wants to see the RTPI reinforcing teaching of inclusive design by commissioning a bespoke training programme for planners on accessible housing. This would show how to draft sound local plan policies that enable building control oﬃcers to invoke high accessibility standards and how development managers should assess plans for new housing to ensure that such standards are properly implemented. But planning and design only go so far. Barton says how spaces are used and managed can also contribute to excluding disabled people. He cites the common practice of converting an accessible toilet into a ‘family room’ making the space no longer suitable for the use it originally provided. “As a decision-maker, inspector and reporter, it’s sometimes frustrating because you are restricted to applying the policies in the plan. You can’t make up your own policies because adopted policies aren’t good enough. It’s not possible to address issues unless the policies are written that allow you to do that.” n Huw Morris is consultant editor of

The Planner

INCLUSIVITY ACROSS THE NATIONS AT A GLANCE As part of its programme for a fairer Scotland, the Scottish government’s Disability Delivery Plan pledges to make housing, transport and the wider environment fully accessible to enable disabled people to participate as equal citizens. The Planning (Scotland) Bill stresses accessibility and includes provision for national targets for building homes to meet the needs of older and disabled people. In Wales, Planning Policy Wales (PPW) Edition 10 embeds the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 into national planning policy. Although there is no speciﬁc single policy covering inclusivity, PPW accepts the need to integrate policy to break down policy silos. “A more equal Wales” is the relevant goal and is reﬂected in PPW through “active and social places”. n bit.ly/planner0319-GovWales In Northern Ireland, the Department of the Environment document Living Places is an urban stewardship guide to directing development design. n bit.ly/planner0319-LivingPlaces

RTPI INFORMATION The RTPI is approaching inclusivity in planning with the following: n An online learning tool to help town planners understand their role in creating better environments for people living with dementia. It follows the publication of the Dementia and Town Planning practice note endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Society. n Working with the Construction Industry Council on six essential principles that help practitioners to achieve an inclusive environment as part of their Inclusive Environments programme. n Giving evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into disability and the built environment. The committee’s subsequent report echoed the RTPI’s calls for more inclusive planning by local and central government.

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www.rtpi.org.uk/convention2019 #plancon19

The future of planning What’s next? 19 June 2019, London Earlybird tickets: RTPI members: £199+VAT Non-members: £299+VAT

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LANDSCAPE

Tech { L A N D S C A P E

P31 TECH P34 REGIONAL P38 DECISIONS P42 LEGAL P51 ACTIVITY

INFORMED APPLICATION A DIGITAL PLATFORM THAT DOES THE WORK OF RESEARCHING THE APPLICATION HISTORY OF SITES AND DISTRICTS FOR YOU? GRACE MANNINGMARSH TELLS SIMON WICKS WHY LAND ENHANCE CAN IMPROVE APPLICATIONS WHILE RELEASING PLANNERS FROM A LABORIOUS TASK “We want to de-risk the application process,” says Grace Manning-Marsh. “We also want to make it a lot more transparent and remove the subjectivity – if you’re more aware of other applications that have gone through that are similar to yours, then you can speak with more conﬁdence at the pre-application stage.” De-risking planning is a bold ambition, but data-sorting technology and machine learning may bring it within reach. Manning-Marsh – while

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not exactly evangelical about the Land Enhance platform – is certainly an enthusiast. The planner, who spent 11 years with the renowned Urbed consultancy in Manchester, is one of a growing cohort of planning professionals working alongside technologists to find ways to improve planning processes and outcomes. Now a product manager for technology firm Land Insight, which has just launched the first iteration of Land Enhance, she brings to the task a

planner’s frustration with negotiating a complex system that is stubbornly analogue in a digital world. She knows what it is like. “I went into planning because I was really interested in regeneration and creating better places,” Manning-Marsh explains. “You ﬁnd initially you’re spending a huge amount of time doing admin because you’re searching for documents – and that’s where the profession potentially loses people because they’re like ‘This is not what I wanted to be doing’.” Land Enhance, she says, will reduce the time required to ﬁnd information, as well as providing data that you may not have realised you wanted. Its aim is to improve the speed and quality of work, and free up planners to focus on the things that people do better than machines – like having ideas and making decisions. “It gathers all the planning application data from local council websites,” Manning-Marsh explains. “Once an application is validated and put on to the

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LANDSCAPE

Tech T {LANDSCAPE council’s website, within 24 hours we then have it on our system.” The interface is a map. Having identified the location for which you want to make an application, you can search for details of all applications made in the vicinity of your proposal site, whether consented or refused. “You get a summary of [each] planning application,” Manning-Marsh continues. “The number of units, location, what they’re looking to achieve, whether it’s a demolition followed by rebuild, and so on. If you want more information you can click through to the council’s website and get all the supporting documents.” The tool will also tell you about different land and policy designations (such as conservation areas, green belt, allocated housing sites, and so on) in and around your application site, and local plan policies that might affect your application. “We have the digitised version of the spatial local plan and we also link through to the local plan or core strategy document.” In a sense, it is a portal into all the

information that a local authority publishes online, ordered and presented in a digestible format that gives relevant insights into what is required for an application to succeed in a particular location. A process that might have taken hours pre-digitisation can now happen in a couple of minutes.

Land Enhance acts as a portal into a local authority’s published data

Starting point Manning-Marsh admits that pulling the data together has meant trawling laboriously through thousands of council documents (most in a hard-to-analyse PDF format), extracting data and digitising it for integration into the Land Enhance platform. It has taken 14 months thus far, and that’s just for England. Even so, there are still gaps. “We are only able to gather information that the council makes available. Some boroughs are brilliant at putting out every application and every supporting document to go with it. There are others where there are zero documents. “But if you’re interested [in a development in your area], you should be able to find all the documents [online] that are publicly accessible.” Providing a doorway into this data is point, says just the starting p Manning-Marsh. “We Manning-Ma what else want to see w we can do to really add value. That’s why by machine learning using machin we can help extrapolate different bits of data and find out, for example, e what are the frequent policies for reference pol being rejected decisions be or approved. And there are so many other things that you can use as a help you planner to really re present an even ev stronger argument for your application.” The tool is now in beta

mode, being assessed by early adopters who are feeding back to ManningMarsh and her colleagues. This ﬁrst iteration of Land Enhance is aimed primarily at planning consultants and developers – people who will be making applications. In theory, local authority planners already have all this information at their ﬁngertips anyway. In practice, however, the few local authority planners who have used Land Enhance are saying that it is just as useful for them, too. “You think ‘Oh, the local authority, they should have the database – that’s easy for them to access’ but they can’t necessarily, so it would make their job easier if they can look at other applications of a similar nature in that borough.” Many local authorities are becoming developers, too, of course. “It would help their development arm understand better where their sites are, particularly now the NPPF is putting a higher emphasis on smaller sites coming forward. Helping them be more aware of where those are and what they can do with them would be brilliant,”says Manning-Marsh. The indications are that Land Enhance is already doing at least one of the things the makers hoped it

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ADVERTISER CONTENT

The making of a modern planning career Dinny Shaw discusses her journey into the planning profession, the flexibility oﬀered by her employer St. Modwen, and her advice to young women coming into planning

I would – saving time. The next “SO MUCH OF steps are to work with users to PLANNING explore how the technology can IS FINDING help streamline the planning THAT STRONG application process even further. JUSTIFICATION Are we now looking at the WHICH COMES replacement of human beings FROM THE HUMAN by artificial intelligence? ELEMENT. IF Manning-Marsh is sceptical. YOU’RE BETTER Machine learning, she contends, INFORMED THAT actually accentuates the “human REDUCES THE element” of work – the things LEVEL OF RISK” that machines cannot do (not yet anyway) – and frees people up to do this better. “So much of planning is finding that strong justification which comes from the human element. If you’re better informed, that reduces the level of risk [attached to a planning application]. We make it so that doing that report is quicker and easier for them, which frees them up to spend more time on working on more applications, which is going to equal more jobs and more money. As for complex applications that require more time and effort, “you can do it without feeling that you’re being pulled in different directions because you’ve got so much to do”. Find out more about Land Enhance: http://landenhance.io/

t was my parents who persuaded me to go for a job in planning. Both local councillors and members of planning committees, they encouraged me to look for opportunities in the profession within the public sector. Before long, I secured a planner role in the development management team at Wandsworth Council, looking after lawful development certificates, small-scale household extensions and advertisement consents. There for 11 years, I worked my way up to being lead oﬃcer on a number of large-scale planning applications in one of the largest Opportunity Areas in London. It’s been inspirational to work under female leadership. Without seeing women in senior roles, it could be easy to assume that reaching those levels is unachievable. Wandsworth Council appointed a female Assistant Director of Planning whilst I was there, and I worked with female Directors in private planning consultancies. I had a really positive interview at St. Modwen. It was advertised as a full-time position so when I explained I would like flexible working hours for my family, I thought that would be that. But there was no question about it. The property director recognised my skills and experience, and understood my need to balance work and family life. St. Modwen is making huge strides to become a more diverse and inclusive place to work – understanding what needs to be done to encourage diversity into both the business and wider property industry. It oﬀers enhanced maternity cover, giving parents job security and attracting and retaining women in more senior roles. It has also developed a Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, as well as looking to implement a Women’s Career Development Programme to provide support, mentoring and professional training to women across the business. I feel very lucky to be in a job that I enjoy where I am a part of delivering new places and communities. I enjoy being involved in both the design and delivery of new developments and working with communities to engage them with a development. I’d encourage anyone that wants to work in planning to get an understanding of what it really involves. Go out and get work experience and see how it works in practice. Studying alone can be very theoretical and so hands-on work experience is important. I’d also suggest using connections to speak to people in the planning community; groups such as Women DINNY SHAW is Planning Manager at St. Modwen

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Nations & Regions focus { A land of rich variety Wales voted for Brexit but stands to lose the £4 million-plus of EU funds it has received since 2000 and to see disruption in trade with Ireland. Many ports ‘point towards’ Dublin and Rosslare, and lorry parks have been prepared on Anglesey, where Holyhead is the second-largest UK roll-on roll-off ferry port. Tens of thousands of lorries also pass through Pembroke and Fishguard. Wales changed ﬁrst minister last autumn as Labour’s Mark Drakeford replaced his party colleague Carwyn Jones. Planning moved to the Welsh Government’s housing and local government department. Since devolution in 1999, the Welsh planning system has evolved differently from that in England. The Planning (Wales) Act 2015 reinforced the role of local development plans, and the National Development Framework. Wales’s Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015 requires public bodies to support well-being goals, including in planning. Welsh planners deal with a great diversity of places. Wales has three national parks: Pembrokeshire Coast, Brecon Beacons and

FACTFILE 2019 2018 2018

Snowdonia, and much of its centre and north is rugged country dominated by sheep and cattle farming. But 80 per cent of the 3.1 million population live mainly in the heavily urbanised south-east. The Welsh economy was built on coal and steel after the Industrial Revolution, but these industries have steeply declined and since the 1970s there has been a transition towards a light industrial/service-based economy. Poverty lingers in former heavy industrial areas, but Cardiff has become a centre for media, technology and finance. Wales is a leader in recycling and clean energy generation and hosts many large wind projects, although controversy has been caused by the UK Government’s refusal to back the proposed Swansea tidal lagoon and Japanese firm Hitachi recently pulling out of the Wylfa nuclear power station project on Anglesey. Although tied to England and the UK for centuries, Wales has very much its own cultural identity and language, and the National Assembly for Wales is gradually acquiring more powers.

Area: 8,005 square miles Population:3.1 million Main population centres: Cardiﬀ: 362,800; Swansea: 245,500; Caerphilly: 180,800; Newport: 151,500; Wrexham: 135,600 UK Parliamentary constituencies: 40 (Labour 28, Conservative 8, Plaid Cymru 4) Welsh Assembly Members (AMs): 60, 40 representing local constituencies, the remaining 20 representing the ﬁve regions of North Wales, Mid and West Wales, South Wales West, South Wales East and South Wales Central. Labour: 27 constituency members, 2 regional members Plaid Cymru: 6 constituency members, 6 regional members Welsh Conservative: 6 constituency members, 5 regional members UKIP Wales: 0 constituency members, 7 regional members Welsh LibDems: 1 constituency member Planning authorities: 22, all unitary, 3 national park authorities

IN THE PIPELINE

Central Quay, Cardiff The first phase of the large-scale redevelopment of the old Cardiff Brains Brewery site won permission last year and will include bars and restaurants, 1,000 flats, a 695-space car park and a public square,.plus offices and a university campus. bit.ly/planner0319-centralquay

Swansea Central Phase One Work is due to start on the ﬁrst phase of Swansea city centre’s regeneration, a 3,500-seat arena in a coastal park, with a hotel and underground parking.

The scheme includes a ‘digital square’, coastal parkland, commercial and residential units. The council expects an economic boost of £40m a year. bit.ly/planner0319-digitalsquare

Caernarfon waterfront regeneration

Last year a two-screen cinema opened and a new station was completed for the Welsh Highland Railway. Construction is now in progress for Caernarfon Harbour Trust on the Cei Llechi project, intended to turn this area into a hub for artisans’ workshops. bit.ly/planner0319-caernarfon

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Wales COMING UP

Wales Planning Conference 6 June 2019 The one-day conference reﬂects on planning in Wales through presentations, discussion, breakout seminars and speed brieﬁngs. Details will be announced shortly.

RTPI Cymru Spring Conference 2019 20 March 20, Conwy Annual one-day conference considering the PPW’s emphasis on the need for planning to integrate the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. bit.ly/planner0319-spring

Environmental Impact Assessments 3 April, Cardiﬀ A masterclass built around the procedural steps a local planning authority undertakes in enabling and reviewing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. bit.ly/planner0319-cardiff Information on all the above events is available at: bit.ly/planner0319-cymru

RECENT SUCCESSES

Flint Walks Housing Scheme, Flint Winner of the RTPI Wales Award for Planning Excellence in 2018, this multi-agency partnership project replaced 1950s deck access maisonettes with 92 council-built, aﬀordable, energy-eﬃcient homes. It integrated the site into Flint town centre when previously it had provided a barrier between the town and other locations. bit.ly/planner0319-flint

Yr Ysgwrn, Snowdonia National Park Highly commended in the RTPI Awards, the project saw the park authority work with Purcell UK and Cadw (the Welsh Government’s historic environment service) to conserve and develop

I M A G E S | A L A M Y / PA U L M C M U L L I N / S H U T T E R S T O C K

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Yr Ysgwrn, home of the poet Hedd Wyn, one of Wales’s most sensitive cultural sites. The challenge was to conserve the existing site yet develop a 21st century visitor experience. bit.ly/planner0319-yrysgwrn

The Jennings, Porthcawl Commended in the above awards, this scheme has secured a sustainable use for the grade II listed but underused former Jennings Warehouse. It has been redeveloped to provide a restaurant, café and live work units as an active hub on the Porthcawl seafront. It now also provides a catalyst for future regeneration. bit.ly/planner0319-jennings

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LANDSCAPE

Wales INTERVIEW

Snowdonia National Park

Jonathan Cawley, chair, Planning Officers Society Wales, and director of planning and land management, Snowdonia National Park Authority. “The big issue is the resilience of planning departments, we are a statutory service but cannot compete with health and education, although that does not just affect Wales,” says Cawley. “We must look to be creative in how we organise our staff and resources. Sharing services could spread the burden, for example, North Wales authorities have a combined minerals service and that could perhaps be extended to archaeology and ecology.” Cawley also feels that better use of IT would help planning departments to stretch their budgets further. He says: “There is a lot of inertia and local planning authorities have different software, which hinders integration across borders and that has not really been grappled with.” For planners contemplating a move to or from Wales, Cawley advises that while devolution has brought changes to the Welsh system, it remains sufficiently similar to England’s to allow planners to move between the two. “In reality, devolution and separate legislation in Wales should not be a barrier to planners from England coming here, I think it is more a perception issue than a fundamental difference in what planners do,” he says. Wales has its own planning legislation and laws that affect planning less directly, such as the Well-being of Future Generations Act. He explains: “It gives public bodies a duty to scrutinise their work for sustainability, though that is something we’re good at as planners and we do naturally.” Cawley’s role in Snowdonia involves

him in a demanding balancing act between sustaining the area’s environment and economy and managing the impact of tourism. He points out that national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty covers 25 per cent of Wales. “In Snowdon we have issues with visitor numbers as about 600,000 people a year come here and that puts massive pressure on tourist infrastructure, but it does bring in money and investment, so we have to manage that. “We also have adventure tourism here, with zip lines and a surﬁng lake and those bring in jobs and money but also create pressures, so it is a delicate balance. “The focus is on creative solutions to manage people and parking and transport.”

SIGNPOSTS n Regional chair: Huw Evans, consultant and a planning adviser to the Public Services Ombudsman in Wales n Regional web address: www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you/rtpi-cymru/ n Events: www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you/rtpi-cymru/ events/ n Annual Review: www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you/rtpi-cymru/ n South West Young Planners: www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you/rtpi-cymru/ young-planners-cymru/ n Email: wales@rtpi.org.uk n Twitter: @RTPICymru

NEXT MONTH:

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CASES &DECISIONS

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

Knebworth pub garden flats approved despite fierce opposition Plans to build flats on the garden of a popular pub in Hertfordshire would not threaten its viability, an inspector has ruled, rejecting a protest group’s claims that the scheme represented a ‘Trojan horse’ plot to ensure the pub’s decline. In February 2017, The Station, a pub in the village of Knebworth, abruptly ceased trading, and its owner, the pub chain Greene King, sold it to housing developer Market Homes. The developer submitted plans to build a three-storey block of nine flats and a landscaped courtyard patio on the pub’s garden. The scheme was strongly opposed by local residents, who were granted Rule 6 status at the inquiry as the Save Our Station Pub (SOSP) protest group. Although he accepted that the garden was “undoubtedly well-used on occasion”, inspector D M Young was not persuaded that it contributed significantly to the pub’s viability. “The English climate is not known to be particularly conducive to the use of a pub garden for large parts of the year,” he noted. The proposed courtyard patio, on the other hand, would be “an attractive environment to drink, dine and to simply enjoy the company of a loved one on a warm summer evening”. In its statement of case, the appellant had indicated that the scheme was an “enabling development” and therefore necessary to reopen the pub,

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EXPERT ANALYSIS Malcolm Chapman, part of the pub protection team of the North Herts branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) ( “We’re in shock today after the developer pulled the wool over the inspector’s eyes. Described by some as a shoehorn development, it will be impossible to operate a licensed trade with housing development on three sides. It will now have a tiny al fresco, no service yard and virtually no parking.

( “We see this as a token measure

LOCATION: Knebworth AUTHORITY: North Hertfordshire District Council

INSPECTOR: D M Young PROCEDURE: Inquiry DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ X1925/W/18/3205685

despite agreeing that before its closure it had been “ﬁnancially viable as a wet-led enterprise”. At the inquiry, however, it clariﬁed that the pub had only

been closed “pending the outcome of the appeal”. Although “those opposing the scheme are keen to focus on what they see as a volte face”, said Young, oral evidence delivered at the inquiry on the appellant’s behalf had “unequivocally dealt with” its change of position. SOSP alleged that the development was a ‘Trojan horse’ scheme, whereby “there is a deliberate attempt to strip assets away from the pub with the intention of securing its decline and eventual redevelopment for housing”. Young said such speculation was not a material planning consideration. The group also argued that residents of the proposed

to appease the local campaign, which will result in the eventual closure of the pub. I doubt the pub will find an operator under the condition; it is likely that they will put a manager in with the intention of closing the pub a year later and claiming it is not viable. It is safe to say the planning system has been hoodwinked.”

ﬂats could complain about noise from the pub, leading to licensing restrictions. But in its statement of common ground, it had agreed that the pub would not harm residents’ living conditions. Young called this “illogical”. The proposal would result in the loss of the pub’s garden and pétanque court, he said, but the pub would be retained and refurbished, and the 10 new homes would contribute to the council’s homes shortfall. Despite suggestions to the contrary, he found “a genuine desire on all sides to see the pub reopened and doing well”, and he allowed the appeal.

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

299 ﬂats at Aberdeen quarry refused on design grounds A reporter has rejected the ‘modular’ design of a major residential scheme planned at the famous Rubislaw Quarry in Aberdeen, ruling that the proposal would overdevelop the site.

188 flats in Hove approved with slashed affordable housing offer An inspector has approved a major brownfield scheme in Hove, despite the appellant’s decision to lower its affordable housing offering from an initial 18.8 per cent to only 10 per cent at the appeal stage. The appeal concerned a large commercial building next to Hove railway station. The appellant planned to replace the building with a mixed-use development comprising 186 flats, plus retail and office space. By the time of the hearing, the only matter of dispute remaining between the two parties was the level of affordable housing the scheme should provide. According to the local development plan, the starting point for negotiations over affordable housing provision is 40 per cent, but there is room for flexibility if the council considers it justified. On this basis, the council reduced its requirement for the appeal scheme to 25 per cent. The appellant offered 18.8 per cent at the application stage, but by the time of the hearing, it had reduced its offering to 10 per cent. Allen ruled that while this was “undoubtedly on the low side” in light of the area’s pressing need he was satisfied that the scheme “could not reasonably provide more” LOCATION: Hove affordable housing. However, he noted, if the AUTHORITY: Brighton & Hove City appellant was able to lower Council its costs, “there could be an eventuality where those INSPECTOR: R W Allen savings could lead to a surplus financial situation”. PROCEDURE: Hearing On this basis, he allowed the appeal subject DECISION: Allowed to a legal agreement that included a review REFERENCE: APP/ mechanism, requiring the Q1445/W/18/3192649 appellant to increase its affordable housing offering if a financial surplus emerged.

The appeal concerned a long, narrow parcel of land on the edge of Rubislaw Quarry, a famous former quarry that gave Aberdeen its ‘Granite City’ nickname. The appellant planned to build 299 flats on the site, along with a gym, function room, ‘heritage bistro’ and promenade. The proposal sought to “overcome the physical constraints of the site and its awkward shape by adopting a modular method of construction”. It would appear as “stacks of residential units that would imitate the blocks of granite cut from the quarry, reading as an extension of the natural cliff face”. Milne was not opposed to the use of modern building materials or contemporary design. However, she noted, the building would occupy most of the site’s developable area. It would be 33 metres in height along its entire length, and would therefore have a much larger profile than any of the previous approved but unbuilt

LOCATION: Rubislaw Quarry AUTHORITY: Aberdeen City Council INSPECTOR: Claire Milne PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: PPA1002092

developments at the site. Although the building would make a positive contribution to the city’s skyline, Milne continued, it would “dominate and overshadow” the existing commercial buildings adjacent to the site, as well as harming the visual amenity of the surrounding housing. Concluding that the scheme would represent overdevelopment of the site, she dismissed the appeal.

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C&D { C Retirement ﬂats ‘not adaptable to climate change’ The south-facing orientation and single-aspect design of a proposed retirement complex could put its elderly residents at risk of uncomfortably high temperatures as a result of solar gain, an inspector has ruled.

AUTHORITY: Bristol City Council INSPECTOR: S R G Baird PROCEDURE: Inquiry DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ Z0116/W/18/3198899

The appeal concerned a vacant building in Shirehampton, Bristol. The appellant, Churchill Retirement Living, proposed a retirement complex on the site comprising 33 apartments for people aged 60 or older. Most of the ﬂats would be single-aspect. The council was concerned that the building’s south-facing rooms of this type would be at risk of uncomfortably high internal temperatures through solar gain – the process by which a

Flood refuge ‘man cave’ on Thames island would harm green belt An inspector has blocked plans for a flood refuge and ‘man cave’ on an island in the River Thames near Molesey, south-west London, finding no very special circumstances to justify the scheme in the green belt. The appellant had begun constructing an outbuilding described as a “home office, man cave and flood refuge” on stilts, on Wheatley’s Eyot in the River Thames. It was intended to provide shelter and storage for valuable musical instruments during flood events, as well as functioning as a home office. Despite being on an island, the site is in the Metropolitan Green Belt. Raygen was not persuaded that the building could be considered a “replacement building” under

NPPF paragraph 145, noting that it was “materially larger” than the existing outbuildings. The appellant cited his

building is heated by the sun. At the inquiry, the council referred to national environmental policy, which acknowledges that climate change would lead to hotter, drier summers and milder winters, increasing the risk of excess solar gain in the future. The council said the appellant had failed to prove how the scheme would adapt to climate change, or how it would maintain comfortable conditions for an at-risk group. Both are requirements

under local policy. The appellant responded that a combination of openable windows, insulated hot water pipes, ventilation and blinds or curtains would “adequately regulate internal temperatures during periods of high sunshine”. Inspector Baird disagreed, saying that even “modern developments built to the latest standards” are prone to overheating through solar gain if they face south. He dismissed the appeal.

home’s flood plain location in arguing that the scheme was necessary as an emergency refuge during flooding. Raygen was not convinced that the appellant would not have enough time to reach the nearest flood refuge, notwithstanding its location on the other side of the river. While the scheme’s other proposed uses as a home office and ‘man cave’ might be “convenient and useful”, she continued, these were not “essential requirements”.

The appellant argued that because the limitations of the main house made it uninsurable, the building was needed to store valuable music equipment. But Raygen ruled that not enough evidence proving the volume of storage necessary had been produced to justify a building of the size proposed.

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

LOCATION: Shirehampton

LOCATION: Wheatley’s Eyot AUTHORITY: Elmbridge Borough Council

INSPECTOR: Zoe Raygen PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ Q3115/W/18/3203476

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DECISIONS DIGEST{

SUBSCRIBE to our appeals digest:

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

Dogs barking at Anglesey kennels would be ‘very disturbing’ Plans for a kennels business on the Isle of Anglesey have been blocked, after an inspector ruled that the noise of dogs barking would be “very irritating and disturbing”, despite the ”sometimes deafening” noise from the nearby airﬁeld. bit.ly/planner0319-anglesey

Lack of church means settlement fails green belt test

Historic photographs justify green belt extension

An inspector has rejected four homes proposed as “village inﬁlling” in a small settlement in the Staﬀordshire green belt, ruling that it could not be considered a village because it did not have a church. bit.ly/planner0319-church

An extension to a cottage in the Cheshire green belt would not be disproportionate, an inspector has ruled, after the appellant produced photos from the 1930s showing that the building was once much larger. bit.ly/planner0319-extension

Aldi supermarket approved contrary to development plan

New w Edinburgh village blocked for green belt harm

Following a ﬁve-day inquiry an inspector has approved plans for an Aldi supermarket on the edge of Gillingham, Dorset, ruling that it would not prejudice the council’s plans for an urban extension to the south of the town. bit.ly/planner0319-aldi

Plans for a new ‘village’ of 214 homes and 216 student ﬂats on the edge of Edinburgh have been turned down after a reporter found it would function as “a housing estate remote from any community” rather than a sustainable settlement. bit.ly/planner0319-village

HMOs have led to ‘negative perceptions’ of Pontypridd student area

Green belt home blocked despite spite design board support

another HMO in Treforest, an Plans for a Pontypridd near the University of area of Ponty South Wales where 32 per cent of houses are shared, would not maintain a sustainable community bal balance, an inspector has ruled. bit.ly/planner0319-hmo

A doughnut-shaped home described as “exceptional” by an independent design review body dy cannot be built on previously developed land in West Yorkshire, after an inspector found that the scheme’s harm to green belt openness carried decisive weight. bit.ly/planner0319-design

Romford scheme would not be ‘profligate’ use of brownfield site

Appellant’s past emails to council sink enforcement appeal

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An inspector has upheld enforcement action against four ﬂats in Islington, after the council produced evidence of emails the appellant sent it in 2014 that contradicted his defence. bit.ly/appeal0319-email

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An inspector has approved plans for the residential-led redevelopment of a brownﬁeld site in Romford, despite acknowledging that eight of the apartments would have a “particularly gloomy”outlook. bit.ly/planner0319-romford

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LLegal landscape OPIN IO N

Land CPOs – a fair price to pay? The rules for compulsory purchase are labyrinthine and can often be unfair, as is being demonstrated by the HS2 scheme. But a sense of fairness is vital for the system to work, says David Mundy The exercise of compulsory acquisition powers for any purpose, including facilitating construction of major transport infrastructure such as High Speed 2 (HS2), should be founded on ‘fairness’. The law requires fair procedures – such as proper notice and the opportunity to object, and fair compensation for individuals and businesses whose land is taken in the public interest. Balancing the competing rights of those whose land is acquired with the public benefit brought about by the scheme is crucial. Without this any form of compulsory purchase order would risk breaching human rights legislation. Public criticism of budget overruns in the HS2 scheme, coupled with reports of highvalue compensation claims in the Upper Tribunal alongside assertions of HS2 seriously undervaluing property, reflect a wider concern regarding fairness when it comes to implementing that scheme. Fair valuation and the related topic of land value capture in the context of compulsory purchase raise difficult questions. How should increases in land value arising from planning permission or new infrastructure be fairly shared between the dispossessed

decreases in value brought about by the scheme. A common criticism of HS2 appears to be that advance payments are being delayed, putting relocating businesses under acute pressure, and that initial landowner whose property is valuations are pitched very required in the public interest low. This can put enormous and the state acquiring the pressure on businesses and land to invest in the scheme? individuals when they are The recent House of forced to decide whether to Commons Housing, risk uncertain litigation in the Communities and Local Upper Tribunal. Government Committee’s “FAIR VALUATION Here there is report on land AND THE RELATED also exposure to payment of value capture TOPIC OF LAND considered that VALUE CAPTURE the acquiring there was scope IN THE CONTEXT authority’s legal for central and OF COMPULSORY costs should the local government PURCHASE RAISE claim fail. . Another to claim a greater DIFFICULT potential area for proportion of land QUESTIONS” injustice is the value increases rules regarding through reforms. the disposal of These could land not required include changes to for construction and later the Community Infrastructure operation. A good example Levy and further revisions is where subsurface works to compulsory purchase have required acquisition and law, in particular the Land demolition on the surface, Compensation Act 1961. after which the land becomes Changes introduced by the surplus to requirements. Housing and Planning Act On the face of it this land 2016 and the Neighbourhood can be oﬀered back to the Planning Act 2017 were original owners under the intended to make compulsory Crichel Down Rules, subject purchase “clearer, fairer to various conditions. There and faster for all”. These is no obligation to return the included clarifying the right land where it has materially and timetable for advance changed in character, or where payments of compensation, new works have been erected. obliging the acquiring The value of land is assessed authority to pay on entry, as at current market value, often well as seeking to clarify the putting it beyond the reach of ‘no scheme’ principle – that the former owner. valuation should have no Big infrastructure scheme regard to either increases or

promoters, including the government, invariably adopt their own variations on the rules into their land disposal policy. In short, the conditions of the oﬀer-back include accepting the interest oﬀered, completing the works in the public interest consistent with the local context, and guaranteeing the safety and accessibility of the new infrastructure. The acquiring authority also has a duty to secure best value. This can encourage interests to be packaged in ways that make it hard for any landowner other than a developer with deep pockets to be able to bid for the land. The inability of landowners dispossessed for subsurface works where a clear site is returned to market can cause unfairness and dispute. David Mundy is partner and parliamentary agent for BDB Pitmans

In brief Compulsory purchase should be founded on the fair balance public and private interests. But issues with HS2 raise questions about the fairness of this scheme and the wider CPO process. In particular, it is hard for individuals and businesses to fight back when treated unfairly. It is also almost impossible for landowners to buy back land deemed surplus to requirements.

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EVENTS

CASES

LEGISLATION

NEWS

ANALYSIS

NEWS

LEGAL BRIEFS

Stevenage challenges local plan holding rule

Planning and Design – Making Better Places

Stevenage Borough Council has requested a judicial review into the temporary holding direction on its local plan. It was submitted to the secretary of state on 21 July 2017 and in October 2017 a planning inspector recommended that it should be adopted. A month later, however, then-communities secretary Sajid Javid issued a holding direction on the local plan, preventing its adoption. It was triggered by a request from local MP Stephen McPartland. His request raised “a number of issues”, including plan policies and supporting text relating to the regeneration of Stevenage train station and town centre. The council then responded to questions asked by MHCLG by the start of 2018, saying: “The reasons behind the ongoing delay still remain unclear.” The judicial review has been launched, the council explained, to address the delay and obtain a clear response from the government. Sharon Taylor, leader of Stevenage Borough Council, said: “Having a clear plan in place is vital for the town, to protect our open spaces, offer new homes for our families, provide space for new jobs, and to help revitalise crucial parts of the town.” She said the 14-month delay has affected plans for jobs, homes and the regeneration of the town. The proposed local plan sets out ideas to regenerate the town centre, create employment opportunities and it allocates sites to build around 7,600 new homes across the town by 2031, including at least 25 per cent affordable homes.

Rob Cowan, director of the consultancy Urban Design Skills, will lead a workshop on design awareness and assessment in London on 5th March. bit.ly/planner0319-inspector

Transport (Scotland) Bill A bill to introduce low emission zones in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee will pass stage one of the legislative process on 1st March. bit.ly/planner0319-emissions

Legal challenge launched against Brokenshire London tower refusal Housing secretary James Brokenshire’s recent decision to refuse permission for a 17-storey tower in Croydon has been challenged in the High Court. bit.ly/planner0319-brokenshire

Liverpool defeated over open land permission Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said the city council will accept a High Court ruling quashing its grant of planning permission for a scheme on open land. It included the building of 39 homes and the conversion of a historic house into 12 apartments at Calderstones Park, Liverpool. The Liverpool Open and Green Spaces Community Interest Company, R (On the Application Of) v Liverpool City Council [2019] EWHC 55 (Admin) also involved the proposed relocation and layout of a miniature railway with associated buildings and parking. Liverpool Open and Green Spaces Community Interest Company felt the developments would unlawfully change the park’s character. Mr Justice Kerr upheld this challenge that the planning authority had not properly undertaken its duty under section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. This sets out that the council must have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest it possesses. After the ruling, Anderson said: “The ﬁrst thing to say is that the Harthill scheme is dead. It will not be resurrected. In any form.”

Court overturns Bridge of Allan decision Court of Session judges have overturned a decision by the Scottish Government to reject plans for a 600-home development at Airthrey Kerse in Bridge of Allan. Stirling councillors refused planning permission in 2016 and the decision was upheld by Scottish ministers last June. Graham’s The Family Dairy and McTaggart and Mickel Homes had appealed against the decision. Judges ruled that the Scottish ministers failed to consider evidence of the area’s potential long-term housing shortage. Lord President of the Court of Session, Lord Carloway, said ministers had instead considered a local development plan that would solve the housing shortage over a short term. Managing director Robert Graham said the dairy would work with Mactaggart and Mickel Homes to “progress the project”.

Scottish Young Planners’ Conference 2019 The 2019 Scottish Young Planners’ Conference will be held in Dundee on 20th March, with a focus on ‘delivering great places now and for the future’. bit.ly/planner0319-Orkney

What to do about poor air quality? The Shirley Case Planning lawyer Simon Ricketts explores a recent Court of Appeal case dealing with air quality management. bit.ly/planner0319-AirQuality

Scientologists’ trust challenges ruling for rehab centre plan – The Irish Times A High Court challenge has been brought over An Bord Pleanála’s ruling that the Church of Scientology would need planning permission to convert a nursing home into a residential drug rehab facility, The Irish Times reports. bit.ly/planner0319-rehab

RTPI Cymru Spring Conference 2019 This year’s conference will take place in Conwy on 20th March, with a focus on the 10th edition of Planning Policy Wales. bit.ly/planner0319-PPW

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NEWS

RTPI {

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

Young planner awarded ‘gender mainstreaming’ travel bursary Natalya Palit MRTPI, senior planner at HTA Design LLP in London, has expressed her delight at being named the winner of the RTPI’s George Pepler International Award for 2018. The George Pepler International Award is a bursary granted biennially to a person in their first 10 years of post-qualification experience wishing to undertake a short period of study on a particular aspect of spatial planning. Natalya was presented with the award at the first meeting of the year of the RTPI’s General Assembly, held at the Royal Society of the Arts in London. She said: “I am thrilled that I have been given such an amazing opportunity to pursue research on an area of planning knowledge that I feel really passionate about. “The award will enable me to pursue an interest, learn more, and no doubt ultimately make me a more rounded planner with a strong skill set.” Natalya won for an innovative submission: What can the UK learn from Vienna with regards to adopting a gender mainstreaming approach to shape-built outcomes? Presenting her with the award, outgoing RTPI President John Acres said: “Natalya’s proposal was well developed with a detailed itinerary. Her research questions were carefully considered and we look forward to the report from her study.” ‘Gender mainstreaming’ is the integration of the gender perspective into every stage of policy processes with a view to promoting equality between women and men. Natalya said: “Vienna is a global capital leading the way in this field, having integrated the approach into their planning processes in the early 1990s. The city has a whole municipal department dedicated to ‘women’s affairs’. My dream would be to replicate in London what has been done in Vienna.”

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Natalya was presented with the George Pepler International Award by RTPI President John Acres

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n Also at the event, John Acres presented the Outstanding Services Award to Alan Wenban-Smith, formerly assistant director at Birmingham City Council and now an academic and independent planning consultant. John Acres said: “Alan has given many years of outstanding service to the Institute, including championing the need for better integration between spatial planning, transport planning, economic development and housing policy. He has helped to develop the Institute’s thinking on these important subjects.”

Tweet of the month @shtebunaev was delighted that the eﬀorts of RTPI’s amazing volunteers were recognised at the General Assembly

“Congratulations to @RTPIWestMids chair Maria Dunn and past chair @YPWestMidlands for being awarded the presidential award on behalf of all @RTPIPlanners #volunteers”

For all the latest from the RTPI, follow @RTPIplanners

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Editorial E: rtpinews@rtpi.org.uk

RTPI (switchboard) T: 020 7929 9494

Registered charity no. 262865 Registered charity in Scotland SCO37841

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

Andrea Kellegher MRTPI ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, TURLEY The potential for people to shape where they live and work to create high-quality built environments is what inspired me to become a planner. But how far does the English planning system go to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be involved in the planning process? England contains a rich fabric of diverse communities, including diversity of gender, religion, age and ethnicity. Yet this variety can lead to barriers to engaging with the planning process and too often decisions are steered by a small section of society. In order to build successful and well-integrated developments, local authorities and developers can look beyond traditional engagement methods and consider alternative communication strategies to build greater community support for, and ownership of, policies, strategies and decisions. Diversity in planning decisions does not relate to community participation alone; we need to question the diversity of the planning industry itself. By working alongside people of diﬀerent backgrounds and experiences we will bring new ideas and encourage a more inclusive approach to shaping the environments we live in.

1 Improve planning policy guidance on how developers and local authorities can successfully engage with diverse communities

2 Increase resource in local authorities to support developers in carrying out effective engagement with different sections of the community

3 Encourage diversity in the planning industry by providing different avenues, such as apprentice ships, and job roles for individuals entering the planning workforce

POSITION POINTS RICHARD BLYTH, HEAD OF POLICY, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH

PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS

Richard Blyth, RTPI Head of Policy, Practice and Research

The government has proposed an extension to permitted development rights as a way of providing greater planning certainty to support the high street and ensuring the delivery of new homes. However, we argue that extending permitted development rights risks poorly designed and located housing, while also challenging the ability of local planning authorities to deliver mixed and eﬃcient land use, and challenging the ability of communities to engage in development. These proposals are at odds with the government’s professed priorities of increasing quality developments and building safety, and they add to the ﬁnancial burden of local councils. Permitted developments rights are administrative tools that have been increasingly abused to achieve policy aims. The local planning process, backed by national planning frameworks, should be used instead to deliver the housing people want. For the RTPI’s full response, visit: bit.ly/planner0319-MHCLG

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AFTER BREXIT A study commissioned by the RTPI has looked at how planning and environment management can work better after Brexit and explores opportunities for enhancement or simpliﬁcation between the two regimes. It provides valuable insight into counteracting the prevailing obsession that Brexit is about easing European Union restrictions or red tape – the report shows that we need a fresh, strategic look at the UK’s environmental goals and standards and how we can better use the planning system to achieve them. The overall sense we get is that planners want to see the rigour, ambition and clarity of EU environmental governance recreated in the UK, but with greater procedural ﬂexibility on how outcomes are achieved. The RTPI will use this learning to push the government and the profession to make a positive choice about the future of environmental planning. Download the full report at: bit.ly/planner0319-post-brexit

As a professional membership body, a charity and a learned institute, the RTPI leads policy debates, establishes new approaches and inﬂuences national planning policy. We promote good planning and raise the standards of the planning profession - everything we do is inspired by our mission to advance the art and science of town and country planning for the beneﬁt of the public. For more information about our position points, visit www.rtpi.org.uk/ knowledge, or email policy@rtpi.org.uk

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New framework to underpin effective humanitarian action in urban crises MICHELE VIANELLO, INTERNATIONAL POLICY AND RESEARCH OFFICER The UN estimates that approximately 60 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030. This growing urbanisation means that it will become more and more likely that city dwellers are affected by conflicts, disasters and other extreme events in the coming years.

However, existing policies and guidelines for humanitarian action were often developed for rural settings and are not well suited to cities. As part of our engagement with the Global Alliance

for Urban Crises, the RTPI has joined with other organisations to contribute to the development of a competency framework known as the Urban Competency Framework (UCF), designed for those operating in a humanitarian capacity in cities. The UCF is part of a project led by the international humanitarian NGO RedR UK and developed on behalf of the Alliance through funds provided to the International Rescue Committee by EU Humanitarian Aid. Its aim is

to ensure that humanitarian responders have the right skills to operate in cities, ensuring that humanitarian approaches can adapt and are tailored to urban crises. The RTPI’s contribution stressed the importance of the involvement of local government – including planning departments – in addressing spatial issues in humanitarian responses. We also emphasised that spatial choices made during the timely delivery of life-saving aid must not hinder long-term sustainable

development and should consider the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11, which aims to make all human settlements ‘inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’. The UCF is one of a number of diﬀerent products being produced by the Alliance to help ﬁll the current gap in ‘urban’ expertise on the part of humanitarian responders. n For more information about the Urban Competencies Framework, visit: bit.ly/planner0319-UCF

Planner rewarded for volunteering eﬀorts Planner Susan Vaile MRTPI Rtd, has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours List for her voluntary service over many years in Warwickshire.

From January 2007 to December 2012, Susan contributed to the work of the RTPI as a member of the Institute’s Conduct and Discipline Panel. Among her other voluntary work, she has also served on the county’s fostering panel for the past 10 years, as well as working with the Heritage Lottery Fund for the West Midlands until 2012, as one of six people deciding applications for funding.

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Susan said: “I feel humble and grateful to have been chosen to receive this award, but I am sure there are many planners who also deserve a medal. I really hope that it helps to draw attention to the work of the Institute and the many volunteering opportunities available to planners. “I think this award also shows that planners can have very useful skills. As a

volunteer, my main activities involved sitting as an independent member on a panel of experts – my experience of being aware of the law and policy and also listening and taking account of diﬀerent opinions before reaching a decision and providing justiﬁcation for that decision, stood me in good stead.” After working in forward/strategic planning

teams at Westminster and Woking councils, Susan worked for the Local Government Ombudsman for two decades, initially as an investigator and then as Assistant Ombudsman. Among her responsibilities in this role, she acted as a planning specialist, writing guidance and running training courses in planning law. During her time at the Local Government Ombudsman, she also joined a Department for Communities and Local Government Steering Group considering possible changes to permitted development and microgeneration.

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RTPI Y ACTIVIT E PIPELIN

Key dates for 2019 RTPI AWARDS FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE FINALISTS ANNOUNCED Finalists for the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence 2019 have been announced, highlighting exceptional examples of planning and celebrating the contribution that planners make to society. The awards are made across 14 categories for projects, teams and individuals. New for 2019 is an award for Excellence in Tech Within Planning Practice. The Silver Jubilee Cup will also be awarded to the most outstanding entry. The ceremony takes place on 24 April at Milton Court Concert Hall in London. Tickets are on sale now – don’t miss the chance to be there when the winners are announced and, if you are a ﬁnalist, to receive your award and network with colleagues at the drinks reception. n To book, please visit: bit.ly/planner0319-excellence

GREAT NORTH PLAN: RTPI ROUND TABLES The RTPI has held a series of round tables in the north of England to create a set of shared ambitions to advance strategic planning and governance for the Northern Powerhouse project. The events took place in Newcastle, Bradford, Manchester, Blackpool, Sheffield and Darlington and involved businesses, planners, academics, local government, civil society groups and other organisations, all keen to improve places and quality of life across the North. The round tables, delivered by leading consultancy Peter Brett Associates (now a part of Stantec), represent the continuation of the Great North Plan project, which was initiated by the RTPI and IPPR North in 2016. They explored topics including demographic change, housing quality and affordability, rural and coastal communities, the future of town centres, northern assets and jobs. The RTPI will share findings and make recommendations at a major conference managed by IPPR North in Leeds on 30 May. n For more information on the project, visit: bit.ly/planner0319-GNP

RTPI PLANNING CONVENTION 2019 WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE, ETC. VENUES, COUNTY HALL, LONDON The Planning Convention is the RTPI’s flagship event, and the largest event in the planning profession’s calendar. Each year we bring together more than 400 practitioners, politicians, policymakers, developers and community and environmental professionals to address the current issues in the industry. Delegates have the opportunity to hear from key industry influencers, network, discuss, debate and find creative solutions to the most pressing problems facing the profession. At this year’s event we will be taking a look at the future for planners and the planning profession. From examining what good design is, reimagining town centres and debating infrastructure, to merging technology with the practical, looking at solutions to the housing crisis, taking inspiration from successful cities around the globe and planning for a diverse society, we will be asking – what’s next and where are we going? Don’t miss out – tickets are available now for what is sure to be a packed day of special interest sessions and inspirational plenary discussions. Tickets start from just £199 + VAT. n For all the details visit: bit.ly/planner0319-convention2019

RTPI SHORTS

CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINE PANEL DECISIONS The RTPI Conduct and Discipline Panel has found one member of the Institute to be in breach of the RTPI Code of Professional Conduct for using inappropriate and unprofessional language concerning another member of the Institute. The panel agreed that the oﬀensive comments made were suﬃcient to cause prejudice to the member’s professional status and to the reputation of the Institute. The panel agreed to reprimand the member for his actions. The panel also found a second member to be in breach of the code for failing to provide the client with clear written terms of engagement for one element of a development scheme, for failing to honour the terms of engagement for another element of the scheme, and for failing to discharge their duty to the clients with due care and diligence. These amounted to breaches of clauses 14, 15 and 16 of the Code of Professional Conduct. The panel agreed to warn the member as to their future conduct. n If members have any queries concerning the Code of Professional Conduct, they should contact Ruth Richards, the Institute’s Interim Complaints Investigator, by email: ruth.richards@rtpi.org.uk.

IM MEMORIAM It is with regret that we announce the deaths of the following members. We oﬀer our sincere condolences to their families and colleagues. East of England Edwin Barritt

South West Alan Kenyon

East Midlands Richard Exton

West Midlands Graham Shaylor Prof Richard Farnell Edwin Osborn

North East Robin Statham

Yorkshire Prof Ian Colquhoun

Scotland Allan Nicol South East Ian Whitwam Peter Hartley

Overseas Prof Laksmanasa Ramchandrasa Vagale

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