The Planner - October 2019

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CONTENTS

O CTO BER

11 NEWS 4 Housing statistics: Do they stack up?

6 ECTP Biennial and the state of marine planning 8 Research backing three-dimension pedestrian planning wins RTPI award 9 Sturgeon sets out Scotland’s climate change strategy 10 UK ministers in hot water over loss of Welsh nuclear jobs 11 Stormont civil servants warn that infrastructure threat hangs over Belfast

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“THERE IS NOW A GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HIGH­QUALITY SOUNDSCAPES CAN PROMOTE HEALTH AND WELLBEING”

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OPINION

14 Louise BrookeSmith: The changing face of places 16 Jenna Langford: How inclusive economies create distinctive places 16 Mike Fox: Community-led regeneration sets foundations for success 17 Victoria BankesPrice: To fell, or not to fell – that is the question 17 David Rudlin: Isn’t that what everyone does?

“WE ARE ONE OF THE ONLY AUTHORITIES TO CONSIDER HOW OUR LOCAL PLANNING CAN E DELIVER THE UN’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS” SOUTHEND COUNCIL’S DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND TRANSPORT, DR PETER GERAGHTY FRTPI, ON HOW HE CHALLENGED HIS TEAM TO BROADEN THEIR HORIZONS

33 Tech landscape: The crucial role of digital technology in planning intelligently for the town centres of the future

18 What can we do about urban din? Richard Cope and Dr Yiying Hao put the case for embracing the sounds of the city 22 Mark Prisk, chair of the APPG for Housing and Planning, on how politicians of both sides should come tog together in harmony to ensu ensure high quality housing delivery d 27-31 Chartered members from each e decade since the institute was awarded its Royal Charter conside consider what has changed ove over time

QUOTE UNQUOTE

INSIGHT

FEATURES

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36 Nations & Regions: South East

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38 Cases & decisions: Development decisions, round-up and analysis 42 Legal Landscape: Opinions, blogs and news from the legal side of planning 44 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 50 Plan B: Flats without any windows at all?

We can top that…

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NEWS

Report { HOUSING

Housing statistics: Do they stack up?

Boris Johnson has promised to tackle the housing divide.

Huw Morris looks at official figures and finds a chasm Amid the throwaway statements and off-the-cuff promises in his first few days in office, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made one play to the gallery that even his bombast struggles to describe.

Speaking in Manchester the weekend after entering 10 Downing Street, Johnson acknowledged that “one of the biggest divides” in the country is “between those who can afford their own home and those who cannot”.

All governments had failed to fix this long-term problem, he said. “So we will review everything – including planning regulations, stamp duty, housing zones, as well as the efficacy of existing government initiatives.”

Johnson’s grandstanding immediately raises three questions. Why have another review since the government’s housing white paper of February 2017 on Fixing the Broken Housing Market?

Is its accompanying target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s achievable? Moreover, what light does a barrage of unheralded government and public statistics released during the summer throw on the challenge?

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stark. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that a million more young adults now live with their parents than five years ago.

A quarter of people aged 20 to 34 – about 3.4 million – still lived in the family home last year. In 2008, the figure was 2.7 million and 2.4 million in 2003. About 2.1 million young men – 31.4 per cent of those aged between 20 and 34 live with the parents. The figure for young women is 1.3 million or 19.9 per cent.

At the same time, average house Stark statistics prices in the UK increased by more than The slump in the first quarter followed a 75 per cent between 2003 and last year, similar decline in the previous quarter, from £126,152 to £223,612. The average in which new starts fell from 44,320 weekly rent in England rose over the to 40,040. Starts in the 12 months to past 10 years from £153 to £193.

March this year rose by a paltry 1 per The statistics grow cent on the previous starker when the year to 162,270.

“DATA FROM THE consequences for families As for completions, OFFICE FOR NATIONAL are considered. An 169,770 new-build STATISTICS SHOWS analysis by the National homes were completed THAT A MILLION MORE Housing Federation (NHF) in the year to March YOUNG ADULTS NOW reveals that 130,000 2019 – an increase of 6 LIVE WITH THEIR families in England per cent compared with PARENTS THAN FIVE are being forced to live the year to March 2018.

YEARS AGO” in one-bedroom flats The consequences are

A detailed look across the statistical spectrum offers answers to all three.

The 300,000-home target is in deep trouble. Housebuilding has continued to slow, according to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) figures for the first quarter of this year. Work started on 36,630 newbuild homes, 9 per cent down on the previous three months. The number of new starts was also down 9 per cent on the same period a year earlier.

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PLAN UPFRONT

HOW THE NUMBERS STACK UP

300,000 The government’s target for homes to be built each year by the 2020s

169,770 New homes completed across all tenures in the year to March 2019, according to the MHCLG

36,630 The number of new homes started in the first quarter of 2019 – 9 per cent down on the previous three months, and down 9 per cent on the same period a year earlier

3.4 million The number of people aged 20 to 34 still living in the family home, a rise of one million in 15 years, according to the ONS

130,000 The number families in England living in one-bedroom flats, according to the NHF

6,000 The number of socially rented homes built in 2018 despite a demand of 145,000, says the NHF

210,000 The number of young people in homeless families living in temporary accommodation, according to the Children’s Commissioner for England

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The number of families in England accepted as homeless each day last year, according to the NHF

OFFICE BLOCK CONVERSIONS

The Children’s Commissioner for England reported on how some areas have become ‘hotspots’ for conversions, particularly in Harlow in Essex, where more than half of all new homes being created are office block conversions. At least 13 office blocks have been converted, resulting in more than 1,000 flats.

Many of these are small, single studio flats, which do not come close to meeting national space standards.

Some of the flats in Templefields House in Harlow measure as little as 18 square metres, with parents and children living and sleeping in the same single room also containing their cooking facilities.

The conversion of former office blocks and warehouses into

temporary accommodation under permitted development rights is now a national scandal. The Local Government Association (LGA) has estimated that one in 10 new homes in England and Wales (30,575) has been converted from an office and included no affordable housing or supported investment in infrastructure.

Since 2015, the LGA estimated that such conversions accounted for 73 per cent of new homes in Stevenage, 64 per cent in Three Rivers, and 61 per cent in Sutton during 2016/17.

Such developments have led to the potential loss of more than 7,500 desperately needed affordable homes and the organisation calls for these particular permitted development rules to be scrapped.

because of housing shortages. Just 6,000 socially rented homes were built in 2018 despite at least 145,000 being required to meet demand.

A ComRes poll for the NHF found almost half of children living in overcrowded homes were forced to share a bedroom with their parents, while a similar number said they struggled to do their homework owing to the cramped conditions. A further quarter of the adults polled said they had been forced to sleep in kitchens, bathrooms or hallways because they lacked space in bedrooms.

homeless young people in families who sofa-surfed with friends or relatives.

Among her more lurid findings, thousands of homeless children are living in converted shipping containers or former office blocks (see box).

Around 23,000 families housed in temporary accommodation in 2018 lived away from their home council area, thereby disrupting family life.

Other government figures show that 42,810 families were accepted as homeless in England last year. That’s equivalent to 117 families every day, with more than two-thirds of these being single parents.

According to the NHF, the equivalent of around 14 new social rent homes a day were provided in the same period.

Ten years ago, five more new homes for social rent were built every day than families accepted as homeless.

“The shocking disparity between the number of families made homeless every day and new social homes being built puts into stark perspective how far away we are from meeting our housing need,” said NHF chief executive Kate Henderson.

Sofa-surfers Pouring fuel on the fire, the Children’s Commissioner for England showed the number of young people in homeless families in England put up by councils in temporary housing and bed-and-breakfasts or forced to ‘sofa-surf’ with friends. Anne Longfield found that 124,000 homeless children were recorded as living in temporary accommodation at the end of 2018, up 80 per cent since 2010. The organisation calculates there were a further 92,000 I M AG E S | S H U T T E RSTO C K / A L A M Y

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NEWS

Report { ECTP BIENNIAL 2019

Turning the air blue Perhaps understandably, issues of blue growth and the blue economy surrounding marine planning were among the topics of discussion at the 13th European Biennial of Towns and Town Planners 2019 conference in Plymouth last month. Martin Read reports Host city Plymouth made much of this year’s ECTP Biennial theme, ‘Planning on the Edge’, with Plymouth City Council declaring during the event that it aims to become the UK’s first national marine park (NMP) (see box below). It was a perfectly logical move given the themes of coastal and marine planning that were threaded through this threeday conference.

Marine planning remains very much an emerging system despite the Marine and Coastal Access Act (MCAA) celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Several speakers called up GISlayered maps of the marine regions surrounding the countries of the British Isles, the overall effect being something that could easily pass as a new artform.

They underlined the complex 21st century considerations at play in the emerging discipline of marine spatial planning (MSP).

“Wind, wave and tidal; Gas storage; commercial seaweed cultivation; deep-sea mining – all of this is taking place as well as traditional activities such as shipping and fishing,” said Dr Heather Ritchie of Ulster University. “There are spatial and temporal considerations in, on and under the water, with all these activities occurring at once. There’s so much happening in this area, all generating spatial implications that we really need to be thinking about.”

Ritchie spoke of how working across boundaries with different legislation, policies, timescales and planning systems made the situation an “administrative battleground” with the broad idea of marine spatial planning (MSP) being to bring all of them together in the pursuit of stable management and development. Trouble is, there are various definitions of what MSP might mean – “it’s a very complex picture”.

Key to that complexity is that marine

P LY M O U T H S E T S O U T T O A C H I E V E N A T I O N A L M A R I N E P A R K S T A T U S

Plymouth City Council used ECTP to announce its intention to make Plymouth the UK’s first national marine par (NMP).

In describing Plymouth’s intentions to the ECTP audience, councillor Sue Dann, cabinet member for environment and street scene, said the National Marine Park project would set out a new vision, repositioning the city and building on Plymouth’s much-celebrated terrestrial planning success.

Council leader Tudor Evans OBE said that

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“becoming the first-ever UK national marine park is key to our joint local plan and emerging visitor plan,” while environment secretary Theresa Villiers added: “I wholeheartedly support the creation of the first national marine park.”

“This year is the 70th anniversary of national parks in this country," added Dann, “and we think Plymouth should be the first of a series of national marine parks.”

Some 43 per cent of space in Plymouth is either blue or green, and Plymouth’s

planning team wants to build on the knowledge it has gained from its successful terrestrial planning, applying it to the local marine environment.

“We set our vision to be one of the most vibrant waterfront cities, and through our terrestrial planning we’ve turned the city back round to face it.

Now what we want to do is bring the actual marine environment to life,” said Kat Deeney, head of environmental planning at Plymouth City Council.

“Plymouth Sound has

some of the strongest environmental standards already. Our pursuit of marine park status is not about setting a protectionist agenda, but more of an open one. We want to take the concept of a terrestrial national park and apply it to the sea.”

“This is a process that may take several years as this is a national first,” said Dann. “We will continue to engage with Plymouth residents, local, regional and national organisations and stakeholders to do all we can to make this happen.”

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PLAN UPFRONT

MARINE PLANS AROUND THE UK

Northern Ireland: public consultation, 2018

Scotland: National Marine Plan (2015) – reviewed 2018

England: Regional plans (inshore and offshore)

East adopted 2014 Wales: National Marine Plan – public consultation 2017/2018

South adopted 2018

plan development is relevant authorities “THE MMO HAS at different stages in are notified so that any COASTAL MARINE different countries.

PLANNERS WHOSE JOB links to marine plans are Ritchie’s colleague Dr correctly triggered start of INCLUDES ENGAGING Linda McElduff described WITH STAKEHOLDERS, the process. While local each in turn, the authority take-up has AND THAT INCLUDES takeaway being that there LOCAL AUTHORITIES” been slow, all affected is no single template authorities should be emerging. The Irish, obliged to sign up to it Northern Irish and Welsh are working by 2021. Nevertheless, said Smithyman, to one marine plan for both inshore it’s encouraging to note some new and offshore areas while England’s local plans with links to marine plans Marine Management Organisation – Waveney, and Suffolk Coastal, for (MMO) – created in the wake of the example – but much awareness work MCAA – is developing six regional remains to be done. plans (covering eleven plan areas), two Consultant Jim Claydon and Annof which have been adopted thus far.

Michelle Slater of the University of Scotland is working to a nationak plan Aberdeen added further context to the supplemented by eleven regional plans, emerging marine plan scene. while the Isle of Man relies on on its own Much of the development of marine environmental assessment report. planning since the millennium has, said The biggest issue, said Ritchie, was to Claydon, been in response to principally guard against a lack of integration as all economic pressures, most notably of these individual plans mature. (“It’s offshore energy and aquaculture. The really important that these plans all talk scale and capacity of wind farms already to each other…”). built is considerable, but those now consented and under consideration will more than double the size and scale of In the loop existing provision and add considerable Joe Smithyman, marine planner weight to the value and necessity of MSP. with England’s Marine Management Marine planning involves substantial Organisation agreed, and added a development, said Claydon, with terrestrial dimension. Much of the considerable implications for terrestrial MMO’s current work, he said, is in planning too. Every offshore wind bringing local authorities affected by the farm requires onshore substations, for marine plans on their coastlines into the example. discussions.

Claydon also added an important note “Part of the problem is marine – that there are also clear environmental planning is really new, and a lot of and social imperatives to marine people haven’t got their heads around it,” planning. “In territorial plans, coastal said Smithyman. “So a lot of what we’re communities tend to be on the fringe. doing is trying to raise awareness of But in marine plans those coastal marine planning. The MMO has coastal communities are right at the centre, very marine planners whose job includes much drivers of the plan.” engaging with stakeholders, and that All speakers agreed on the importance includes local authorities. We’re trying of linking marine plans to the terrestrial to speak to as many coastal and local plans affecting coastal communities. authority groups as possible.”

Work needs to be done on how the The Coastal Concordat could further boundaries defining coastal zones are spark local authority awareness of calculated, and marine plans are at marine plans. Under Defra’s 25-year different stages of preparedness – but the environment plan, the concordat sets out next few years will be an important time how regulatory bodies should coordinate for marine planning. The message from the separate processes for coastal Plymouth is that it is a discipline whose development consents in England. The time has come – and one that local idea is that when a licensing application authorities need to fully engage with. comes through, the right teams in the I M AG E S | I STO C K

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NEWS

News { RTPI AWARDS FOR RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

AWARD WINNERS

Research backing threedimension pedestrian planning wins RTPI award

Early Career Academic Award Dr Guibo Sun for his work with Professor Chris Webster and Xiaohu Zhang, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Urban Planning and Design at the University of Hong Kong Connecting the City: A ThreeDimensional Pedestrian Network of Hong Kong (published in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science)

By Laura Edgar A paper making the case for a threedimensional pedestrian network to enable multi-level city living has won the Early Careers Award at the 2019 RTPI Awards for Research Excellence.

The purpose of the paper was to investigate how a three-dimensional pedestrian network can reshape connectivity and help to integrate the built environment of high-density cities.

Research for the study, entitled Connecting the City: A ThreeDimensional Pedestrian Network of Hong Kong, was conducted by Dr Guibo Sun with Professor Chris Webster and Xiaohu Zhang from the University of Hong Kong.

The 28-strong judging panel, comprising public and private sector representatives as well as academics, said the research was outstanding for its “originality, methodological innovation and depth of the literature review”.

Dr Sun and his colleagues also received a commendation for achieving the highest score across all categories.

The winners of the 2019 awards were announced at the opening ceremony of the UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference at the University of Liverpool in September.

The recipients of the Practitioner Research Fund were decided at the ceremony for the first time. The funding goes to practitioner members of the RTPI. James McGowan of Lichfields in London plans to examine the

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Student Award Richard Lundy, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University Incompatible Imagery: The Conflict Between Heritage and Development at Liverpool Waters (master’s dissertation)

relationship between the built environment and mental health in the UK, while Marijke Ransom, from Tasman District Council in New Zealand, will consider the development of an “ecosystem services or natural capital valuation and derived planning tool for the NZ context”.

Ian Tant, president of the RTPI, said: “High-quality and impactful research forms a vital basis for planning practice. Joining planning theory with practice is central to the RTPI’s missions as both a learned society and professional body.

“This year’s research awards have again shone a light on fantastic planning research from around the world and I was particularly delighted to announce the first winners of the inaugural Practitioner Research Award, each of whom will receive £5,000 to fund their research.”

James McGowan of Lichfields, pictured here with RTPI president Ian Tant, was one of two recipients of the Practitioner Research Fund

Academic Award Dr Chinmoy Sarkar, Professor Chris Webster, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Urban Planning and Design, University of Hong Kong, and Professor John Gallacher, University of Oxford Residential Greenness and Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorders: A Cross-sectional, Observational, Associational Study of 94 879 Adult UK Biobank Participants (published in The Lancet Planetary Health) Sir Peter Hall Award for Public Engagement Professor Gavin Parker FRTPI, Kat Salter MRTPI, and Dr Matthew Wargent, Henley Business School, Real Estate and Planning, University of Reading Neighbourhood Planning in Practice (published by Lund Humphries) Consultancy Award Myles Smith MRTPI, Lichfields’ Birmingham office Planned Up and Be Counted (published by Lichfields)

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PLAN UPFRONT

Sturgeon sets out Scotland’s climate change strategy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon laid out measures to help curb global warming as she issued her administration’s latest legislative programme in the Scottish Parliament last month.

She vowed to drive down transport emissions by providing £500 million for bus infrastructure and pledged more money for consumers and businesses to buy ultra-low emission vehicles.

She also committed the government to turning the Highlands and Islands into the world’s first net zero aviation emission zone by 2040 – and to decarbonise all flights by 2040 and trains by 2035.

Sturgeon also outlined plans for a £3 billion Green Investment Portfolio to bankroll ‘green city deals’, new building regulations to end gas heating in new homes within five years and to ensure that renewable or low-carbon heat should become the norm.

The programme makes net zero emissions the mission of the new Scottish National Investment Bank.

“We will support the development of regional land use partnerships between now and 2021. We will develop an agriculture transformation programme. And we will invest an additional £5 million to increase our tree-planting target from 10,000 to 12,000 hectares next year.

“This year’s programme for government is an important part of our response to the climate emergency, containing measures which will reduce emissions while supporting sustainable and inclusive growth,” she pledged.

REACTION TO SCOTLAND’S ZERO­CARBON MISSION

Craig McLaren, director of RTPI Scotland, said: “The planning profession is absolutely committed to achieving the government’s target of zero carbon by 2045 and I am delighted that the first minister has clearly set out the important role it should have in this.

Achieving the target means we will need a step change in how we plan, manage and develop our towns and cities so that they better meet our future needs.

“Planners will need to be front and centre of this and the new Planning (Scotland) Act and the forthcoming National Planning Framework provide fantastic opportunities to explore how best to do it.

“Planners across the length and breadth of the country look forward to being a part of this.”

Morag Watson, director of policy at Scottish Renewables, said she found it “pleasing” to see the government put the climate emergency at the heart of its programme, “particularly with welcome new commitments to a heat networks bill and plans to phase out gas in new homes from 2024”.

But she added: “It is essential that Scotland’s political parties come together to ensure that these ambitions become a reality.”

The Climate Emergency Response Group, a group of civic and business people, welcomed the commitments.

Speaking for the group, Mike Thornton, from the Energy Saving Trust, said: “These are the bold and transformational policies, spanning sectors from transport, agriculture, buildings to procurement, that are needed to

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show we are serious about addressing the climate emergency.

An emergency requires an emergency response.”

The commitments to district heating do not go far enough to makes sure that all Scots have warm homes, complained the Scottish Greens.

Scottish Greens spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “£30 million for innovative low-carbon heating projects is a flash in the pan, not the kind of transformational change Scotland needs – and which I called for this summer.

“The government should be committing to massive expansion of low-carbon heat networks and dramatically reduce emissions from heating by retrofitting inefficient homes and bringing forward regulations on new buildings now.”

Gina Hanrahan, head of policy at WWF Scotland, said: “This programme shows real leadership on the climate emergency, with the kind of ambitious and serious actions needed in response to the climate crisis.

“If carried through, these commitments will slash emissions and deliver benefits to people and the Scottish environment now and for years to come,” he added.

Friends of the Earth Scotland director Dr Richard Dixon said: “This package includes some very welcome commitments but is not nearly enough to address the desperate climate emergency the world is facing.

“The obvious contradiction at the heart of this programme is its commitment to some new measures in transport, heating and agriculture while continuing to back the offshore oil and gas industry to keep on drilling and destroying our climate.”

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of ofNEWS

News { UK ministers in hot water over loss of Welsh nuclear jobs

David T C Davies MP, chair of the UK Parliament’s Welsh Affairs Committee, has accused the UK Government of a “lacklustre” response to his committee’s report on Hitachi’s suspension of work on the proposed nuclear plant on Anglesey – its Wylfa Newydd project.

The MPs’ report says the site had distinct geological benefits and a local skills base and advised that the government and Hitachi should explore new funding models to get work back under way.

The report also advocates that, should continuation of works prove impossible, the government should capitalise on these regional advantages by exploring ways to develop alternative low-carbon energy projects in the area.

However, the government’s response does not explicitly commit to accepting those recommendations.

It refers to a range of existing government policies on clean growth and the North Wales

Growth Deal, but is unclear about what new or additional support ministers are offering North Wales in place of the economic opportunities represented by the multibillion-pound scheme.

Davies complained: “The suspension of works at Wylfa Newydd was a catastrophic blow to the local economy – thousands of jobs that could have been created by the nuclear development at Wylfa Newydd have been lost and the government appears to have no plan in place for repairing the damage.

“My committee made workable recommendations to capitalise on the low-carbon capabilities in the area, and I am disappointed at the government’s lacklustre response to our report.

“This response demonstrates that, beyond warm words, the government has no real commitment to developing a low-carbon energy industry in North Wales.”

New Scottish planning law costs could reach £59m RTPI Scotland has called for an “urgent debate” about how planning departments are funded after it found the Planning (Scotland) Act could cost them up to £59 million over the next 10 years to undertake the responsibilities it contains.

The institute said the act, passed in July, outlines 49 new and unfunded duties on planning authorities that could cost between £12.2 million and £59.1 million.

Planning departments are already under severe financial pressures, said RTPI Scotland, having lost a quarter of staff and 40 per cent of their budgets over 10 years.

Julia Frost, convenor at RTPI Scotland, said: “This analysis shows that we need significant investment in planning services

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just to make sure that they comply with the law. This, combined with the fact that planning has suffered budget cuts more severely than other local government functions, means that we need an open and honest debate on how we resource planning services in the future.

“If we don’t give planners the time and resources to process planning applications, and proactively create plans for the future, we won’t be able to build new homes, regenerate our town centres or protect our most valuable landscapes and buildings.”

The RTPI’s report, Financial Implications of Implementing the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, makes two requests of the Scottish Government.

n To consider the costs of implementing each of the new duties and to agree a resource plan when introducing them through secondary legislation or guidance. n To be clear about where funding will come from to support communities to prepare local place plans.

It also requires councils to ensure that any revenue from processing planning applications is reinvested in the service. It follows last December’s study, in which RTPI Scotland identified that the Planning (Scotland) Bill would place up to 63 new duties on planners with no new resources. n Read the report on the RTPI website: bit.ly/planner1019-PlanScot

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PLAN UPFRONT

Stormont civil servants warn of infrastructure threat hanging over Belfast

Stormont civil servants have warned that the development of Belfast is threatened by infrastructure constraints – the result of political paralysis and the absence of multiyear budgets for the services provided by the likes of NI Water.

The warning is highlighted in the latest outcomes delivery plan end-ofyear report for 2018/19, just published.

The Department for Infrastructure noted that 70 per cent of wastewater treatment works are either at overcapacity or nearing capacity.

The report stresses that the capacity of the capital’s wastewater treatment facilities and its sewerage network require major investment to keep pace with economic growth.

“If this issue is not dealt with, we may soon reach a point where the future development of Belfast could be threatened.”

The report also states that development of better-quality walking and cycling infrastructure is very slow and the length of new infrastructure added was “limited”.

“The reallocation of street space is a matter that generates many different views and a concerted step change is required to ensure that we all recognise that making journeys by car is not always the most convenient mode of travel.”

£2m for councils to address ‘illegal’ green belt development Housing minister Esther McVey is giving councils £2 million to “crack down on illegal developments” in the green belt.

Councils will be able to use the cash to hire enforcement officers, use new technology and to help to meet the legal costs of bringing rogue local developers to task.

McVey said 37 councils would be receiving a total of

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up to £50,000 each. “Once green belt is built on it’s often gone for good, that’s why we are determined to protect it.

“The funding will help councils to clamp down on rogue developers, giving the areas with the highest levels of green belt the funds needed

Dublin backs Bartra to develop housing on public land Developer Bartra Capital Property Company has been named as Dublin City Council’s preferred bidder to redevelop public land at O’Devaney Gardens in the capital’s Stoneybatter district with 769 new homes.

There were six candidates in the running.

In the case of this 5.76-hectare site near Dublin’s Phoenix Park there are restrictions on the social, affordable and private houses and flats to be delivered. No studio flats, shared or student accommodation will be involved.

A report by the city council’s deputy chief executive, Brendan Kenny, stressed that the council was not selling the site and was not “giving it away”, to Bartra Capital. However, the council would have to approve the phased transfer of land title to the developer.

Bartra is also committed to providing a community/cultural campus, a public park, a playground, a multi-use sports area, a crèche, smaller pocket parks and cycleways.

A planning application is likely to be lodged with An Bord Pleanála by the year’s end.

Bartra is also behind a controversial plan to build a co-living facility in Dún Laoghaire.

to punish those who build illegally.”

The one-off cash boost is coming from the Planning Delivery Fund.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is also teaming up with the RTPI to overhaul the national enforcement handbook to set out the latest best practice on shutting down and preventing illegal building.

Updates will also aim to ensure that developers obtain full planning permission before work starts.

Neill Whittaker, chair of RTPI network the National Association of Planning Enforcement (NAPE), said: “The updated handbook will provide guidance on a range of topics including the Proceeds of Crime Act, lone working, gypsies and travellers, the General Permitted Development Order and advances in technology.

“The NAPE project team is working on the details … and three launch events are to be held across England in spring.” n See the full list of councils that will receive funding: bit.ly/planner1019-GreenBelt

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LEADER COMMENT

Opinion onn Taking a step back to look forward – When you’re involved in writing for professional audiences, the one thing you can be pretty sure about come the autumn is that conferences – be they political or institutional – will add to the workload. I write this deep into September with the aforementioned ECTP Biennial and RTPI Northern Ireland conference already in the rear view mirror and others looming large. (We report from the biennial on page 6 of this issue, with further coverage in our newsletters.)

The party conferences are in full flow as I speak, though you hardly need telling that the real political fireworks this year are likely to occur when the keynotes are over and the halls have emptied.

I mention this because all of our various activities can sometimes make it difficult for us to step back and give you an insight into our own future feature pipeline

Martin Read when our team is rushing to and fro in pursuit of fresh perspectives.

So let’s make up for that this year: here’s some of what you can expect from The Planner, in print and online, in the months ahead.

Next month sees our Young Planners special.

This is the sixth time we’ve given an element of creative control over our pages to the young planners from the RTPI region running the young planners’ conference, and this year we are taking

the idea a stage further with young planners writing about various issues of engagement with young people in the planning process more generally.

You’ll find us launching our 2020 careers survey during October. We intend to use your feedback to inform our career development special edition, which should be in our February 2020 edition. And in tandem with this we will be running our online ‘careers month’, with your survey responses broken down further.

You’ll then see our annual Women of Influence campaign – now a well established part of our online activity. And speaking of online, our routine coverage of news

“IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO STEP BACK AND GIVE YOU AN INSIGHT INTO OUR FUTURE FEATURE PIPELINE“

and appeals decisions will continue as we add further unique online-only content.

(Sometimes we can be restricted by the physical size of the magazine.)

Over the coming year we’ll continue to focus on the environment and climate change, particularly with the news that Glasgow is hosting the UN climate change summit in late 2020.

We’ll be considering how planning can contribute to better health and well-being, asking what role planners should play in the design of buildings and places, and thinking about how technology is changing the planning profession.

We’ll range widely. But so we should – for if we’ve learnt anything in the six years in which we’ve been producing The Planner, it’s that planning is much more than a series of processes.

It’s an activity with the potential to draw together all the varied strands of life that make up the societies in which we live. It’s our mission to reflect that.

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

O Opinion

The changing face of places If the Oxford English Dictionary acknowledged the word ‘cartophile’ that is indeed what Louise Brooke-Smith would be. Here, she applies her lifelong love of maps to the UK’s future.

I have always been transfixed by maps. My mother takes delight in explaining to anyone who is remotely interested that, as a child, I never liked bedtime stories. Instead, we used to play ‘Where in the world…?’ using a very old map that she had as a child and which had been put up on my bedroom wall.

This was a map that was issued by a popular daily paper, circa 1935, colourfully illustrating the ‘continent’, namely Europe, before various parties decided to move around some boundaries.

Every capital city had its own picture, every major river and mountain range was highlighted, and I took great delight in learning the key cities, waterways and highest peak in each country. Maybe that ignited my planning and travelling genes.

I saw maps as the faces of places. Over time those faces change, become bigger or smaller, more significant or fade into oblivion. But there is always a copy to be found, an old map lurking on a shelf, in a book or behind a picture. And there is always a new way of presenting a map – sometimes, if you are lucky, an as icon.

Most people recognise the London Underground map, regardless of station names or coloured lines. Its shape alone is enough. The same goes for countries like Great Britain or Italy. Others are trickier,

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and when borders change as much as they have done across Europe over the past 100-odd years, winning that pub quiz round becomes near impossible.

Being a surveyor and a planner means I am doubly enthused and, indeed, proud that others before me have taken the time to walk, measure, record, draw, illustrate and circulate their hard work.

I didn’t realise until recently that as a result of the technological wizardry of the printing press, some of the most important maps for the UK were produced and sold, en masse, as long ago as 1677.

Sales of William Leybourne’s A Large and Accurate Map of the City of London had a circulation on a par with John Bunyan’s A Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was a hit because it identified every property and people simply wanted to know what

“OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, THE MAP OF EUROPE WILL CHANGE AGAIN” was where. They still do. Being able to define the extent of your little piece of England was clearly in the blood.

Over the next few months, the map of Europe will change again. I am assuming that, by the time you read this, the current political shenanigans haven’t blown up into a major civil war and we haven’t already seen barbed wire dividing Gretna Green or Derry, with Scotland and Northern Ireland hived off and Wales close behind.

But it is looking likely that the area of the EU will be a little smaller in mass, tinged

to the left-hand side by a little bit of pink. Not as much pink as a hundred years ago, when it was claimed that the sun never set on the British Empire.

Those days and the governance that went with them have, thankfully, gone.

Who knows how the new world order in terms of maps will look like in a few years’ time? Will our little bit of pink have turned into another star on the Stars and Stripes? Will China have taken over most of sub-Saharan Africa and turned the map red?

Of course, there is far more to this than illustration and colour keys. In these times of 5G, digital mapping in real time can produce such accuracy in any format, that everyone can see who is doing what, where, and whether they have pushed the boundary too far.

So with the image of the cartographic introduction to Dad’s Army in my head and the march of the Axis powers towards Blighty, I return to my Mum’s map to remind myself of a time when places like Riga or Tirana looked like lovely places to visit regardless of borders or the colour of your passport.

Dr Louise Brooke-Smith is a development and strategic planning consultant and a built environment non-executive director

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Quote unquote I M AG E S | I S T O C K / S H U T T E R S T O C K

F R O M T H E 1 3 T H E C T P B I E N N I A L I N P LLYY M O U T H “Policy analysis and formulation n [in the UK] is spatially blind in the he sense that policies are driven by individual departmental programmes, mmes, be they education, environment,, transport … it would be fine if they ey all worked together, but they don’t” n’t”

“We can no longer ger afford to reduce nature to a stock of resources waiting ting to be used at our command” mand”

“We’r starting “We’re to see local plans l talking talki about marine planning.

It’s ta taken time for authorities to aut understand the under importance of impo marine planning and how h it can them socially, help the environmentally enviro and economically.” econo

ARCHITECT ROBERT BEDNER ER ASKS US R MARTIN TO EMBRACE PHILOSOPHER TCHING FROM HEIDEGGER’S IDEA OF SWITCHING S OF NATURE’ TO ‘MASTERS AND POSSESSORS ‘SHEPHERDS OF BEING’

JJOE SMIT SMITHYMAN OF THE MARINE MANAGEMENT ORGANIS SATION ON THE ORGANISATION GRADUAL INTEGRATION OF MARIN NE PLANNING MARINE

PAST RTPI PRESIDENT VINCENT GOODSTADT ON A KEY Y MMISSION STARTING POINT FOR THE WORK OF THE UK2070 COMMISSION

“In territorial plans, coastal ge. communities tend to be on the fringe. nities are But in marine plans those coastal communities right at the centre, very much drivers of the he plan.”

APPRECIATED CONSULTANT JIM CLAYDON ON THE CRITICAL YET PERHAPS UNDER APPRECIATED SOCIAL COMPONENT OF MARINE PLANNING

ally important “The really thing is for all these plans to be talking to each other – between the marine plans themselves, but also between the marine and terrestrial plans.

There is maybe the sense of a lack of coordination.”

“As far as I am aware we are one of the only local authorities to consider how our local planning can deliver the UN’s sustainable development goals” SOUTHEND COUNCIL’S DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND TRANSPORT, DR PETER GERAGHTY FRTPI, ON HOW HE CHALLENGED HIS TEAM TO BROADEN THEIR HORIZONS

DR HEATHER RICHIE OF ULSTER UNIVERSITY ON THE CONSIDERABLE VARIETY AND STATE OF PREPAREDNESS OF MARINE PLANS ACROSS THE COUNTRIES OF THE UK

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

O Opinion

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Jenna Langford MRTPI is regeneration manager for Sandwell Borough Council and the RTPI Young Planner of the Year 2019

How inclusive economies create distinctive places

Over the past decade a planner’s portfolio in the Black Country has largely meant tackling our failing industrial estates by allocating them for housing, and battling the decline of town centres.

A new West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy provides a chance for planners to create distinctive places. I’d say we can only achieve this by driving growth within an inclusive economy.

The strategy acknowledges the centrality of our manufacturing industries and supply chains to our economic success – the Black Country is the supply chain capital of the UK. There’s also a need to upskill the labour market to drive productivity and innovation.

We planners are likely to make the usual connections here to infrastructure, transport and land supply. But the strategy invites us – in a chapter titled An Inclusive, Clean and Resilient Economy – to consider more ‘inclusive’ approaches to generating economic strength. This is about ensuring that economic growth benefits everyone, to prevent social exclusion and to create more sustainable communities.

It originates from recognising that economic growth in developing countries did not necessarily reduce inequality or deliver better living standards for communities. The idea that prosperity is determined by geography must resonate with us

Mike Fox is associate director of urban planning at Nash Partnership

Community-led regeneration sets foundations for success

as planners as we consistently see the ‘same old places’ left behind and victims of gentrification when a place has been ‘successfully’ regenerated.

Planners always consider sustainable development though balancing economic, social and environmental impacts. Inclusive growth pushes that a step further through its idea of co-design.

Not simply ‘consulting’, but codesigning places with businesses, education and health providers, voluntary groups and communities can create truly sustainable places.

Co-design creates new insights for those of us charged with delivering regeneration.

The huge investments on the back of the Co m m o nwea l t h Games and the HS2 give us a one-ina-lifetime chance to embrace this principle.

The call to reinvent our town centres comes with the challenge to make them singular and aligned to the needs of the community.

Co-design challenges convention to open up consideration for town centre uses that wouldn’t otherwise be considered. Complementary education aligned to the needs of the workforce, incubation spaces for entrepreneurs, affordable and aspirational housing to retain the upskilled workforce, communityled services to overcome barriers to employment – these could all be vital contributors to an economic growth that is inclusive and resilient.

“CO­DESIGN CREATES NEW INSIGHTS FOR THOSE OF US CHARGED WITH DELIVERING REGENERATION”

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Commun Community-led regeneration should be more than a government buzz phrase. Its growth should be encouraged and aligned with other policy priorities such as tackling deprivation and regenerating town centres on a much bigger scale.

So why isn’t there more of this type of regeneration? First, there’s the matter of funding; how to secure it and the fact that some projects do not have the budget to deliver meaningful engagement.

Managing stakeholders keep multiple partners and the community informed and engaged, and different groups with different people having their own ideas, needs and voices all add to the design and planning process.

We’ve already seen communitymanaged projects, with the purchase of small community shops, like in Dig-In in Edinburgh.

The Boat Museum in Watchet, Somerset, is also a great example of the community taking action to save something.

But community-led regeneration requires proper consultation – managed and shaped by the community – rather than the more conventional and sometimes tokenistic exercises that can be all too familiar in major planning projects.

Southmead Development Trust had already secured community buy-in, via their community plan back in 2015, which they then built on in developing a town centre

vision for Southmead, near Bristol, the following year. Together, these secured the community’s support for the principle of building higher-density housing – on Glencoyne Square, an existing public open space – to kick-start the regeneration of the centre and unlock land for homes.

The public and wider community are the key to this approach and any engagement needs to be inclusive, informative and practical. Using different tools helps bring the project to life, from one-to-ones to coffee mornings, codesign workshops, and displays at community events using virtual reality goggles to showcase how the scheme could look.

Taking on a regeneration project of this size means you need to commit significant resources upfront and work with other organisations.

Funding is probably the main barrier to overcome. Lenders can be conservative when it comes to such schemes and public sector coffers are overstretched.

While this type of regeneration is challenging, it can also be hugely rewarding to educate people in the planning and design process.

The inclusive nature of the engagement process at Southmead has provided a sound footing for the first phase. Through the provision of 120 homes, livework space and a mix of new community facilities, this will build momentum for delivering long-term change.

“ANY ENGAGEMENT NEEDS TO BE INCLUSIVE, INFORMATIVE AND PRACTICAL”

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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

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Victoria Bankes-Price is a planning adviser with the Forestry Commission

To fell, or not to fell – that is the question

The Briti British public is passionate t about trees.

Their felling, legal or not, can be highly emotive.

Local planning authorities have a statutory duty to consider the protection and planting of trees when granting planning permission. But confusion can occur when trying to determine whether a planning application requires a felling licence or not.

Felling trees without a licence, where one would have been required, is an offence. It’s vital for planners to work closely with the regulator: in England it is the Forestry Commission.

The Forestry Act 1967 (as amended) sets out the exceptions when a felling licence is not required, relating to: location, type of tree work, volume and diameter of the tree, legal and statutory undertakings and other permissions already in place.

If you have any doubts and believe a licence may be needed when preparing or assessing an application, encourage the landowner to apply. Most notably for planners, a licence is not required for felling required to carry out development authorised by planning permission. That is, those trees which would directly impede a development or are specifically mentioned in a planning approval.

But you cannot assume that because a tree falls within the ‘red line’ it is covered by the consent.

For example, trees outside the footprint of development, or not

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mentioned in the approval, may require a licence. And outline permission alone is not sufficient to demonstrate that the felling is immediately required for the purposes of development, so a felling licence will be required.

Some illegal felling occurs because of misunderstanding or misapplication of the rules. Some people, however, cut down trees in open disregard for the law. So it’s worth considering potential illegal felling when assessing applications. Are there signs of tree removal on site?

Do aerial images tally with what you see on the ground?

The guidance on licensing of tree felling sets out the government’s general policy against felling trees without restocking. So if a site has been cleared legally, the licence will usually be conditional upon the location being restocked. Likewise, in illegal felling cases, a restocking notice is likely to be served. Local planning authorities may consider restocking notices as material planning considerations.

If you believe felling has taken place before submission of a planning application, contact the local Forestry Commission Woodland Officer. We also advise planning authorities to add a note to their tree preservation order (TPO) webpage advising that with or without a TPO, a felling licence may still be required. Read the rules at bit.ly/planner1019-trees

“YOU CANNOT ASSUME THAT BECAUSE A TREE FALLS WITHIN THE ‘RED LINE’ IT IS COVERED BY THE PLANNING PERMISSION”

David Rudlin is a director of urban design cooperative URBED and chair of the Academy of Urbanism

Isn’t that what everyone does?

A few ye years ago the Academy of Urbanism had a frustrating conversation with Douglas Gordon, a Scot who is Helsinki’s chief planner. We were discussing the redevelopment of the city’s docks and he couldn’t understand why we were asking such stupid questions. “How do you ensure developers follow the plan?” “How do you secure quality?” “How do you make sure that everyone does what they promise to do?”

The answer in Helsinki is that the city draws up the masterplan, puts in the roads, divides the land into plots and then leases them to developers, using leasehold powers to control what happens. Isn’t this what everyone does? The answer, of course, is that in most of the world and throughout most of history, yes – this is how cities are planned.

A similar discussion could be had about planning systems. In France, 60 per cent of planning decisions involve no discretion; the zoning ordinances have the force of law and are not up for debate. The job of planners is to check development against these ordinances. In many places planning is not even a profession.

Again, a French planner would ask: “Isn’t this how everyone does it?” And the answer would be, yes – in most parts of the world and throughout most of history (including the US). It’s just the modern planning system in the UK (and those places that have adopted our model) that is different.

My new book, co-written with

Shruti Hemani, Climax City: Masterplanning and the Complexity of Urban Growth explores these issues. It is based on the idea that cities are complex selforganising systems that, left to their own devices, will develop into a ‘climax state’ (just as each part of the world has its climax vegetation).

It’s a process has given us some of the world’s most beautiful cities.

But it has also given us slums and sprawl. We definitely need to plan; the question is how?

The leasehold controls of Helsinki and the zoning ordinances of France do this by using a small number of rules to set the parameters of the system.

Calibrate these rules one way and you get Paris; remove the height restriction and you get Manhattan. The rules create a fixed frame within which a city is able to self-organise.

By contrast, in the British system we are forever drawing up endstate plans, most of which are never built. Our system focuses on the destination rather than the journey and, at every stage of that journey, we debate and consult on where we are going.

Our system is arguably more democratic and inclusive; it is flexible; and it certainly keeps a lot of planners in work.

What cannot be said is that it produces better results. In Climax City we say there is an art to the way that cities have been planned across the world and we need to rediscover something of this to reform the system in the UK.

“WE DEFINITELY NEED TO PLAN; THE QUESTION IS HOW?”

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Th h e n oiss e o f c i tiess ha a s b een n prr ove e d t o be ba a d f orr our h e alth h , b utt wha a t c an n we do abo o ut it, a sid d e frr o m trr yii ng to o s h utt it out? R ic c harr d C ope and d Dr Y iying g Hao o p u t th h e c ass e fo o r crea a ting g a n d e m b rac c ing sou unds t hatt contrii bu u t e to w ellb b ein ng

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C ASEE S T UDYY : S OUN N DSS CAP P ESS

uide eline es publlished d by th he Wo orld Hea alth Organisation n in Octobe er 20118 cite rese earch estima ating that att leastt one milllio on he ealthy y life years are losst each h yearr beca ause of traffi ffic-rellated noisse in n Weste ern Eu urope.

That’s ju Th ust road tra affic – and thoug gh thatt may y be th he prim mary source e of no oise pollutiion in our liiving envirronm ments, it’s farr fro om the only one.

De espite e our techno olog gic cal ad dvance emen nts, as the hum man fo ootprin nt gro ows so, too, does the po otentiial forr the noise we crreate.

We kno ow tha at giviing people bette er acce ess to

anq quil pllaces can enhanc ce me enta al and physical tra he ealtth, and d imp prove qualitty of life. Yet spaces we va alue e for re elaxa ation and re estorattion in our busy world are e fe eeling g the squee eze fro om the e gro owing volume of no oise e arou und uss. How w do we ove erco ome this problem?

On ne app proach h is to o use design n, pe erhaps to reduce de ecib bels with lo ow-ae esthetiic barrrierss. But we can do mo ore e. Wha at if we we ere to embra ace a different kind of no oise e – the e posiitive influen ncers on our sound en nvirronme ent?

Ussing ‘so oundsscape e’ desig gn, rattherr than simple noise im mpa act asssessm ment and mitigatiion, helps us to co onsiider each space on itss indiv vidua al merits.

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CASE STUDY: SOUNDSCAPES

Such an approach begins with human perception and an effort to understand the users’ needs and expectations of a space (see box: What is soundscape?).

It is a relatively new practice. But thanks to pioneering approaches by soundscape designers across Europe, there is now a growing body of evidence to demonstrate that high-quality soundscapes can promote health and wellbeing, as well as encouraging greater use of spaces. There is a strong case to be made that towns and cities should contain a variety of soundscapes appropriate to the land use.

Noise vs soundscape Traditionally, the control and management of noise associated with new developments, or the impact of existing noise sources on proposed development, has dominated the noise agenda.

Indeed, the first two noise policy aims of the Noise Policy Statement for England (March 2010), which still support the NPPF, dictate the need to avoid, mitigate and minimise adverse impacts on health and quality of life (see box: Policy for planners).

The final aim of the statement, however, moves towards a different way of looking at noise management.

It mandates that, where possible, development should contribute to the improvement of health and quality of life. A soundscape approach can specifically address this.

Currently, noise management for new development typically adopts a tick-box exercise. For example, the question could be: “Are noise levels below 55 A-weighted decibels (dBA) in proposed residential gardens?” If the answer is no, then the response is usually to include an acoustic fence of sufficient specifications to achieve 55dBA in said gardens.

While the tick is achieved, no consideration is given to the aesthetic values of that barrier. This is not just whether it may be oppressive and block sunlight or views, but also the fact that, for people on the other side of the barrier, it may draw unwanted attention to the noise of traffic.

This is quite the opposite of the benefits achievable through

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Case study: Sheaf Square, Sheffield A public space just outside Sheffield station, Sheaf Square lies between the railway and the A61, a major road, and had been used as car park. As part of a city centre masterplan, Sheffield City Council determined that the space should become a public square where rail passengers and local people can sit and relax, or simply a pleasant place to walk trough en route to the city centre.

But the space was dominated by the sounds of traffic and other urban noise.

The designers commissioned to create the space were tasked with improving the overall environmental quality of the whole

square, including reducing the noise impact. Better soundscape quality was achieved using a blend of sound Cutting Edge, a 90-metre long steel sculpture and a water feature that contributed to the soundscape in three ways: n Cutting Edge, a 90-metre long, 5m high steel sculpture that separates the square from the A61. It functions both as a noise barrier and as a striking visual homage to Sheffield’s steel manufacturing past. n A large water fountain and pool that runs alongside Cutting Edge and distracts from any remaining urban noise with the sound of water. n The aesthetic impacts of the sculpture and water feature – in particular the way they catch and reflect light – add to the noise impacts by framing the space in a way that appeals to multiple senses.

Sheaf Square is considered an example of good practice in soundscape design for its combination of noise control measures and soundscape management that have created an attractive space for commuters and residents.

WHAT IS SOUNDSCAPE? n It is the acoustic environment as perceived, experienced or understood by people in any given context. n A holistic consideration of the acoustic climate characteristics, including beneficial and neutral sounds, as well as noise (e.g. pleasantness, naturalness, and annoyance). n Sustainable establishment and protection of the sense of place, and meeting the needs of its users in the long term. n Multidisciplinary consideration of effects, including biodiversity, cultural value and aesthetics.

‘informational masking’ – in other words, attracting attention to pleasant sounds or views in preference to the unwanted noise and its source.

Why should developers adopt a more sophisticated approach, though? What’s in it for them? In a commercial world that question will come from the purseholders, whether in the public or private sector. In many cases, an acoustic barrier may be the most cost-effective mitigation measure to achieving a suitable noise climate.

But not always, and often not in isolation. An acoustics consultant should be able, through a technical assessment, to translate soundscape value into a quantifiable asset. But collaboration is necessary to identify and balance all of the interactions involved in a holistic approach to soundscape design, in much the same

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CASE STUDY: SOUNDSCAPES

way that landscape designers consider many elements as part of their designs (such as visual appeal, drainage, cultural space-setting, user needs and safety).

The good news is that guidance is beginning to emerge for planners. In 2018, the Welsh government led the way towards an embrace of soundscaping, when it published its Noise and Soundscape Action Plan 2018-2023 under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. In December 2018, Edition 10 of Planning Policy Wales (PPW) installed a framework for development policy with the health and wellbeing of its population at its heart, with explicit reference to soundscape.

The gauntlet has been thrown down – in Wales, at least. It is now up to industry – and planners – to deliver tangible practical measures that satisfy emerging planning requirements.

An approach for planners So how should planners approach this process? The answer to that question comes in two parts: n How do you create or protect an ‘appropriate soundscape’ design? n How do you assess this in order to

demonstrate that the planning policy requirements have been achieved?

Soundscape design has to come at an early stage in the design process, in much the same way that landscape design needs to understand the context of the local environment and the needs of its end users at the outset.

Although there are some design solutions available that are reasonably well understood and have been implemented successfully (predominantly overseas), the answer to the first question is wide open to innovation – as the case studies show.

The answer to the second question is more pressing, as policy is there now – in Wales – and is likely to follow across the UK in time. The challenge is how we apportion the complex research findings to each highly variable development scenario; in other words, how do we deliver a quantified assessment of an essentially subjective experience?

Certain standards will need to be established and agreed on, based upon a meta-analysis of the available research findings, so that soundscape design is done in a pragmatic way and based upon the average perceiver.

Case study: Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam Residents of Hoofddorp-North suffered ground noise from aircraft taxiing on the fifth runway of Schiphol Airport from its opening in 2003. The main component of the ground noise is low-frequency noise, which is difficult to attenuate and able to travel for long distance.

H+N+S Landscape Architects, a multidisciplinary project team, designed a recreational park, Buitenschot Land Art Park, to reduce ground noise propagation. The soundscaping integrated landscape design and land art with soundscape design to reduce noise sustainably through sound wave reflection.

This consisted of three-metre-high embankments to disperse the ground noise – they not only reduce noise from

I M AG E S | A L A M Y / H + N + S

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the aircraft but also add aesthetic and recreational value to the area by creating walking paths for visitors.

The design reduced the noise level by more than 5dB.

However, this can be adapted to the context to the space that’s being designed, that is: who the audience will be (e.g. age profile), their expectations (tranquillity or vibrancy?) and the intended use of the space.

Soundscape design is a discipline that is still somewhat in its infancy.

But we are sure that you will be hearing a lot more about it in the years to come. n Richard Cope is technical director and Dr Yiying Hao is a senior acoustic consultant and soundscape architect at Bureau Veritas

POLICIES FOR PLANNERS

In England, the Noise Policy Statement for England (March 2010) has three aims: “Through the effective management and control of environmental, neighbour and neighbourhood noise within the context of government policy on sustainable development: n Avoid significant adverse impacts on health and quality of life; n Mitigate and minimise adverse impacts on health and quality of life; and n Where possible, contribute to the improvement of health and quality of life.”

Planning practice guidance has several recommendations on noise mitigation that are consistent with soundscaping. The NPPF makes several mentions of the need to bear in mind noise mitigation when making plans.

Planning Policy Wales. Edition 10, however, mentions soundscaping explicitly, with an entire section on “Air quality and soundscape” that notes: “Certain sounds, such as those created by trees, birds or water features, can contribute to a sense of tranquillity whilst others can be reassuring as a consequence of their association with the normality of everyday activities.”

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INTERVIEW: MARK PRISK

N

PROPERTY AND PLANNING IS IN MARK PRISK’S DNA. THE CURRENT CHAIR OF THE ALL­PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP FOR HOUSING AND PLANNING TELLS HUW MORRIS THAT POLITICIANS NEED TO BRIDGE THE POLITICAL DIVIDE TO ENSURE THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF FUTURE HOMES

PHOTOGRAPHY | PETER SEARLE

M

ark Prisk feels his fellow MPs do not appreciate the importance of planning. He aims to change that. Earlier this year the Conservative MP for Hertford and Stortford became chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Housing and Planning, motivated by the failure of many of his colleagues to see the link between the two. “Most MPs deal with planning in a negative way,” he says. “Something occurs, their community is unhappy and we revert to a notion of planning as development control when planning should be about a positive action not a reaction.”

Prisk has considerable form in the sector. He appreciated “the role of property, people’s attachment to it and why it shapes our community” from an early age, learning about plans, drawings and charts at his architectural technician grandfather’s knee. The family business was in estate agency, auctioneering and valuation. Prisk was a chartered surveyor before entering Parliament.

Before returning to the backbenches in 2013, he was housing and local growth minister after earlier tenures as business and enterprise minister, where he was responsible for deregulation, as well as trade and investment.

Whitehall gave him a new perspective, particularly on large developments that had stalled during the recession. “I learnt about the important interplay between money, planning and making sure policies encouraged good practice, and that those three things don’t always work together. I thought about what I could do to unblock those sites of 2-3,000 houses that were up and ready with planning permission, but had got stuck for whatever reason.

“That would make a reasonably early and significant impact. A minister starting with a blank piece of paper and a new settlement isn’t ever going to see the first house built. That’s when we introduced the Local Infrastructure Fund as a revolving loan to tackle the cash-flow problems that had stopped development.”

It paid dividends. Prisk unlocked 10 large-scale developments enabling 78,000 homes to be built

across England. He was also one of the pioneers of Build to Rent, launching a £1 billion fund that attracted £3 billion of institutional investment to the private rented sector. This market is maturing and will grow, he says. More generally, housing and planning has been a victim of “blue on red” adversarial politics. This must stop.

Going beyond party politics “In the past 20 years, my party has over-obsessed with home ownership and the Labour Party has over-obsessed with council homes. That political divide hasn’t recognised that we share a view about the quality of communities, the need for mixed housing tenure and uses, the need to get a better balance between the car and pedestrians, and so on. There is a whole raft of issues we could focus on, but in housing it has been driven by this political argument about one tenure over another.

“Many MPs now naturally say all tenures matter. That’s really important as it starts depoliticising things and focusing on whether we have enough homes, are they of the right quality and are they in the right place – the stuff that really matters.”

He has chaired two meetings of the APPG, for which the RTPI is the secretariat, on viability and neighbourhood planning. Both are personal causes. “When I became housing minister, the deal had already been set on introducing the community infrastructure level (CIL) on top of the existing section 106 arrangements. We should have simplified the damn thing. Either move the whole system to CIL, keep it as a single format that’s clear and simple to understand for people to make their calculations, or we strengthen and improve section 106. Trying to marry the two has just been a muddle from start to finish.”

The second meeting, on neighbourhood planning, displayed the tension between frontline practitioners on the one hand and academics and policy wonks on the other. “As deregulation minister, one of my jobs with my more academic colleagues was to say ‘that’s a great idea, how do we make it work?’ That’s a really important question in government that isn’t asked enough.”

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Seeing the big picture “Some academics can over-focus on theory and not recognise the nature of human behaviour and how people will sometimes do irrational things. Whereas practitioners on the ground have dirt under their fingernails, they know the realities and I tend to be biased towards them. But you need people who have got a bit of objectivity to poke you every so often and say this should happen. Otherwise you are micromanaging details.”

Allied to this is his belief that the public should be at the heart of placemaking. This is particularly sensitive given plans for at least 16,000 homes at the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town. Seven of its garden villages will be in his constituency.

Prisk fought tooth and nail to fund local groups.

“I wanted to ensure my neighbourhood planning group and community had the means to have experts on their side so they could participate meaningfully in the development. This is a hugely complex process and asking a community group to read 10,000 pages of planning applications on their own is completely unrealistic.”

Engaging the public means “involving people in the big decisions at the start”, clearly explaining the projected growth

CARE E R

HI G HL IG HT S

MARK PRI S K’S C A R E E R Born: 12 June 1962 Education: Truro School, Cornwall; University of Reading (BSc in land management, 1985)

1983

2001

graduates from Reading University with a BSc (hons) in land management, land use planning, management and development

elected MP for Hertford and Stortford

1983­85 graduate surveyor for Knight Frank

1985­91 manager of Derrick Wade & Waters, London office, before becoming market director

24

2010­12 minister of state for trade and investment, then business and enterprise

2012­13 housing and local growth minister

2014 investment envoy to Nordic and Baltic nations

1991­97

2016

principal of Mark Prisk Connection

trade and investment envoy to Brazil

1997­2001

2019

company owner of MP2

chair of the APPG for Housing and Planning

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INTERVIEW: MARK PRISK

“IN THE PAST 20 YEARS, MY PARTY HAS OVER-OBSESSED WITH HOME OWNERSHIP AND THE LABOUR PARTY HAS OVER-OBSESSED WITH COUNCIL HOMES” in population numbers and the consequences of doing nothing.

“If you say to people, not do you want a development on this bit of land next door to you, but what sort of community do you want to see in the next 10 years, they step back a bit. They realise how their children and grandchildren can’t afford to live locally, or that police officers or teachers can’t afford to live in the community, that the corner shop will only survive if there are more homes, that maybe the population is ageing and we need different homes for different people, or the village school is under threat unless change happens.

“You move the dialogue away from development control and towards spatial planning. If you simply just give people yes/no tick boxes at the end of a 5,000page document, then people feel their voice won’t count for anything. That’s a trust issue.”

Statement of intent Strengthening planning, he argues, requires a clear statement of intent by ministers backed by resources or “the current cohort of neighbourhood plans will wither on the vine”. Planning departments have also been cut too far just as pressure for development has grown substantially.

“Planning authorities are simply outbid by the private sector, leading to an imbalance about where people work. They work in the private sector and the ability of councils to recruit and retain enough people with the skills, experience and calibre has been incredibly difficult.

“We need more resources in local planning departments and to find a way of doing that which is sustainable, maybe through council tax revenue, but I suspect it will also be looking at what the development industry is doing and how we can better reflect the imbalance between the resources.

“I look at Hertfordshire and the 10 district planning authorities and I ask myself, why? Personally, I’d have a single planning authority in Hertfordshire, which would be big enough to retain the expertise you need to deal with larger projects. It would also have those specialisms that it is very difficult for a district to retain on its own, so they are forced to use freelancers and locums for one day a week. It never works.

“I’d rather see one planning authority. I would retain

the 10 development control committees so that local people feel their councillors are making decisions, but in terms of running a planning department.”

He thinks the government’s target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s is achievable if developers, local government and the private rented sector play their roles. Prisk says “the trick is to get all three of those engines up and running, and recognise through a 10-year period the private sector is going to dip” when the public sector or private rented sector keep the numbers going.

“But it shouldn’t all be about volume. We’ve got to balance quantity with quality. We’ve also got to recognise where the demand is coming from. In my part of the world the growing population of those 65 and above is three times that of the rest of the community, so we need to think what that means for the homes that need to be built.”

A practical green This also means that homes must be built to high environmental standards with solar panels and heat pumps at the design stage. Describing himself as “a practical green”, he thinks private cars will remain a vital part of moving around, but we need to recognise that current design standards will need to change so transport planning will be completely resuscitated.

Another target for reform is the “old-fashioned” use classes, which were designed for workplaces “you didn’t want to live next door to”. Today, he follows the 10-minute walking principle for quality design.

“If you can’t get a loaf of bread or walk your dog in that time, you’re likely to drive.”

Subsequent to our interview, Mark Prisk has announced that, after 18 years in Parliament, he will be stepping down at the next general election – an event that could easily have been announced in the days following this edition of The Planner going to press.

“It’s been a fascinating time and I have especially enjoyed my work as housing minister and on the Housing, Communities & Local Government Select Committee in addressing housing, planning and infrastructure issues,” said Prisk.

“However, at 57 I now feel it’s time to move on to build a third career. I feel I have more to contribute in the real estate, housing and planning arena, as someone who understands both public and private risks and challenges.”

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BY GRACIOUS APPROVAL IT’S 60 YEARS SINCE THE TOWN PLANNING INSTITUTE WAS AWARDED A ROYAL CHARTER. HOW HAS PLANNING CHANGED IN THE INTERVENING DECADES, AND WHAT DOES BEING A CHARTERED MEMBER MEAN TO PLANNERS? MATT MOODY AND SIMON WICKS ASKED THE PLANNERS “The grant of the Charter is a recognition of the practice of town and country planning as a profession and of the Town Planning Institute as ‘the body politic and corporate’ for the profession.”

So wrote the TPI president Udolphus Aylmer Coates in the July-August 1959 edition of the Journal of the Town Planning Institute, going on to describe the awarding of a royal charter as “the bloom of our maturity”.

Having the charter “graciously approved” by The Queen gave the Institute public recognition of the value and credibility of its work and the work of its members – a charter is given only to bodies that advance the public interest.

Members could henceforth call themselves chartered town planners, a status that set them apart from planners who were not members of the Institute.

In time it has also meant that the Institute has become a guardian of planning education, standards and professional accreditation.

Chartered members must satisfy certain criteria in order to earn the title - it’s a mark of merit that tells a client, employer or member of the public that they can expect a high standard of competence.

How standards express themselves has evolved both since the founding of the Institute in 1914 and since the granting of its charter. But how? Is planning as central to the dream of creating a better world as it was in those post-war years? Has it become less visionary, more regulated? Does it still have the potential to transform the world?

We asked planners who have earned chartered status in the decades since 1959 to tell us a little bit about how the profession has changed in that time and where they think it might go in the future.

Read the full versions of these and other interviews with chartered planners through the decades at bit.ly/planner1019-RTPI60

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1950 S VALERIE RANDALL-WEBB RETIRED PLANNER AND CONSULTANT, KENT COUNTY COUNCIL After graduating from the LSE in 1954, I joined Kent County Council as a trainee planning assistant. I was the first female planner in the department, and the first to start evening classes for the M.Phil at the Bartlett School at UCL. I had to agree to pay for the three-year course, and also to make up the hours spent away from the office by going in on a Saturday. This changed in my third year, when one of the married male planners started the course!

The work we were doing at that time was first class, because we were producing plans for the whole county - which at that time still included Bromley and Chislehurst - and working with very recent planning legislation, only nine years after the end of the second world war.

Changes to the statutory responsibilities of planners since then have been dramatic. It’s not easy to compare, but my personal view is that the role of planning authorities has been compromised by ambiguously drafted legislation, which makes it impossible to implement coherent planning

1959 Royal Charter awarded to RTPI. Announced in the Journal of the Town Planning Institute in June.

policies within a sensible timescale. This has led to regular and unacceptable criticism of the work carried out by planners - it’s easier to blame them than the system.

My view is that the current system of individual planning units trying to produce comprehensive plans for housing, infrastructure, transport and everything else for small geographic areas is failing badly. I am aware that localism is the current mantra, but we need to look at legislation that would require local authorities to produce planning frameworks jointly.

Also, many of the things now dealt with by planners used to come under building control and other legislation. Many of these should be set apart from planning altogether, freeing up planners and giving them time to carry out their proper function.

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ROYAL CHARTER 60TH ANNIVERSARY

JED GRIFFITH FORMER RTPI PRESIDENT I joined the RTPI as a junior member in 1966, when employed by Plymouth City Council. I gained full chartered status in November 1971, when working as an urban renewal team leader with Hertfordshire County Council.

Being a planner at that time was very exciting, as successive governments had given full support to the planning system.

In the early seventies, we worked as a team on the Hertfordshire Structure Plan - there was so much creative thought and stimulation.

I have been a consultant for 24 years, and served as RTPI president in 1995, but I work closely with local government colleagues. It seems to me that the process of public sector planning has been downgraded and that many in local government are demoralised.

Two things drive me - first my enthusiasm and belief in planning, which remains undimmed. Second, sheer anger at the way in which central government has manipulated the system, with constant changes from ministers.

The biggest change in the past 60 years has been gender equality - it is good to see so many female entrants to the profession.

The change from land use to spatial planning has also been significant.

For the future, I remain an optimist. I believe there will be a return to strategic planning – the signs are already there.

Planning will become central to the rebuilding of our country and our communities, and it will be a driving force in tackling the climate crisis.

SUE ESSEX FORMER WELSH MINISTER FOR PLANNING [In] the early ‘60s when planning as a profession was into design ideas in that post-war period, it was very much a creative time. Public services were major forces in their communities and planning itself was becoming a major force for change. There were lots of ideas at the back of it – what kind of society do we want to create?

What sort of urban environment?

I became a chartered planner in 1972.

You wouldn’t have got far in those days [without it]. As a planner I was always pushing at the boundaries and always believed it had a real social function, in terms of what I could deliver for society as a whole and for the environment.

I’m afraid now it has become regulatory. If you just see planning as a regulatory function you have lost it. The [1947] Town and Country Planning Act was part of a suite of legislation that was there to transform the lives of people along with the Education Act, the Housing Act, the National Parks Act. Another thing in my time was the Skeffington Report. That was really significant in saying to local authorities ‘You have to take people with you; to understand what other people think’.

The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act sends a powerful message that we have a duty of care to people and the environment. Planning really matters for what we are doing for people’s lives.

I think planning can come more into its own in the climate crisis, and planners and the Institute are trying hard and showing leadership.

URLAN WANNOP - RETIRED PLANNER, PROFESSOR EMERITUS In 1954 I had a degree in geography but no idea how to use it.

However, after a meeting between my father and the then chief architect and planner in the Scottish Office, it was suggested I take advantage of the proposals of the recent Schuster Report and look at further training in planning. Planning offices like that of Middlesex County – where I first worked – were dominated by surveyors, engineers and architects. Senior staff had little sense of how the new type of planner might be employed and at times they were left to create their own work; not the experience which should persist in times of staffing pressure.

The popular impression of planners did not seem to change during my career. John Betjeman derided us as ‘long-haired’ before that became a socially acceptable mode of dress. Recently, Simon Jenkins, Chair of the National Trust, wrote of "the idiocy" of "the planners" in removing shopping from high streets to "bypass centres" outt of town. Our title makes planners an enduring target for public dissatisfaction in a multitude of fields, most far removed from those in which we actually engage. We must accept this misunderstanding and continue at the highest standards.

1961

1967

1969

The Death and Life of Great American Cities published sh

Stamford becomes the first conservation area

People and planning - also known as the Skeffington report

1960s 960s 1968 Town Tow and Country Planning g Act introdu introducucuc es county structure plans and promotes es greater public participation in planning gre ng

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1977 Inner area studies herald a move towards urban renewal

1970 S 1977 Sex Pistols release God Save the Queen

11976 76 1976 RTPI's RTP Planning Pl i and the future report published

KAY POWELL - TRUSTEE, PLANNING AID WALES After graduating with an MSc in city and regional planning from Cardiff University, my first job was with Peterborough Development Corporation, helping to create a new city while retaining the best of a very ancient one.

After two years I returned to Wales to work as a technical secretary, before becoming a transportation planner with South Glamorgan County Council. While there, in 1976, I became an RTPI member.

Working as a planner in the 1970s was a joy. I gained a lot of varied experience working on projects like the pedestrianisation of Queen Street, Cardiff, and we felt we were making a real difference. Things were harder in

What were your first impressions of the planning profession?

A decent, welcoming club where one could meet likeminded people.

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What has changed for the better in planning since then?

Planning has become less colonial in its outlook and much more representative of the communities that we serve. There’s more awareness of where the profession “fits” into the wider world, and it is striving to be more inclusive.

What does the status of chartered planner mean to you?

It sets a certain high standard. It lends peer

recognition, and it provides certainty for employers or people seeking advice and opinions on planning.

What RTPI initiatives from your first decade do you think have had the most impact?

Green belt advocacy, adopted from the Holford Plan, has helped to secure the historic character of Cambridge.

How do you think the planning profession should look in another 60 years’

1978 Inner Urban Areas Act

1979 979 Planning in Crisis: The Grotton Papers

time?

It should be part of a multidisciplinary approach, as it is now in many local planning authorities and major consultancies. Much more community-focused planning is needed to empower communities as the physical environment they exist in changes rapidly. Overall, we’ll need a much greater emphasis, along with other professions, on environmental adaption and resilience.

1980 S

BOB WOLFE HONORARY SECRETARY, RTPI YORKSHIRE

the 1980s when public money was tight.

In the 1990s, I became a corporate support officer in Cardiff. RTPI membership wasn’t required for that post, but I continued to pay my subs and kept going with CPD. This was invaluable when I realised I wanted to move back into policy planning, and I became head of planning at the Welsh Office in 1997.

Being a planner today has huge challenges. I see these in my role as a trustee of - and volunteer with - Planning Aid Wales. Pressures on time and money in the private, public and voluntary sectors are more extreme, life is more complex and expectations are higher.

I have no doubt that the biggest challenge now is climate change. I hope future planners will focus on sustainability and wellbeing rather than artificial targets, and work across sectors as the norm.

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ROBERT WILSON - ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT, IMPACT PLANNING SERVICES I have been a plann planner since 1979, mostly in local gover government, and became a chartered plann planner in 1985 at Chelmsford Borough Coun Council. Being a planner in the 1980s was demanding, d but very rewarding rding and enjoy enjoyable. I have to say y the p profession is curre currently in the worst state I’ve seen it in all my ti time as a planner.

In consultancy, not much has changed, but my la last few years in local gover government were the oppo opposite of my experience when I first started. In many councils, experienced planners have been replaced by generic managers employed to cut costs to meet political priorities.

Financial cuts have been made without their full impact being properly

assessed. This has left many authorities without experienced planners, and graduates floundering without meaningful mentoring.

The new managers do as politicians want, even when a professional RTPI officer makes a case for not accepting certain political decisions. I drew a line which planners would not cross in a heated political discussion about wind farm p policy a few years ago.

The biggest change I’ve seen over th the course of my career is the loss of vision from planners. They are to too scared to upset politicians an and cower to the demands of lo local members. Short-term gains ar are prioritised, while major d developments and global is issues like change demand a lo long-term strategic approach.

At the moment, there’s n not much to look forward to in local l government planning. The only way to inspire is for chief planners to hire creative people who will work tirelessly to make places better and stand their ground when politicians oppose them.

1980 19 Local Government, Go Planning and Land Act establishes est London Docklands Development Devel opment Corporation Corpo oration

STEPHEN BATE SENIOR PLANNING OFFICER, DERBY CITY COUNCIL My first role after becoming chartered was Stafford Borough Council.

Being recently qualified, planning was a true learning experience. Everything was new, every decision was taken with some uncertainty, and there was always a senior officer with a red pen to put you right! .

In some respects, a planner’s tasks - i.e. determining planning applications - remain fairly similar today, but the complexity and contentiousness of planning has increased tenfold. There are more consultants, more disparate policies and guidance, and the public is now much more involved in the process.

The increase in delegation has been a massive change. I remember presenting 70 applications to a planning committee meeting, despite these being held every three weeks to get through the huge workload. Every decision was rushed through with inadequate consideration. The current process allows members more time to become involved in more complex proposals and the public greater involvement in decision-making.

From a local government perspective, I think planning will be maintained if it remains a statutory function. However, the related technical experts (such as those dealing with enforcement, arboriculture, heritage, ecology etc) will be squeezed out.

With a greater need for efficiency, local authority planners will become more administrative, with fewer few spatial skills. This will result r in a dilution of goo good design and less pro protection for spatial and hi historic assets.

1981 The Scarman Report (The Brixton disorders)

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2006

2008

Planning etc (Scotland) Act introduces the National Planning Framework

Planning Policy Wales Edition 1 published (now on edition 10)

volunteering with Planning Aid for Scotland, for two decades I’ve worked independently in community-led planning.

Who was your first employer as a chartered planner?

I became chartered in 1992. My first job was as an assistant planner (development control) near Glasgow. I handled a range of applications and appeals, but couldn’t help feeling trapped in a bureaucracy.

What was it like in the 1990s?

Most of my peers started out in local authorities. I gradually discovered that the rewarding work was, for me, elsewhere – which led me to work with a community-based housing project in Jakarta through VSO for two years. It completely changed my outlook.

How does it compare to being a planner today?

Many still start out with local authorities in largely regulatory or bureaucratic roles, or in the private sector supporting the development industry. But planning has always offered other opportunities to those who look for them. Stimulated by my experience in Jakarta and then

What is the biggest change you've seen in the profession?

Official acceptance that working with communities is a good thing – although there’s still plenty of room for improvement. In Scotland, the nexus of community empowerment, land reform and planning legislation mean there's never been a better time to work in community-led planning and development.

How do you see the profession evolving?

Firstly, I hope all planners realise good planning involves es n not only regulation, but p positive collaboration across p public, private and community ty y sectors to deliver better places. Secondly, that we all understand derstand that 1991 T Plannin The Planning building better etter places Compenand Compen needs integrated egrated action sation Act 1991 19 on local services, ervices, jobs, introduces th the health, housing using and plan-led syste system community y development.

1990' S 1990

1997

Town and Country Planning Act introduces new style local plans in place of existing local plans and unitary development plans

Town and Country ntry Planning Act (Scotland) otland) forms the basis of the planning system m in scotland

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Planning Act introduces the nationally significant infrastructure planning regime and regime and lays the foundations for the community infrastructure levy

2000 S

NICK WRIGHT INDEPENDENT PLANNER

2008

How has being a chartered planner affected your career?

It has allowed me to earn a living doing something valuable for society, making better places and communities.

Plus, chartership has enabled me to work independently under the umbrella of ‘the profession’. I’ve worked with wonderful people in fascinating places on rewarding projects, from masterplanning in Lerwick to urban design in Jersey.

2004 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act introduces new style local plans and regional spatial strategies

2001 200 The RTPI's New Vision for Planning published

ANN MACSWEEN - HEAD OF CASEWORK, HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND (HES) I studied prehistoric archeology and archeological sciences at university, before joining Historic Scotland as a scheduled ancient monument advisor. I began working towards chartership after my masters degree d in urban and regional planning at Heriot H Watt University in 2008.

In the 2000s we were conscious that the t historic environment needed to be better b integrated into policy development and a into the early stages of the development d management process – ‘mainstreaming ‘ the historic environment’ was w a key objective. Our other focus was on o how to make our decision-making processes p more transparent – this resulted in the development of guidance on a range of topics from assessing the impact of change on the setting of an asset, to extending listed buildings.

HES’s planning service is much more outward-facing compared to 10 years ago.

Along with local authorities and other agencies we now report on the performance of our planning service annually to the Scottish government.

The biggest change I have seen is a general acceptance of the contribution the historic environment makes, for example to place-making, the tourist economy, and public health. I find I have less need to use my set piece on why the historic environment is important, which is all to the good!

I am particularly enthusiastic about the opportunities op for better crossdisciplinary dis working to tackle issues such as the impacts of climate change. I am also als interested in how technology will help he us to identify more efficient and effective ways of sharing information so that th all participants in the planning system sy can easily access the information inf they need. eed. I have already alr seen massive m change in how ho we communicate, co so I am prepared to be surprised! su

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ROYAL CHARTER 60TH ANNIVERSARY

2011 Localism Act abolishes regional spatial strategies and replaces them with the duty to cooperate

2010 S

2012 National Planning Policy Framework introduced for England

VIRAL DESAI PRINCIPAL PLANNER, ATKINS I became a chartered planner in 2015. I wanted to work in a profession where I could apply my passion for dealing with social, economic and environmental issues that impact society, particularly climate change.

The biggest challenge is keeping up with the changes in politics and policy. If it's hard for me, som someone who lives and breathes planning, I often o wonder how hard it is for the public to keep up.

2014

2015

The RTPI celebrates its 100th anniversary

Wales - Wellbeing of Future Generations Act

If I could change one thing about the profession, it would be its ability to embrace change. I think planning can play an integral role in managing urbanisation, but some of the key structures, including politics in planning, need to move with the times.

I think data and digital tools will be the future of planning. I think I need to learn to code. We will need to embrace the data revolution - plans will become more fluid, real time evidence will be available and the local plan system will need to adapt to having that evidence at its 2015 Northern Irefingertips for planning planning land plann applications and decensystem dec development of policy. tralised

2019 Planning Act (Scotland)d

MEETA KAUR PARTNER, TOWN LEGAL LLP I was fortunate enough to start my career as a graduate planner at Westminster, where I became chartered in 2000. As well as feeling like the most exciting place to work in the country, I had the good fortune of working with a bunch of capable, knowledgeable and engaged local authority planners right from the outset.

However, as my focus became enforcement, I realised I had to have a

thorough grasp of the statutory planning framework, and ultimately developed a strong interest in planning law. I decided to pursue a legal career in private practice. I still identify strongly as a town planner and continue to be involved in the activities of the RTPI, despite having been a planning lawyer for some years now.

The planning system was subject to some degree of change in the early years of my career, but that pales into insignificance when compared to the constant and accelerating rate of tinkering over the last decade. This has often seemed to bring little discernible benefit, other than making those

on all sides equally disgruntled!

The cuts to local planning authority funding in recent years are in stark contrast to my initial years as a local authority planner, even though the funding situation then was not ideal either.

These and other factors have contributed to a divide between private and public sectors which didn’t seem to exist when I started working. There seems to be a growing recognition of this and moves are afoot in various quarters to foster the return to a ‘one profession’ attitude and approach, which I see as a hugely positive sign for the future of the profession.

RICHARD COWELL - ASSISTANT PLANNING DIRECTOR, BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL I left university with a degree in human geography and started as an assistant planner with South Holland District Council in 2003. I was fortunate at the time to work across policy, development control and conservation – I had a broad exposure to all the elements of a local authority planning department.

I did my postgraduate diploma while working, then worked for a number of local authorities before coming to Birmingham in 2008 as senior development officer.

“Once you've done the degree and got the experience, taking that next step to becoming a chartered planner is important.

If you want to progress your career and move up into more senior positions it’s a requirement in some cases, and personally as well, it's good to make that commitment and put that work into demonstrating your desire to develop yourself.

The type of work I’m involved in now is

very different from what I imagined the role of a planner would be. It was policy and planning applications when I started out but now it’s wider development and placemaking, funding and finance.

The role of a planner in the formal sense has changed. it’s more about facilitation and enabling change. I would echo the view of those planners from the 50s and 60s that there's a lot of regulation and legislation, but that's imposed on us by the government and others. If a planner was asked what sort of system we would like, I don't think we would choose the system we are working with.

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Plymouth

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Manchester

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Cambridge

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Training courses

Birmingham

Training calendar September - December 2019

September Enforcement of planning decisions Challenges of waste management

3 5

Project management for planners

10

Environmental Impact Assessments

17

The planning system explained

18

Project management for planners

19

Understanding developers and development ďŹ nance

24

An introduction to planning law

25

Writing skills for planners

26

October Local plans: policy and practice

1

Environmental Impact Assessments Leadership for planners

Boost your career with expert training.

3 8

Affordable housing: policy and practice

10

Planning and design: making better places

15

Sustainability Appraisal: Current and emerging issues

17

Project management for planners

22

Writing skills for planners

23

We provide high-quality training for all professionals in the planning environment. Our wide selection of informative masterclasses and briefings are designed and delivered by our team of industry experts who will support your learning and keep you up to date with the latest developments.

November Understanding developers and development ďŹ nance Current issues in planning

14

Project management for planners

20

Environmental Impact Assessments

21

Communication skills for planners

26

Giving evidence at inquiries

27

Planning law update

28

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

December Business skills for planners

4

Sustainable drainage and climate change

5

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12/09/2019 15:53

LANDSCAPE

Tech { L A N D S C A P E

P33 TECH P36 REGIONAL P38 DECISIONS P42 LEGAL P51 ACTIVITY

DIGITAL IS CRITICAL FOR TOWN CENTRE PLANNING IF WE’RE TO PLAN INTELLIGENTLY FOR THE TOWN CENTRES OF THE FUTURE, WE NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT THEM – PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, SAYS ATUL JOSHI A lot of attention has been given to the health of our town centres over the past decade. We know shopping habits have changed, that consumers want an experience and that properties are taking on different uses. Faced with ailing high streets, the government, independent bodies and real estate operators are all looking for ways to revitalise our towns.

But these initiatives hold out little hope for the future. The indicators used by the National Planning Policy

I M AG E | I STO C K

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Framework (NPPF) to measure the health of a town centre are out of date – scarily so. The world has moved on, with far more emphasis on digitisation and the environment. If we are to create truly sustainable town centres, we must start judging their health by the right parameters.

Although recently updated, Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) still contains the same old static measures to assess the health of town centres and retail;

diversity of uses, vacancy rates, rents, yields, pedestrian footfall, the balance between independent retailers versus multiples, environmental quality of the town. There’s a huge gap in information; there’s no mention of ‘digitisation’ or ‘technology’ in the entire document.

For example, there is no indication that providing free Wi-Fi in a high street could indicate a thriving centre, although there is clear evidence that this would attract consumers. More broadly, there is no mention of digitisation to futureproof a centre for the emergence of 5G or the installation of electric carcharging points to cut carbon emissions.

Why isn’t sustainability factored into a town’s health indicators?

The Royal Town Planning Institute’s Planning for a Smart Energy Future report highlights the significant lack of attention that national planning policy pays to smart energy. While strides are being taken to reduce carbon emissions

O CTO B E R 2 0 1 9 / THE PLA NNER

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LANDSCAPE

T {LANDSCAPE Tech to zero by 2050, the current pace of change will not keep up with the ambitions outlined d in the Clean Growth Strategy.

The report says no development nt should be planned without successfully demonstrating it is fit to form part of a zero-carbon future.

The falling cost of technology gy and nd emergence of new tools mean we n that at w e can measure a huge number off facto factors to ors r with minimal disruption. Air quality sensors can be installed on existing isting traffic lights, sensors can detect ct the temperature of a retail unit versus rsus the number of people inside, technology nology can monitor the movement off traffic and how it can be made more efficient.

There’s a lot to be explored between what indicators currently measure and what we need to measure to guarantee a town centre is truly sustainable.

Significantly, the RTPI calls for joint endeavours between all those involved in development or regeneration. It’s true that fragmented real estate ownership in town centres creates a barrier to implementing new technology. In contrast, a shopping centre with a single landlord can have far greater control over implementing technologies or measures. Furthermore, with councils becoming active players in the commercial market through the purchase of shopping centres and other assets, there is the potential to implement these initiatives further to the betterment of town centres.

One solution could be the greater introduction of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) to create a collective approach to improving the area. For example, 10 or 15 years ago Altrincham high street had a high vacancy rate. Now it has a BID (Altrincham Unlimited) that coordinates everything from social media to attract visitors to measuring footfall. But much more can be done.

Digital infrastructure is key The way we engage with society and our community has been changing. For a town centre the question is: how well is it connected and how much has been invested in its digital infrastructure? The

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increasingly move to a digital platform.

For example, UK Digital Retail Innovation Centre (UK:DRIC), based in Gloucester, will be working with large and independent retailers to help them develop and apply best practice. The UK:DRIC is the new national centre for the future of the high street, city and town centres.

A future-focused city Gloucester has pioneered future city solutions. The city was one of the first in the world to adopt a three-in-one integrated solution with CCTV over The RTPI calls for more collaboration on town Internet Protocol (IP), free high-speed centre development Wi-Fi across the whole city and 4G. PPG does not allow us to evaluate this It became the second destination in crucial element. As a basic requirement, the world to partner with Niantic Labs and potential indicator for a town on the Google FieldTrip app, which centre audit, there is a need to identify allows virtual location-based tourism whether a centre has any form of digital information through smart devices. infrastructure such as Other projects collective Wi-Fi. under way include Without supporting digital two being developed “IF WE ARE TO infrastructure, it will be difficult (with government CREATE TRULY to establish local links with funding) by ‘Rewarding SUSTAINABLE the community and highlight Visits’, which builds TOWN CENTRES, what is on offer within a centre. “interactive services to WE NEED TO This is crucial for attracting a connect customers and START JUDGING generation that is led by the retailers”, and Maybe, THEIR HEALTH constant supply of data. It also a platform that helps

BY THE RIGHT forms part of a key element businesses engage with PARAMETERS” of future provisioning where customers through there will be a blending of social media. Both the physical and digital world, projects are using digital and where more demand tools to encourage will be placed on this type of purchasing to be made infrastructure. in bricks-and-mortar businesses, thereby boosting footfall and local spending.

Adapt or die There will be no real impetus to create If we do not provide or evaluate the a new definition of town centre health digital infrastructure within town or to work together unless our national centres, we are on the back foot. It has planning guidance asks for it. Guidelines multiple uses in terms of engagement have to recognise that we need to go with the community and businesses, beyond the old measures that have as well as understanding the health always been in place. Our towns need to of the high street. If there is no digital move towards digitisation and away from engagement, there is no way to fossil fuels. This must be led from the top analyse performance or provide for and we are waiting for that to happen. innovative place-based marketing and promotion. The importance of digital communication is highlighted by the Atul Joshi is associate director of planning, fact that interaction, inclusiveness and development and regeneration at Lambert engagement with communities will Smith Hampton

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Visualisations for a positive outcome

NPA

Visuals

Contact Chris Hale to discuss the preparation of high quality visualisations, including YHULͤHG YLHZV DQG SKRWRPRQWDJHV WR VXSSRUW \RXU GHYHORSPHQW SURSRVDOV • Architecture • Landscapes

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12/09/2019 16:01

N AT I O N S &REGIONS

The South East

W H AT ’ S H A P P E N I N G I N T H E S O U T H E A S T ?

HERE’S A ROUND­UP OF KEY PROJECTS AND EVENTS IN THE REGION IN 2019­20

Heyford Park in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire

IN THE PIPELINE

Worthing Bayside Developer Roffey Homes has been redeveloping the site of a former 1960s swimming pool on Worthing seafront to provide 141 new homes, as well as a new café and private health club. The £45 million development is scheduled for completion next year. bit.ly/planner1019-WorthingBayside RECENT SUCCESSES

Preston Barracks, Brighton Regeneration specialist U+I will deliver 369 new homes, 534 student bedrooms, 50,000 square feet of office space and more than 1,500 new jobs as part of its redevelopment of Preston Barracks, a former military site in west Brighton. bit.ly/planner1019-PrestonBarracks

MK Gallery After a period of refurbishment and enlargement, Milton Keynes Art Gallery reopened as MK Gallery in March this year. The £12 million project aimed to pay tribute to the city’s 1960s planners as well as bringing the gallery up to date. bit.ly/planner1019MKGallery

MK Futures 2050 The MK Futures commission was set up in 2015 to “create a long-term vision” for Milton Keynes. Following its report, the council adopted six key projects, including MK:U – a new university – and a plan to encourage “smart, shared and sustainable mobility”. bit.ly/planner1019-MKFutures

Bird Aware Solent

Heyford Park Heyford Park is a 500-acre former US Air Force base that closed in 1994. The site in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, which was designated a conservation area to protect its Cold War heritage, is being redeveloped to provide more than 700 homes and a campus for film, TV and digital media businesses. The scheme was nominated for an RTPI award this year. bit.ly/planner1019-HeyfordPark

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The Bird Aware Solent Project

The Bird Aware Solent Project aims to raise awareness of the migrating birds that live near the River Solent in winter, encouraging visitors to enjoy the area without disturbing wildlife. It won an RTPI award in 2018. bit.ly/planner1019BirdAwareOrg

Hanningtons Estate, Brighton The Hanningtons Estate project saw the regeneration of a historic former department store in Brighton, creating a mixeduse development of shops, restaurants and housing. The £100 million project opened to the public last year. bit.ly/planner1019-Brighton

Hampshire and Isle of Wight local ecological network A partnership between various bodies in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has produced an ecological network map – a collection of speciesfriendly habitats that, through appropriate management, can provide a collected connection of refuges for wildlife. The work has led to a new policy framework in the county. bit.ly/planner1019HantsWight

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Regional contact details: south.east@rtpi.org.uk

See more on the South East at the Nations and regions gateway bit.ly/PlannerGateway

CASE STUDY: NITROGEN NEUTRALITY IN THE SOLENT

Daniel Ramirez is a senior planner at Turley The issue we’re facing is that elevated nitrate levels at European protected sites in the Solent area are causing excessive algae growth, which is harmful to the habitat and food supply of protected birds. Around 70 per cent of nitrates come from agriculture; urban development and other sources make up the remainder.

In response, Natural England is asking for new development to achieve ‘nitrate neutrality’ – that is, zero net input of nitrates to protected sites. Demonstrating nitrate neutrality is a requirement of any development with overnight accommodation, so it affects housing, hotels, care homes and other types of development as well.

Natural England has produced a methodology that allows developers to calculate the net increase or

so before that will be in place. In the meantime, many developers are BUCKINGHAMSHIRE resorting to buying up agricultural land and taking it out of agricultural use O x fo rd H i g h Wyc o m b e so that the fertilisers that would have OXFORDSHIRE been used for farming balance out the BERKSHIRE Re a d i n g nitrates produced by housebuilding KENT elsewhere. Clearly though, this isn’t the SURREY C a n te r b u r y most sustainable strategy in terms of HAMPSHIRE Gu i l d fo rd EAST S o u t h a m p to n land use.

SUSSEX Conflicting advice has been WEST issued by Natural England and the B r i g h to n SUSSEX Environment Agency, so we’ve been lobbying the government for some common sense.

The key thing here is that while developers may have a responsibility COMING UP to address the proportion of nitrates that come from urban development, much of the nitrate loading on Mineral and Waste protected sites is coming from Planning – 17th October,

Kingston Daniel Ramirez: “Natural England’s policy response should be addressing the footprint of the agricultural sector”

This one-day conference will provide an overview of mineral and waste planning policy, in relation to national planning policy, local plans and planning applications. bit.ly/planner1019-Minerals

Local Plans – 30th October, Ashford At this event, speakers will focus on the challenges and key issues associated with preparing and adopting a local plan. bit.ly/planner1019-LocalPlans

Making Sense of MixedUse Town Centres – 7th November, Reading reduction in nitrate levels that a scheme will cause. However, when the methodology is applied, it is difficult to achieve neutrality at many sites, particularly brownfield sites.

The problem has caused a backlog of stalled applications – that’s 10 authorities having their housing delivery rates disrupted.

The partnership for South Hampshire is working on a sub-regional mitigation strategy, but it looks like a year or

agriculture but there doesn’t appear to be much of a strategy for improving agricultural practices to reduce their nitrate output.

In my view, Natural England’s policy response has been poorly targeted, and it should be addressing the footprint of the agricultural sector.

It might not be popular, but that’s where the real issue lies.

Read Daniel’s briefing note online: bit.ly/planner1019-Turley

Speakers will discuss the challenges facing town centres, and the potential to repurpose and regenerate them. The event will also consider the role development practitioners can play in facilitating development. bit.ly/planner1019-TownCentres

NEXT MONTH:

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C&D { C

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

Reprieve for 15 Clerkenwell Close as demolition order is overturned A controversial demolition order for 15 Clerkenwell Close, the award-winning sevenstorey office and home of architect Amin Taha, has been overturned by an inspector, reports Huw Morris.

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( “It speaks volumes about the tyranny of the most mean­spirited and ignorant understanding of the concept of a building being ‘in keeping’ that this objection was ever taken seriously.”

Douglas Murphy, architect and writer @entschwindet

( “Very many congratulations to Amin Taha @Groupwork_arch for winning appeal against Clerkenwell Close demolition order and thanks to all who supported their cause. Quality will out!.”

Ben Derbyshire, former RIBA President @ben_derbyshire

LOCATION: Clerkenwell, London AUTHORITY: Islington Borough Council

INSPECTOR: P N Jarratt PROCEDURE: Inquiry DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APPV5570/C/18/3199860

of the roof as a roof garden were not approved.

The lift overrun is also larger than approved while a five-bay window pattern

differs to the six-bay model approved, it argued.

Inspector P N Jarratt said although he agreed that there was a difference between what was either submitted or approved, in general terms the building was not harmful to a conservation area.

“This is an unsatisfactory situation for both parties and it is not in the public interest if members of the public cannot establish what has been approved when examining planning records,” he added. “Nevertheless, the principle of development is not in dispute and the building accords with the generality of what had previously been approved.”

The inspector acknowledged that although the design is controversial, it is of a very high standard and has generated a significant degree of public support and support within the architectural community.

“Although the development is contrary to planning policies relating to the provision of employment floor space, this can be overcome through conditions requiring the provision of the shortfall", the inspector commented.

Concluding that the planning balance fell in favour of the appellant, the inspector allowed the appeal.

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

The appeal building is on the site of the former Anita House, which has been demolished to make way for the development.

It comprises a recently built six-storey building occupied by the appellant’s architectural practice on the basement and ground levels with 15 full-time staff on the site.

The upper floors have eight apartments, two of them owner-occupied, including the appellant and his family, with the remaining apartments being leased. The property is home to 14 adults and five children.

An enforcement notice was served on the architect because the building was different from the designs that had been granted permission.

The council argued that the development varies from the original permission and is materially different. It maintained that the footprint is larger than that approved, with different internal arrangements leading to a shortfall of employment space.

The council also contended that stone columns protrude beyond the building line, while the use of coarse stone for the columns and the use

TWITTER REACTION

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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

Private dance studio is a strictly ‘modest ancillary building’ An inspector has approved plans for a 488-squaremetre dance studio with a full-sized ballroom in High Weald AONB, as it would appear modest within the 75,000sq m curtilage of the appellants’ listed home.

Plans to expand major music industry hub unacceptable A mixed-use hub in North London to support expansion of ‘Europe’s largest community of independent musicians’ has been dismissed at inquiry, after an inspector objected to its ‘brooding and boxy’ design.

The appeal concerned a joint application by the selfstorage company Big Yellow, and the property developer CPP, owner and operator of Tileyard Studios, “Europe’s largest community of independent musicians and creative businesses”, which operates next to the site.

The appellants proposed two “separate but complementary buildings” on the site. The Big Yellow building would be nine storeys high, and would provide mostly self-storage space. The Tileyard building would be seven storeys, providing 9,000 square metres of “flexible class B1 workspace” on its upper floors, and around 1,600 square metres of light industrial floor space lower down.

The site falls within the Vale Royal/Brewery Road locally significant industrial site (LSIS), described by the council as “the last remaining protected industrial area in inner London”.

Inspector Jennfer Vyse found that the flexible space was intended to accommodate the growth of the Tileyard Studios cluster, which was the intended occupier. “The specific nature of the space proposed” would “respond appropriately to changing economic conditions” and would not LOCATION: Kings Cross jeopardise the future of the LSIS, she ruled.

AUTHORITY: Islington Borough Council Turning to design, however, Vyse found that INSPECTOR: Jennifer A Vyse the Tileyard building would “appear excessively PROCEDURE: Inquiry large”, with “no sense of any coherent architectural DECISION: Dismissed dialogue” with its neighbours, while the REFERENCE: APP/ “brooding boxy mass” of V5570/W/19/3224373 the Big Yellow building would “loom more than six storeys above” the adjacent Gormley Studio.

She dismissed the appeal.

The appeal concerned Down House, a grade II listed manor house within the High Weald area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

The appellants planned to build a private dance studio in a woodland clearing about 115 metres from the house, on a disused tennis court.

They compete as Latin and ballroom dancers “at the top of the amateur equality senior circuit”, which holds monthly competitions across Europe. They have been competing for over 20 years, and currently have to travel into London to train.

The building would provide a “full-sized ballroom dance floor for the appellants’ private use, to enable regular practice close to home”. It would be eight metres high, with a floor area of 488sq m.

The Tunbridge Wells local plan states that extensions and ancillary buildings outside of settlement boundaries must be “modest and in scale with the original dwelling”. The parties disagreed on the extent to which the application of the

LOCATION: Lamberhurst AUTHORITY: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

INSPECTOR: Rory MacLeod PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ M2270/W/18/3215871

term “modest” should be proportionate to the size of the dwelling and its curtilage.

Inspector Rory MacLeod noted that the studio floor space would amount to less than 1 per cent of the main house’s curtilage, which was 75,000 square metres.

He ruled that while it “would not be a small building”, it would be considerably smaller than the main house and would not dominate it visually. He concluded that the studio could be considered “modest” in line with local policy.

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C&D { C Build-to-rent Kingston scheme contrary to regeneration plan Demolition of a popular former music venue and other post-war buildings in Kingston upon Thames to make way for a scheme including 311 flats would conflict with the council’s vision for the area, an inspector has ruled. for a comprehensive redevelopment of the site, with a single building designed as “a series of linked mansion block elements” arranged in a horseshoe shape, ranging from nine to 12 storeys high.

It would provide more than 2,000 square metres of flexible space on its lower floors, and 311 build-to-rent flats above. But the council’s SPD specified a height of between six and eight storeys for new buildings in the area.

Inspector Mike Hayden

acknowledged that the design of the building was “rooted in London’s mansion block traditions”.

Nonetheless, he said the overall height, mass and bulk of the proposal would have a poor relationship with the smaller scale of the neighbouring ‘old town’ area.

He found lesser harm to other listed heritage assets.

Hayden concluded that the heritage harm he had found alone was a compelling reason to refuse permission and dismissed the appeal.

King’s Cross redevelopment blocked despite mayor’s support

for [the] well-designed scheme”, but the council was concerned that it would harm the locally listed buildings.

Inspector David Nicholson ruled that the bold design of the dormers would harm the significance of the old mill.

The appellant said the new buildings would be “more pleasing to the eye” than the 1980s buildings. But Nicholson noted that they had been “deemed worthy of a positive comment

in Pevsner’s Buildings of England in 1998”.

The inspector agreed that the scheme would provide a substantial increase in office space, but ruled that despite the significant design skill that had gone into the scheme and the mayor’s approval, the heritage harm he had identified was decisive.

AUTHORITY: Kingston­upon­Thames Borough Council

INSPECTOR: Mike Hayden PROCEDURE: Inquiry DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ Z5630/W/19/3223667

An inspector rejected plans for a canal-side project to provide 2,000sq m of additional office space in North London that was ‘strongly supported’ by the Mayor of London, citing heritage harm.

The appeal concerned a row of five buildings by the Regent’s Canal, in King’s Cross, North London. Two of the buildings form part of a historic mill complex and are locally listed. The other three are 1980s office buildings.

The appellant sought permission for a complex redevelopment project to extend the locally listed buildings and replace the newer offices with a new development providing mixed-use commercial and leisure space. The works would include alterations to the height of the mill

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building’s roofline, and the installation of large doubleheight dormer windows facing the canal.

The Mayor of London expressed “strong support

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

The appeal concerned a “prominent and sensitive” area within Kingston upon Thames town centre, occupied by a number of “relatively poorquality” post-war buildings.

The council accepted that the buildings were of no architectural merit and should be replaced. In 2015, it issued a supplementary planning document (SPD) to guide development in the area, which it dubbed The Eden Quarter.

The appellant sought permission

LOCATION: Kingston­upon­Thames

LOCATION: King’s Cross AUTHORITY: Islington Borough Council INSPECTOR: David Nicholson PROCEDURE: Inquiry DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ V5570/W/18/3203871

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DECISIONS DIGEST{

SUBSCRIBE to our appeals digest:

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

More time for 1,850­home Edinburgh Marina project A reporter has granted a five-year extension to a major 2003 outline permission for redevelopment of Granton Harbour in Edinburgh that was time-limited to 15 years, citing the impact of the 2008 global recession. re bit.ly/planner1019-marina

Tall building rejected for or harm to area and loss of LGBT+ venue

Timber processing not allowed under Timb green belt forestry exception

A mixed-use redevelopment ment comprising a 12-storey building in East London has been rejected because e it would lead to the loss o off a LGBT+ nightclub as welll as harming conservation areas and the character and ar nd appearance of the locality. ap p y. bit.ly/planner1019-LGBT b T

An inspector has blocked plans for a “forestry storage building” in Kent’s Metropolitan Metr Green Belt, ruling that it did not n fall within the provisions of NPPF paragraph par 145(g) because it would be “a follow-up foll p activity y taking g place p after the actual actua al forestry”. bit.ly/planner1019-forest

Cantilevered Cant tilevered hillt hilltop top home blocked by bats in Bath A design review panel-supported proposal osal to replace an existing home overlooking ng the city of Bath with a unique contemporary rary house has been blocked by an inspector, ctor, who cited concerns over the e scheme’s impact on protected bats. bit.ly/planner1019-bats y/p planner1019-bats

Parliament Square suffragette statue plans rejected P Plans lodged by former MP Sir Neil Thorne to install a P second se e statue of Emmeline e Pankhurst in Westminster have b pector noted that monument been blocked, after an inspector space sp p in the area is a “finite e resource”. bit.ly/planner1019-Pankhurst b urst

Dragonn is acceptable but noo castle allowed on mini­golf course

Holiday cabins not for ‘genuine outdoor activities’ An inspector has refused plans for four holiday cabins in the Somerset green belt, ruling that they were more likely to be used by Bristol Airport passengers than those “interested in genuine outdoor recreation”. bit.ly/planner1019-cabins

A 15ft straw castle would harm the setting of a grade-II listed w water mill on the Isle of Wight, ruled an inspector, before deeming the rest of a “loosely King Arthur-themed” mini-golf course acceptable. bit.ly/planner1019-dragon

Lack of rent cap guarantee halts Croydon student flats

Affordability does not justify ‘wholly inadequate’ q basement flat

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An inspector has blocked plans to convert a listed building in Croydon into student accommodation, after the appellant failed to produce a legal agreement that would secure a rent cap for future occupants. bit.ly/planner1019-students

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LLegal landscape OPIN IO N

Councils must climate-proof plans Environmental law charity ClientEarth has written to 100 local authorities in England urging them to set robust local carbon targets.

Sam Hunter Jones outlines the rationale behind this move

In July, the Committee on Climate Change published its annual report to Parliament on the UK’s progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the risks of climate change.

Its conclusions were damning. The committee found there was “a substantial gap” between planned policies and what’s required and “an even greater shortfall in action”.

It outlined that the UK was on track to miss the fourth and fifth carbon budgets – and by a larger margin than last year. It emphasised the need for a “substantial step up in action” across the economy, – especially in acute sectors such as buildings and transport. On adaptation, the committee found that there was “little evidence of planning for even 2°C”, let alone for the recommended 4°C scenario.

Clearly, there is a failure by central government to prioritise this problem and to commit adequate resources.

But local government also has a critical influence. This is particularly the case for local planning policy – a key regulator of emissions from building and transport.

There is a legal duty

42

Although most local authorities have climate change policies, few can show that their planning policies are designed to secure their area’s contribution to the full decarbonisation of the UK, as required. This leads to a situation where those under section 19(1A) of the deciding applications are Planning and Compulsory left with no clear guidance Purchase Act 2004 to as to whether the proposed ensure that climate change developments before them mitigation and adaptation are consistent with their are core objectives integrated area’s decarbonisation plans. across all local planning In this context, the policy. There is also a legal RTPI has emphasised that obligation under the Strategic “without adequate planning Environmental Assessment systems and policies, there (SEA) regulations to assess is no realistic planning policy’s way to progress consistency with “WHAT – AND wider climate HOW – WE BUILD to zero carbon” and that change objectives. TODAY WILL “nothing should These duties are DETERMINE OUR also supported CLIMATE IMPACT be planned by requirements AND RESILIENCE without having successfully in national TO RISKS” demonstrated it planning policy is fit to take its and guidance that place in a netlocal planning zero emissions support “radical future”. It is the only reductions” in emissions cost-effective, resilient and in line with the Climate sustainable way to plan.

Change Act, on the basis of a This is why ClientEarth “robust evaluation of future has written to the 100 local emissions”. planning authorities in However, compliance England currently reviewing with these long-standing their local plans to remind obligations is poor. This them of their legal duties and was illustrated by a 2016 to help them to understand survey conducted by the what is needed to achieve Town and Country Planning compliance.

Association that found only Specifically, local 30 per cent of the authorities authorities need to do at least surveyed assessed policies’ three things: carbon impacts, with no • Set a local carbon target indication that the picture framework. has improved since then.

• Demonstrate proposed planning policies’ consistency with this.

• Monitor performance on at least an annual basis using relevant indicators.

A large number of councils have declared climate emergencies in recent months. Taking urgent steps to climate-proof local planning policy is one obvious way to implement those declarations.

The urgency of the situation is hard to escape.

What – and how – we build today will determine our climate impact and resilience to risks. But it will also determine whether we can unlock the numerous benefits resulting from strong local action on carbon emissions, above all in allowing communities to lead healthier lives – for example, by reducing air pollution and increasing levels of cycling and walking.

Responding to the climate crisis is the defining issue of our time, and it is critical that local authorities invest enough time and resources on getting their response right, within their financial and other structural constraints.

A paradigm shift is required across every area our economy – and none more so than planning. For local authorities, this shift happens to be required by existing law.

Sam Hunter Jones is a lawyer, climate accountability, with ClientEarth

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EVENTS

CASES

LEGISLATION

NEWS

ANALYSIS

NEWS New guidance published on s.78 appeals The Planning Inspectorate has published new guidance for the submission of the Statement of Case and Statement of Common Ground for s.78 appeals. There is also a new process for each.

The changes follow the review by Bridget Rosewell of planning appeal inquiries, the conclusions of which were published in February. The inspectorate has published new statement of case guidance for appellants to follow.

A digital document will be available on the portal that the inspectorate is developing. The guide sets out several changes, including: • Appellants must submit a draft main statement of common/uncommon ground upon appeal submission.

• Within five weeks of the start date, the local planning authority must submit an agreed main statement of common/uncommon ground. A suggested format is provided in the guidance and will later be available on the new portal.

• A topic-based approach to ensure that disagreement on some matters between parties does not hold up the submission of agreed positions on others.

• Early identification for areas of disagreement.

The planning appeals procedural guide has been updated to reflect the changes. It can be found here: bit.ly/planner1019-CommonGround

Councillor cleared of fault over caravan site Councillor David Price has been cleared of wrongdoing following complaints about the legality of caravan pitches on his land.

A former Powys planning chair, Price was granted a certificate of lawfulness in 2018 to run 28 pitches at Noyadd Farm, Builth Wells.

Evidence suggested that he had been running 28 pitches for years when Caravan Club rules only allowed him five.

The complaint to the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales was made

by Conservative member Gwilym Williams and Plaid Cymru’s Elwyn Vaughan, after permission was granted for the pitches. Price made the application after rival caravan site owners accused him of flouting planning rules.

Council planning officers held an internal investigation and found that Price had been running the site for too long to be subject to enforcement action. The ombudsman has since cleared him of breaking the members’ code of conduct.

Oxford clamps down on ‘beds in sheds’ Oxford City Council has shut down 21 ‘beds in sheds’ and served 31 enforcement notices since January 2018, when it received government funding to tackle the issue.

A grant of £274,942 from central government funded three additional full-time members of staff for two years.

Officers have visited more than 1,000 suspected beds in sheds so far and expected to visit another 400 by the end of this year.

The council said inspections found more than 70 privately rented properties requiring inspection and a number of unlicensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), which have since been referred to its HMO enforcement team to investigate.

Linda Smith, cabinet member for leisure and housing, said: “Oxford has the highest proportion of private rented homes in the country and every private tenant should have a decent roof over their head. We work proactively to drive up standards in private rented housing and we won’t tolerate rogue landlords exploiting tenants by providing substandard and dangerous housing – whether this is a bed in a shed, a house in multiple occupation or a family home.”

LEGAL BRIEFS Wales Draft National Development Framework consultation The Welsh government is seeking views on its draft National Development Framework until 1st November. bit.ly/planner1019-WalesDraft

RTPI Scotland Annual Conference 2019, 1st October, Glasgow RTPI Scotland’s flagship event, to be held at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena, will include walking tours of the city and speakers including Kevin Stewart MSP, minister for local government, housing and planning. bit.ly/planner1019-ScotCon

Tower Hamlets loses demolition challenge A High Court judge has “without much enthusiasm” refused an appeal by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets against an inspector’s granting of retrospective planning permission to demolish three homes, Local Government Lawyer reports. bit.ly/planner1019-TowerHamlets

RTPI Ireland Annual Law Lecture 16th October, Dublin RTPI Ireland’s annual law lecture will be delivered by Eamon Galligan, a barrister and qualified planner who specialises in planning and environmental law, compulsory purchase, local government and constitutional law. bit.ly/planner1019-Galligan

The cost of justice: certainty?

Planning solicitor Stephen Ashworth considers whether the courts have become more generous towards councils that have made mistakes in awarding planning permissions. bit.ly/planner1019-LawBlog

Shelter calls for action on homes built under permitted development The housing charity Shelter has said that the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 could be used to improve the quality of homes built under permitted development rights, Local Government Lawyer reports. bit.ly/planner1019-PDR

Dear housing secretary...

Christopher Young QC outlines 11 things that the new housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, can do to improve housing delivery in Britain. bit.ly/planner1019-Jenrick

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NEWS

RTPI {

RTPI news pages are edited

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

Legal teams to be recognised at RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence 2020

Submissions for next year’s RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence – the longest running and most high-profile awards in the industry – have now opened.

For 40 years, these prestigious awards have rewarded the brightest talent in the planning profession – the teams, projects and individuals that have transformed economies, environments and communities across the UK and internationally.

For 2020, a new category has been introduced to recognise the achievements of legal teams working in the field of planning, including law firms, barristers’ chambers and in-house planning law teams. The team must include at least one legal associate member of the RTPI. RTPI President Ian Tant said: “The tremendous range of submissions reflect the outstanding contribution to society made by planners. Finalists and winners are celebrated at the Awards ceremony and provide the case studies for our work to raise the profile of planning. I am particularly delighted that next year we will also be recognising those legal teams that play such a vital role in guiding clients through the complex and ever-changing UK planning system.”

Winners of all project categories will also be considered for the Silver Jubilee Cup, awarded each year to the best project overall.

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l Winners at the 2019 Awards included ed independent consultancy Fiona Fyfe Associates (above), London Borough of e Lewisham (right) and North Tyneside Council (below)

IN NUMB ERS

n Submissions for the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence 2020 can be made until Monday 16 December 2019. Finalists will be announced in February 2020 and the winners will be announced at a ceremony on 30 April 2020 at Milton Court Concert Hall in central London.

n For more information on how to make a submission, visit bit.ly/planner1019PlanningExcellence

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Number of prizes, including the Silver Jubilee Cup for overall winner, up for grabs at the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence 2020

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Editorial E: rtpinews@rtpi.org.uk

RTPI (switchboard) T: 020 7929 9494

Registered charity no.

262865 Registered charity in Scotland SCO37841

M Y V I E W O N … S U S TA I N A B L E U R B A N I S AT I O N Olafiyin Taiwo believes that achieving a better quality of life for all in an urbanising world is only possible with effective planning processes Unplanned urbanisation can lead to severe consequences such as increased crime, inequality, environmental pollution, vulnerability to disaster and inadequate basic shelter. However, sustainable urbanisation presents an opportunity for improved security and equality, economic growth and development, climate change action and resilience.

Five resolutions were adopted at the recent inaugural UN-Habitat Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, including a strategic plan for the period 2020-2023. Planning is crucial as an integral tool in achieving the outcomes set out in this plan, with urban planning and design forming one of four fundamental ‘drivers of change’.

Inclusive engagement of all segments of society in the planning and management of cities and communities is paramount in ensuring more equitable access to public space, basic and social services, infrastructure and livelihood opportunities. It is safe to conclude that achieving a better quality of life for all in an urbanising world is unsustainable without effective urban planning processes.

Olafiyin is a planner with the London Borough of Ealing, co-founder of Life Brooks International and a member of RTPI’s International Committee.

Follow her on Twitter @OlafiyinTaiwo

POSITION POINTS

BETTER TRANSPORT JAMES HARRIS, RTPI POLICY AND NETWORKS MANAGER The RTPI is delighted to have joined up with the Transport Planning Society and the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation to launch Better Planning, Better Transport, Better Places, offering advice on ways to embed sustainable transport through plan-making and development management.

Our 2018 report on settlement patterns and urban form described the fundamental role that transport infrastructure plays in shaping our towns and cities. However, our disjointed approach to transport and land use planning can make it difficult to locate, design and service developments in ways that encourage sustainable modes of travel.

We know that the barriers to integration are complex, including the excessive focus on short-term housing targets and a lack of investment. However, there are practical steps that professionals can take to increase housing supply while simultaneously meeting the wider objectives of the NPPF. To download the advice, visit bit.ly/planner1019-CIHT

RESOURCING PUBLIC PLANNING TOM KENNY, RTPI POLICY OFFICER Local authorities in England now invest just £400 million a year in planning, down 42 per cent since 2009-10 in real terms. These cuts have had a major impact on local authorities including on the way they approach planning.

However, rather than just pushing back against cuts we need to be making a broad case for a major increase in the level of resource dedicated to spatial planning. Not only is the current level of resourcing unsustainable, but we know that planning is an efficient way to deliver a broad range of social, environmental and economic goals. Planning also brings increased tax revenue for local authorities. Spending on planning is a small part of total public spending, which means relatively major increases in resourcing could be made with little overall impact on budgets. Moreover, these investments would deliver huge returns – rather than being forced to rely on generating more fees, local planning authorities could help deliver outcomes which make society more resilient, happier and fairer.

Download the report at: bit.ly/planner1019-Resourcing I M AG E S | RT P I

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NEWS

RTPI { RTPI N E W S

Speaker announced for 2019 Nathaniel Lichfield Lecture The RTPI has announced that Professor Gavin Parker will be giving this year’s Nathaniel Lichfield Lecture, which will be held at the London School of Economics on 18 November, Professor Parker is a fellow of the RTPI and Professor of Planning Studies in the Department of Real Estate and Planning at the University of Reading.

His lecture will be entitled ‘Participation 50 years after Skeffington’, and will mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Skeffington Report. This groundbreaking document reflected growing post-war interest in ‘participatory democracy’ – the idea that ordinary people need to be engaged in decisionmaking rather than just voting for representatives to make decisions.

Prof Parker said: “It is a pleasure and great opportunity to publicly share my thoughts on the legacy and work to

be done 50 years after the Skeffington Report.

“The topic is of such importance and deserves more serious and sustained attention – hopefully, the platform that the Nathaniel Lichfield Lecture provides will help raise the profile of issues in public participation in planning.”

According to Prof Parker, there is a need to accept that efforts to build trust in the planning process and engage widely and effectively have largely failed, with exceptions proving the rule. He believes that trust in planning, in developers and in both local and national government is and has been consistently low and that there is a need to explore, in a systematic way, how, when and with whom to engage effectively.

He will also call for both a review and then an independent national body to inform, organise and support participatory activity.

ENGLAND ENFORCEMENT HANDBOOK

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Professor Gavin Parker FRTPI maintains a strong research interest in citizenship, participation and governance in land, planning and development

RTPI NATHANIEL LICHFIELD LECTURE The RTPI’s prestigious Annual Lecture, named after former RTPI President Nathaniel Lichfield, takes place each November, attracting a large and diverse audience.

A generous endowment for the lecture was received from Nathaniel Lichfield’s widow Dalia in 2011, and this has ensured that the RTPI is able to continue to organise the event.

For more information and to book your ticket, visit bit.ly/planner1019-LichfieldLecture2019

HRH PRINCE OF WALES

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has committed £1.5 million for the 2019/20 financial year to help local authorities deal with unauthorised development.

The RTPI is delighted to announce that part of this funding will be used to support the National Association of Planning Enforcement (NAPE) to review and update the England Enforcement Handbook.

An updated edition of this handbook, due to be launched in Spring 2020, will help to ensure that local authorities have access to the latest best practice advice on how to deal effectively with a range of enforcement challenges.

The RTPI is delighted to announce that HRH The Prince of Wales has accepted to be Patron for a further term.

Reacting to the announcement, RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills said: “As Patron of the RTPI since 1989, His Royal Highness has inspired us with his strong belief in the creation of genuinely sustainable and resilient communities both in the UK and internationally.

“As the Institute embarks on its journey to deliver our new corporate

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I M AG E S | RT P I

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strategy to support and champion the planning profession in tackling the many environmental and social challenges ahead, especially those posed by climate change and urban growth, we are privileged to have His Royal Highness’s continued support.”

Over the years the RTPI has worked closely with The Prince’s Foundation on projects such as the international Planning for Rapid Urbanisation initiative and the Beauty in My Back Yard online resource.

18/09/2019 09:31

G PLANNIN AHEAD MEMBER NEWS

Key dates for 2019

NEW CHARTERED MEMBERS Congratulations to the following planners who have been elected to Chartered Membership, following the outcome of the APC second round resubmission assessment period.

Join us at an RTPI Training masterclass given by Rob Cowan on ‘Planning and design: making better places’ in Cambridge.

Design awareness and assessment is OCT an important skill for planners – this masterclass will examine how local authorities can write effective design policy, how consultants can help developers to achieve good design, and how planners can tell the difference between good design and bad when appraising development.

It will also look at the role of design in winning planning appeals..

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n For more information and to get your ticket, visit bit.ly/planner1019-Cambridge

Heather Alexander Scotland Dimitra Angelopoulou South East Laura Bage London

6

n For more information, and to get your free ticket, visit bit.ly/planner1019-NAPECon To mark the 70th anniversary of World Town Planning Day, join RTPI London in collaboration with Arup for a free event to reflect NOV on how planning has shaped our world. RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills will join leading planning professionals including Arup Planning Leader and RTPI Fellow Christopher Tunnell (pictured) to consider what the main challenges and innovations have been over the past 70 years and what lessons have been learned for the future.

7

n For more information, email london@rtpi.org.uk

Robert Gandy Yorkshire Fay Goodson South East

Eoghan McConville London Caoilfhionn McMonagle Northern Ireland

Michael Hale South West

Andrew McPheat London

Rebecca Halliwell North West

Muireann Murphy London

Steven Healey North West

Lyndsey Peake Northern Ireland

James Hewitt Scotland

Jane Richardson South East

Lihan Ibrahim Overseas

Clare Roberts South West

James Jackson South West

Owen Roberts North West

Zoe John Wales

Heather Marie Carlisle South West

Jill Sampson East Midlands

Andrew Jones South West

Robert Sellen South East

Claudia Carter West Midlands

Gwen Jones Wales

Gillian Slater South West

Antonia Catlow South East

Harry William Knibb South East

Timothy Spencer South East

Heather Lai East of England

Eleanor Sullivan Wales

Amy Littlejohns North West

Rachel Thornley North West Graha Vaughan South East

Charlotte Bailey South East Anastasia Bernard London Harsha Bhundia London James Blythe North East Aaron Brown London

The 2019 annual he conference of the ation National Association of Planning Enforcement (NAPE) will take place at NOV the Allia Future e Business Centre h at Peterborough ly United Football Club. This event is kindly s. RTPI sponsored by No. 5 Barristers Chambers.

President Ian Tant will open proceedings before a full day of hot topics at the forefront of planning enforcement. This year’s sessions will include a talk from Dr Paul Field, senior lawyer at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, on the role of drones in planning enforcement activity.

Lisa Fairmaner London

Gemma Bufton Wales

Suzie Cave Northern Ireland Adam Collier South East Sarah Cottingham South East

Iain MacPherson Scotland

Robert Webster East Midlands

Michael Peter Daley Yorkshire

Robert Major North West

Thomas de Garis South West

Joseph Maphosa South East

Amy Victoria Williamson North East

Benjamin Dixon London

Fiona McCall North East

Robert East South East

Ian McCluskey North West

Elizabeth Woods West Midlands

RTPI ELECTIONS 2019 Many thanks to all those members who voted in the RTPI Elections for 2019. Among the positions open were Vice-President, for which there were two candidates, as well as positions on the Board of Trustees and General Assembly. Voting is now closed, and candidates will be notified of results shortly.

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13/09/2019 14:50 17/09/2019 14:58

'INSIGHT'

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50 PLAN B_October 2019_The Planner 50

n No permission required Tweet us - @ThePlanner_RTPI 18/09/2019 12:51

LANDSCAPE

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

The development of the English town (1942-43) The British Council is behind the posting of this 15-minute black-andwhite short. Expect mentions of Welwyn Garden City, Bournville et al as part of a rush through England’s move towards, and introduction of, town planning. It’s billed as “a promotion of the virtues of today’s well-considered community blueprints" which demonstrates “the advances in town planning through a critique of our ancestors’ built environments.” bit.ly/planner1019-BritishTowns

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO..

That’s right, listening – because what we have here is the track Design Guide by William Doyle (Feat.

Brian Eno). If your question is “wait, are you seriously telling me that a man has created a song based on the text of design guides?”, the answer is a ‘Yes. No really, yes.’ Available from all good streaming services, and quite possibly as a revolving plastic disk of some kind.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING 2...

London's Hidden Tunnels A compilation of painstakingly drawn illustrations showing the tunnels that connect London’s Tube stations. (Our favourite is the first such image, which shows what’s above and below Piccadilly Circus.) bit.ly/planner1019-Tube Also check out this link to 3D ‘axonometric’ maps of every Underground station.

Click on one and they all roll by on your screen. You’ll find it oddly transfixing. bit.ly/planner1019-IanVisits

WHERE WE'RE GOING...

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

See the full calendar here: bbit.ly/planner1019-Calendar RTPI Ireland Annual Law Lecture 16 October, Wood Quay, Dublin

Local Infrastructure Planning and Delivery 23 October, Sheffield (Venue TBA)

The RTPI Annual Law Lecture will be given by Eamon Galligan SC. Eamon is a barrister at the Bar of Ireland and specialises in planning and environmental law, compulsory purchase, local government and constitutional law.

He is also a qualified town planner and editor of the Irish Planning and Environmental Law Journal.

The conference will explore creative and effective approaches to planning and delivering a range of local level infrastructure projects and discuss how the planning process can be used as the catalyst for achieving wider policy objectives.

bit.ly/planner1019-Law

bit.ly/planner1019-Doyle

WHAT W WE’RE PLANNING Our November Nov edition focuses on young planners but also the broader interaction planner between young people and planning. We’ll then end the calendar year with a discussion on the practical application of viability testing and practica to when such tests are conducted. likely changes ch Contact editorial@theplanner.co.uk to suggest themes for our future features.

bit.ly/planner1019-Infrastructure

National Association of Planning Enforcement Annual Conference 2019 6 November, Allia Future Business Centre, Peterborough United FC A full day of hot topics at the forefront of planning enforcement including: drones, preparing a notice, permitted development rights, planning law, a Planning Inspectorate and more. (Please note this conference is only available to NAPE members.) bit.ly/planner1019-NAPECon

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If undelivered please return to: The Royal Town Planning Institute 41 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DL

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