The Planner February 2016

FEBRUARY 2016 WHY COUNCILS AREN’T BUILDING MORE HOUSES // p.22 • WHAT NOW FOR ONSHORE WIND? // p.26 • ASIA’S URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGE // p.30 • RTPI ENGLAND’S GREATEST PLACES AWARD: THE MERSEY WATERFRONT // p.34

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

HOW COUNCILS ARE ADAPTING TO CUTS AND POLICY SHIFTS

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PLANNER 06 18

CONTENTS

THE

FEBRU ARY

NEWS

6 How a Great North Plan can revive a region

7 Scotland must set ambitious renewables target, says industry body

OPINION

8 After the deluge: What should be done?

9 Planning and housing professionals receive New Year Honours 10 Is this the ‘privatisation of planning’?

11 Cameron promises to transform 100 housing estates

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12 Chris Shepley: Blotches on the housing bill won’t come out in the wash 16 Craig McLaren: What does 2016 hold for planning in Scotland?

16 Hannah Wright: What’s the Plan B for housing recovery?

17 Judith Barnes: The pull of a plan for the North 17 Simon Marsh: Nature has a part to play in flood defence

“EMPLOYERS IN THE SOUTH ARE BEGINNING TO WORRY ABOUT THE POTENTIAL EXODUS UP NORTH OF SKILLED PEOPLE” RTPI CHIEF EXECUTIVE TRUDI ELLIOTT ARGUING THE CASE FOR A GREAT NORTH PLAN

“THERE’S SCOPE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO BECOME MORE PRIVATE SECTOR­ LIKE IN THE WAY IT MANAGES ITSELF, BUT NOT IN TERMS OF ITS IDEALS. WHY CAN’T WE BE AS LEAN? SOMEONE STILL HAS TO WRITE THE MASTERPLAN. THE PRIVATE SECTOR DOESN’T MAGIC UP A NEW WAY OF DOING THINGS”

C O V E R I M A G E | S A M PA R I J

INSIGHT

FEATURES

36 Decisions in focus: Development decisions, round-up and analysis

18 As local authorities adapt to budget cuts and policy changes, Simon Wicks looks at how planning teams are refocusing and restructuring 22 Mark Smulian asks why councils aren’t building more houses 26 Will withdrawal of gov government support for onshore wind kill the industry? Elisabeth Jeff Jeffries reports 30 Population g gro growth is hindering atte attempts

by Asian citi to modernise cities inf infrastructure, says Kris Ha Hartley

QUOTE UNQUOTE

20 16

3 4 Case Study: The 34 Liv Liverpool waterfront

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40 Legal landscape: Opinion, blogs, and news from the legal side of planning 42 Plan Ahead – our pick of upcoming events for the planning profession and beyond 44 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 50 Plan B: Where Ziggy first played guitar

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FE B R U AR Y 2 01 6 / THE PLA NNER

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PLAN UPFRONT

Leaderr Negotiating the information roadblock – If there is one thing Whitehall-watchers agree on, it is that for 20 years Budget speeches, Comprehensive Spending Reviews and the Amazonian forest of documents accompanying them have become more misleading than reliable.

In November’s spending review, rather than unveiling the actual settlements the Treasury reached with departments, it published comparisons with its own spending review baseline.

– the same baseline it had absolutely no intention of sticking to. In one example, the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s day-to-day spending fell by around 40 per cent rather than the 16 per cent featured by the Treasury.

The spending review means efficiency reforms, which alongside the drive to devolution, increase the emphasis on learning

Huw Morris from what’s happening in the country. Here lies an information roadblock. Too often the right data does not exist. Or there is too much data to make the right decision. Or there aren’t the people to find the right information. Or that the information is out there but nobody knows how to use it.

Sounds like Yes, Minister.

To add fuel to the fire, research by YouGov last year found that 53 per cent of the public wants to be involved in big policy

decisions but only 7 per cent feel they are heard.

That’s a recipe for rancour when the climate is dominated by the need for tough decisions.

A study by the Institute for Government offers some lessons on how to engage the public that will sound familiar to many in planning and development.

The public is either unclear about what it can achieve through participation or, more dangerously, its expectations are too high.

People want to see their involvement has an impact.

They also want to be involved early. The institute highlights Amsterdam’s

"RESEARCH BY YOUGOV LAST YEAR FOUND THAT 53 PER CENT OF THE PUBLIC WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN MAJOR POLICY DECISIONS BUT ONLY 7 PER CENT FEEL THEY ARE HEARD"

Schiphol Airport, where two years of engagement led people to approve its expansion with noise and pollution controls.

There’s a lesson there as the UK agonises over airport expansion in the South-East. Then there is involving the right people through the right channels – targeting specific groups who use a service, not just the general public.

What has to change?

One-off consultations are barely exercises in listening, particularly when they have sharp deadlines. And there is still a prevailing attitude that engagement is a benevolent act from on high when the public might just help find a better outcome.

And if engagement was a continuous feature of services, this would lead to pools of people who could be mobilised when hard decisions had to be made.

Planners could teach the country a few things in some of these fields but take a few tips in others as we struggle to do more with less.

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Average net circulation 20,646 (October-December 2013) © The Planner is published on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) by Redactive Publishing Ltd (RPL), 17 Britton St, London EC1M 5TP. This magazine aims to include a broad range of opinion about planning issues and articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the RTPI nor should such opinions be relied upon as statements of fact.

All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any print or electronic format, including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet, or in any other format in whole or in partww in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher. While all due care is taken in writing and producing this magazine, neither RTPI nor RPL accept any liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. Printed by Southernprint

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FEB R U AR Y 2 01 6 / THE PLA NNER

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NEWS

Analysis { DELIVERING THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE

How a Great North Plan can revive a region

By Simon Wicks Does the north of England need a regional plan to bring the dream of a Northern Powerhouse to life? With city devolution, HS2, population growth, and the outflow of young professionals from London, the opportunities for the North are, arguably, considerable.

But can these possibilities be realised without a broad vision for a region that stretches from Liverpool to Newcastle and encompasses Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield, as well as numerous smaller cities, market towns, villages, seaside resorts, and swathes of treasured landscape?

The idea of a “Great North Plan” is one that the RTPI and think tank IPPR North have spent the past several months exploring with planners, civic leaders and built environment professionals in a series of workshops. Discussion peaked in mid-January at the Northern Summit in Leeds, where it was wholeheartedly agreed that, yes, a plan would be desirable.

“But what should it look like?” asked IPPR North’s chief executive Ed Cox. Opinion so far was that any plan should be “high-level, strategic and brief” – as much a vision as a plan. It should be a “voluntary strategic collaboration” between local authorities, businesses, civic leaders and local people. It should open the door to specific plans for geographic areas and key themes, such as: c Connectivity and transport; c Economic growth; c Green infrastructure; c Population change; and c Recreational assets.

It should also feed into a “prospectus” for the North that could be used to attract investment nationally and internationally.

“What we have found is there’s an appetite for thinking about the north of England in a more holistic way,” said Cox. “It goes beyond transport and beyond competitive cities. Lots of towns and rural areas have a symbiotic relationship with the cities too – we need to open the process out and make it more inclusive.”

For keynote speaker Lord Heseltine – a veteran of massive regeneration projects and a supporter of HS2 – city devolution was bound to unlock prosperity in the North. Indeed, elected mayors could bring forward strong leaders, prompt a revival of local democracy and revive a long-lost economic momentum.

For though the Industrial Revolution had created “unacceptable”

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urban living conditions” city devolution would nevertheless herald “the long-overdue return of this country to its 19th century dynamics which made it the world leader in the Industrial Revolution”.

A “broad vision” for the region would be a good thing, Heseltine agreed. As to whether its implementation should be led by the private or public sector, “the answer is neither. The best solutions are where the knowledge, skills and expertise of both are brought together.”

“THE LINK BETWEEN RTPI president Trudi Elliott TRANSPORT AND stressed that the North was REGENERATION IS well placed to capitalise on its SEEN AS OBVIOUSLY heritage and existing assets – CRITICAL – AND but advised that it would be YOU CANNOT DO ONE worth learning from how WITHOUT THE OTHER” – TRUDI ELLIOTT other similar-sized regions had promoted economic prosperity and a sense of place.

The Randstadt in the Netherlands and the Ruhr in Germany illustrated the importance of collaboration between cities in planning transport links, housing and infrastructure.

“The Ruhr has historical similarities to northern England,” said Elliott. “It has strong industrial roots but is reinventing itself.

There’s a focus on derelict land and the contribution of new landscapes to regeneration.

“The link between transport and regeneration is seen as obviously critical – and you cannot do one without the other.”

In Elliott’s view a successful plan for the North would address: c Transport; c Growth sectors; c Jobs in city centres and outlying places; c The relationship between housing and transport; c Overlapping job markets; c Skills challenges (with a particular stress on the role of universities); and c Connections with areas “beyond the border” – e.g. in Wales and Scotland.

“Marketing the North is important,” she added. “People need to understand where you are talking about in terms of international investment.”

Cox said the RTPI and the IPPR hoped to create a blueprint for a “Great North Plan” by spring, with a final plan to follow in April 2017.

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

22/01/2016 15:16

PLAN UPFRONT

15%

Renewables produce 15 per cent of Scotland’s energy use across electricity, heat and transport

50%

Scotland should set a “stretching target” for renewables to “produce the equivalent of at least 50 per cent”

Scotland must set ambitious renewables target, says industry body Scotland should set an ambitious target of generating the equivalent of half of its total electricity, heat and transport demand from renewables by 2030, says industry body Scottish Renewables.

Scottish Renewables, which represents more than 300 organisations, says that to meet the goal a “threefold increase in green energy generation” would be required.

The call forms part of the organisation’s manifesto, Renewed Ambitions: Defining The Future Of Renewable Energy In Scotland, which was launched on 13 January ahead of May’s Scottish Parliament election.

The manifesto sets out how Scottish Renewables believes that the next government can support the growth of the sector, and the economic and environmental bene-

New planning standards for flats in force in Ireland The Irish government has published updated guidelines on standards for new flats that contain specific national planning policy requirements.

These will take precedence over policies and objectives of development plans, local area plans or strategic development zone planning schemes and will apply to all housing developments, whether public or private.

The guidelines have been introduced to boost the provision of flats in urban areas.

Environment minister Alan Kelly insisted that flats meeting the new standards would be affordable to construct and affordable to buy.

The guidelines are supported by legislation under the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2015 and were the subject of the first set of Ministerial Guidelines issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended by the 2015 Act. The guidelines retain the minimum floor area standards that were set nationally in 2007. But for the first time they require that the majority of flats in an apartment scheme exceed the minimum floor area standard in the previous 2007 guidelines by at least 10 per cent.

The guidelines introduce the idea of studio units as a possibility (minimum 40 square metres), but only in managed, build-to-let developments of more than 50 units in certain circumstances.

fits it is already delivering.

Chief executive of Scottish Renewables Niall Stuart said “ambitious” climate change and renewable energy targets have signalled the country’s “clear intent” for the country to “lead the way in the transition to a low-carbon economy”.

With renewables producing 15 per cent of Scotland’s energy use across electricity, heat and transport, and only four years until 2020, it is time to look ahead, he said.

Scotland should set a “stretching target” for renewables to “produce the equivalent of at least 50 per cent of all energy use across energy, heat and transport by 2030”.

“Achieving this new target will,” Stuart continued, “require strategic leadership from the next Scottish Government. The develop-

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire publish devolution details Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire have sent a “strong message” to chancellor George Osborne that now is the time for a devolution deal as the two city councils publish the region’s draft deal.

It also includes a change of name for the bid to the North Midlands Combined Authority.

The deal document, sent to Osborne and communities secretary Greg Clark just before Christmas, sets out the final negotiating position of Nottingham and Derby city councils as well as the local authorities behind the bid.

According to the councils, most of the deal has broad agreement, although a

ment of a comprehensive and joined-up energy strategy will allow the sector to maintain its competitiveness as well as spearheading the development and deployment of new technologies.

“Not only will these measures support growth in the next chapter of our industry, they will ensure that renewables can play a key role in meeting Scotland’s climate change targets, and maximise the jobs and investment that our sector can bring to Scotland,” he said. n The manifesto can be found here: tinyurl.com/planner0216-renewedambitions

small number of issues do require final discussion and sign-off. The deal sets out 10 key benefits that devolution would deliver for residents and businesses of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire: c 55,000 new private sector jobs; c 77,000 extra homes; c An investment fund over 30 years to provide infrastructure such as roads and bridges; c Adult skills provision that better meets the needs of businesses; c A joint transport fund to spend on key transport improvements; c A better coordinated public transport system with ‘Oyster-style’ smart ticketing; c More responsive and coordinated business support for growth; c The creation of substantially more apprenticeship opportunities; c More people entering employment through better targeted local programmes; and c Less than 90-minute train journey times to London.

The 19 councils across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, alongside business leaders from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers the two counties, also want to create a single combined authority for the region by March 2016.

This would be the first of its kind to feature district, borough, city and county councils. The combined authority and a new mayor elected by the two counties would receive a number of powers, including responsibility for delivering homes, jobs and boosting the economy.

FEB R U AR Y 2 016 / THE PLA NNER

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NEWS

Analysis { FLOODING

After the deluge: What should be done?

By Laura Edgar Last year, The Planner looked at the measures the Treasury vowed to fund to protect 300,000 homes. It pledged to create more than 1,400 flood defences using a £2.3 billion investment over six years.

The article* considered areas that have suffered from severe flooding in recent years, including the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland as well as considering ways to protect urban areas such as storing water and sustainable urban drainage systems.

This year, the north of England and parts of Scotland are beginning to repair the damage from the wettest December on record.

Is the government doing enough?

Friends of the Lake District don’t think the government is taking the right kind of action by just giving out money for repairs. Policy

GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

WELSH GOVERNMENT

£200 million to support homes, businesses, farmers and councils, including:

£12 million to aid communities in their recovery, in addition to £4 million allocated

by Deputy First Minister John Swinney in the Draft Budget 201617.

£4.2 million for Boverton in the Vale of Glamorgan and Porthcawl, to complete flood defence schemes.

Allocated in Draft Budge 2016-17.

£3.3 million to restore listed Tadcaster Bridge in Yorkshire

Grants of £1,500 through local authorities for households, businesses and charities.

Action plan to protect homes, businesses and communities from flooding. First phase supported by £235 million.

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Why is it still an issue?

If climate predictions are correct, and the increase in floods in the past 10 years would suggest that they are, said Willshaw, “the goalposts are moving”. A one-in-100 year chance of flooding is now a one-in-50 chance. Infrastructure – roads, energy and water, as well as flood defences – have not been “designed to cope with a changing climate and the risks that come with it”, said Willshaw.

The missing ingredient is political will, said Ellis. A conversation about 2050 has not yet been had about better defences or building communities in more resilient places. “The conversation should have been had 10 years ago.”

Planners and flood prevention The key role for planners, said Chris Findley, assistant director of planning at Salford City Council and RTPI North West member, is the location of development. The form of development is also important; “understanding potential flood impacts when planning forward through local plans and allocating sites, masterplanning so that flood risks are properly mitigated, and considering flood impacts in determining individual planning applications”.

In a densely built-up area such as Salford, said Findley, Victorian terraces lie within flood plains. Therefore the council seeks to ensure that flood protection is built into new development through plans, planning guidance and planning applications, working with the Environment Agency, the private sector and other agencies.

What can be done?

UK GOVERNMENT

£40 million to help repair flood damaged roads

officer Kate Willshaw said the government should be putting money into mitigating climate change, including cutting CO2 emissions and “increasing the resilience of our landscapes, properties and infrastructure to withstand more extreme rainfall”.

Hugh Ellis, head of policy at the Town and Country Planning Association, said what he finds most “extraordinary” is “the government’s refusal to consider climate change in the consultation of the National Planning Policy Framework”. “Economies,” he said, “are being undermined by repeated flooding events”.

£3 million announced in December 2015 for St Asaph.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency chief executive Terry A’Hearn said Flood Risk Management Strategies have been developed to reduce flood damage. “We have been working closely with local authorities to identify the most suitable actions to manage flood risk, and this is targeted towards areas where it will be most effective based on improved knowledge of the sources and impacts of flooding.”

Belinda Gordon, head of government and rural affairs at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said the first step must be to reconsider and reduce further development in flood-prone areas.

It should only go ahead if it can be protected. She said a range of techniques should be used rather than “assuming costly manmade structures are needed”.

Willshaw said properties and infrastructure could be made more resilient, and working with nature may be an answer in some catchments. But she emphasised that there is no one-sizefits-all solution. The UK Government will, she added, need to look at portfolios of ways to manage extreme rainfall, “some of which will be upstream land management, some of which will be flood relief and some of which will be hard engineering”. n*See here: www.theplanner.co.uk/features/turning-the-tide

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PLAN UPFRONT

Planning and housing professionals receive New Year Honours Senior planning professionals have been recognised for their achievements in the Queen’s New Year Honours list 2016.

Two RTPI members have been honoured.

Alice Lester, programmer manager at the Planning Advisory Service, has been awarded an MBE for services to planning, and Malcolm Sharp has received an MBE for services to Town and Country Planning in England.

Janet Askew, outgoing president of the RTPI, said: “It is a tribute to the tremendous work of Alice and Malcolm that they have been honoured in this way. They have both made an outstanding contribution to planning over many years and have made a real difference to communities as well as to the profession as a whole.”

John Worthington, director at the Academy of Urbanism and commissioner at the Independent Transport Commission, received an MBE for services to urban regeneration and voluntary service to transport; Peter Eversden, chair of the

Watchdog criticises Northern Ireland Housing Executive A former senior member of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) was involved in “fundamental” conflicts of inter-

London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies, has been awarded an MBE for services to community engagement in planning for London; and Rosaleen Kerslake, chief executive at The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, received an OBE for services to British Heritage.

The group chief executive for the Guinness Partnership, Simon Charles Dow, has received a CBE for services to housing and homeless people, and Paul Tennant, chief executive office for Orbit, has been awarded an OBE for services to housing.

Sinead Butters, chief executive of Aspire Group, has received an MBE for services to housing, while Katrina Robinson, solicitor and head of legal services at Viridian Housing and chair of the Tenancy Fraud Forum, gained an MBE for services to social housing. n The full list of honours can be found here (pdf): tinyurl.com/Planner0216-newyear-honours

est over land deals, says a report by the NI Audit Office.

It revealed that there was a breakdown in internal controls relating to a number of land dealings between 2004 and 2010.

Kieran Donnelly, the watchdog’s comptroller and auditor general, concluded that weaknesses in NIHE’s governance and an inadequate internal control environment prevented it from protecting its own interests and demonstrating value for money and probity in some of its land deals with private developers.

I M AG E S | A L A M Y

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Cardiff’s revised LDP makes the grade Cardiff’s revised local development plan has been approved by a planning inspector and was due to be formally signed off by the city council at the end of January.

The strategy represents the biggest expansion of the capital in the past 100 years.

Under the plan some 41,400 new homes will be built by 2026, half of them on brownfield sites or old industrial areas.

Around 12,200 homes have already been built, with 10,800 either already under construction or given planning permission.

About 18,000 remain to be built – 13,000 of them on greenfield sites in north-west Cardiff, north of M4 junction 33, north-east Cardiff and east Pontprennau.

Supporters say the expansion is needed to address the shortage of housing in the city, while opponents say the city’s infrastructure will not be able to cope.

The report pointed out that Colm McCaughley, director of the public housing body’s housing and regeneration division, had a close family member with links to private developer Big Picture Developments.

He challenged the housing executive’s objection to a planning application by the developer. His division attempted to alter a response to an Assembly question and wrote an inaccurate letter to planners in a bid to rescind the executive’s position.

In another case he had direct correspondence with the same family member, who was assisting another developer in legal matters surrounding an apartment complex. The report said: “In our view, these conflicts were so fundamental that Mr McCaughley should not have been involved in any land transactions with these companies.”

McCaughley retired from the executive in November 2011, after he was suspended following an investigation into a property deal at Belfast’s Nelson Street. n The Governance of Land and Property in the Northern Ireland Housing Executive can be found here (pdf): tinyurl.com/ planner0216-niaudit-governance

FEB R U AR Y 2 016 / THE PLA NNER

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NEWS

Analysis { HOUSING AND PLANNING BILL

Is this the ‘privatisation of planning’?

By Laura Edgar

properly to allow them to “operate properly” rather than be “undermined further”.

Last month, the Housing and Planning Bill The “privatisation of the planning moved to the House of Lords after passing system”, she said, destroys the “last shreds its third reading in the House of Commons. of the democratic process that safeguards The bill, which makes provision for how our communities are made, putting planning, housing, estate agents, rent power instead in the hands of developers”. charges and compulsory purchase, was Stephen Hammond, Conservative MP for met with dissent by several MPs in regard Wimbledon, accepted that there may be to an amendment tabled by communities problems with the pilot, but said housing minister Brandon Lewis has “clearly set secretary Greg Clark just before Christmas.

It would allow planning applications to be out” that the amendment aims to have “not processed by “alternative providers”. privatisation, but competition between This amendment states that the secretary local authorities”. of state “may by regulations make provision In a briefing about the bill, the RTPI for a planning application that falls to be commented: “A planning application is not determined by a specified simply a transaction between an applicant local planning authority and a determining body. in England to be pro“THE PRIVATISATION cessed, if the applicant so Currently, local authority OF THE PLANNING chooses, not by that planning officers will SYSTEM DESTROYS authority but by a desigtake into account the THE LAST SHREDS nated person”. A clause communities they serve OF THE DEMOCRATIC added that this does not when making their PROCESS THAT affect a local planning recommendations to SAFEGUARDS HOW authority’s responsibility elected councillors.

Any OUR COMMUNITIES new approach would for determining planning ARE MADE, PUTTING need to safeguard that applications and only POWER INSTEAD applies until a specified relationship.”

IN THE HANDS OF While shadow housing date.

DEVELOPERS” CAROLINE LUCAS MP Clive Betts, Labour MP and planning minister for Sheffield South East John Healey said the and chair of the CommuHousing and Planning Bill nities and Local Government Select fails to get to grips with the “problems of modern life and the crisis of home ownerCommittee, said the move was “effectively about the privatisation of the planning sership” and “sounds the death knell for social vice”. He asked: “Does it mean that an housing”, Clark argued that in formulating individual or organisation that submits a the bill there had “been a debate in which planning application will be free to shop words have had consequences”, with “signifaround for whichever alternative provider icant and strengthening changes” being they think can give them the best chance made as a result. of getting a planning application accepted?”

The bill’s third reading was passed on Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline division with 309 MPs voting yes and 216 Lucas echoed Betts’s concerns, suggesting voting against. It will now be considered that planning authorities should be funded in the Lords.

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REPORT STAGE ROUND­UP

New clauses debated (1) New clause 1: Building Control Standards for Starter Homes, which calls for starter homes to comply with a requirement for site inspection records and the assessment of compliance to be made available to home buyers.

(2) New clause 50 would incorporate the National Described Space Standard into building regulations to ensure that all new dwellings are built to meet those requirements.

(3) New clause 57 would, according to Labour MP for the City of Durham Roberta Blackman-Woods, “empower local authorities to impose a planning obligation when giving permission for the construction of new housing for sale requiring that a proportion of the housing is marketed exclusively to local first-time buyers”.

Amendments to the bill included changes that would: (1) Enable local authorities to ask for further planning gain measures that allow for a range of affordable housing other than just starter homes; (2) Ensure that starter homes are affordable at locally determined rates of income, and are limited to “exception sites”; and (3) Allow local authorities to develop a planning fees schedule that would enable the full costs of processing planning applications to be recovered.

I M AG E S | G E T T Y

22/01/2016 15:17

PLAN UPFRONT

Cameron promises to transform 100 housing estates Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to transform 100 housing estates in Britain, with a £140 million fund to start the work.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Cameron said some housing estates are “entrenching poverty in Britain”.

“Step outside in the worst estates, and you’re confronted by concrete slabs dropped from on high, brutal high-rise towers and dark alleyways that are a gift to criminals and drug dealers. The police often talk about the importance of designing out crime, but these estates actually designed it in,” he said.

Lessons need to be learnt from “failed attempts” to regenerate in the past, he said, with “pointless planning rules, local politics and tenants’ concerns” preventing progress.

To address these “sink estates”, Cameron said a new advisory panel would be set up, to be chaired by Lord Heseltine. Its first job is to list post-war estates across the country that are “ripe for redevelopment”. The panel would also establish “binding guarantees” for tenants and homeowners to protect them.

The plans would be financed through a new £140 million fund that would, said Cameron, “pump-prime the planning process, temporary re-housing and early construction costs”.

An Estates Regeneration Strategy would “sweep away” planning blockages and reduce “political and reputational risk for projects’ key decision-makers and investors”.

Cameron concluded that this “mission” is nothing short of a “social turnaround”.

The model was analysed by Savills in its report Completing London’s Streets.

“Pointless planning rules”?

Speaking to The Planner, head of policy at the RTPI Richard Blyth said the institute welcomes any attempt to “improve living conditions in the hardest-to-live-in estates” but argued that Cameron’s reference to ‘pointless planning rules’ “is bemusing”.

Blyth explained: “Planning rules, i.e. laws or policies, are either imposed by the government or voted in by local councils, but only after very careful checking by government inspectors.”

He considered the biggest blockage in the planning system to be the “lack of adequate resources within local planning authorities”.

Increasing London housing density could provide 54,000 to 360,000 homes Increasing the density of some of London’s local authority housing estates could contribute to meeting London’s housing need, according to a report by real estate services provider Savills.

The report, Completing London’s Streets, suggests that updating these estates can be done in a way that creates many more homes, a “significantly improved living environment” for existing and future residents as well as better value for local authorities.

It proposes a new “Complete Streets” model,

Government to commission 10,000 affordable homes David Cameron has announced a “radical” shift in policy that will see his government “step in” and directly commission new affordable homes on publicly owned land.

He said the move would lead to “quality homes” built at a faster rate, with small firms able to start building on government sites where planning permission is already in place.

The first wave of up to 13,000 homes will start on four sites outside of London this year, with up to 40 per cent designated as affordable starter homes.

In addition, the government announced a starter home fund worth £1.2 billion to prepare brownfield land for new homes. This, the government said, would fast-track the creation of 30,000 new starter homes and up to 30,000 market homes on 500 new sites by 2020.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “Directly funding developments on publicly owned land, with planning permission already granted, should encourage growth of smaller builders and new entrants into the market.”

But he stressed that this was only “one piece of the jigsaw”.

“The ongoing skills shortage is as pertinent for local firms as it is for larger contractors. We desperately need more skilled trades people in the industry, otherwise even supportive plans such as this will be challenging for builders to deliver,” he said.

consisting of terraced houses, mid-rise mansion blocks and refurbished towers, with estate renewal taking the form of “high-quality, integrated and permeable urban streetscapes”.

Savills estimates that approximately 1,750 hectares of London’s 8,500 hectares of local authority housing estates might be capable of this type of regeneration, providing between 190,000 and 500,000 homes.

“This represents an increase of between 54,000 and 360,000 homes,” says the report, with development taking place within existing housing estates and assuming that “every existing resident would be rehoused under the same terms in the new streets”.

Savills’ research director Yolande Barnes said the report “challenges the housing industry to think differently about development, estate renewal and estate regeneration in order to improve life chances for many of London’s residents and to create a sustainable income for local authorities”.

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22/01/2016 15:17

CHRIS SHEPLEY

O Opinion Blotches on the housing bill won’t come out in the wash In a severe and unexpected blow to the government’s housing policy, the launderette remained in washing mode. Ministers’ plans for its conversion to residential use, as a key part of its imaginative approach to meeting housing targets, had come to naught. United Wash Houses had concluded firstly that the smallish machine room, plus Elsie’s tiny office at the rear, could not create a satisfactory unit. Even by modern space standards, which no longer required much actual space. Secondly that it was still infested with washing powder, consequent upon the great Persil explosion of 1996. And thirdly that, as the building was listed, due to the very rare form of mould on the windowsill conversion would be fraught with controversy.

Mr Khan had brought along a new consultation paper about what the government called “ineffective rules and heavy-handed enforcement” that were preventing new housing being built.

Summoning Mrs McTavish, who was feeding coins into the dryer, he read from a ministerial statement: “Issues that the Housing Implementation Taskforce has initially identified as burdens to the industry include road infrastructure for new housing developments, environmental or ecology requirements, and regulations affecting provision of utilities.

These issues would be a 'starting point' for the review.

Did anyone find that sock I lost last week? Red and purple stripes?”

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“AND IF THEY’RE NAMBY­PAMBY ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT ECOLOGY, I’M NOT SURE THEY DESERVE A HOUSE ANYWAY” Sir Bernard Trickledown, owner of United Wash Houses, swept in with a vat of soap. “I don’t know about you,” he said. “But I’ve always thought that these finicky rules which require people to be able to get to their houses, and have things like water and electricity, were quite unnecessary. I can see no reason why, in this day and age, with that austerity that they have now, and the price of a decent little Pinot Grigio going through the roof, people should expect luxuries like this. We’re all

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in this together, after all, and I would have thought that people could make a contribution by building their own roads, doing a bit of wiring up, and fetching water from the river.”

He strode back to his limo, adding over his shoulder: “And if they’re namby-pamby enough to worry about ecology, I’m not sure they deserve a house anyway.”

Mrs Braithwaite, on the bench with her embroidery, watched her husband’s vest waving at her through the machine’s porthole. “Not sure I agree with Sir Bernard,” she said. “I remember after the war, when we were really poor, we still had roads and things.” They all longed for the days when houses didn’t just have “utilities”, but were big enough for a wardrobe. Mr Khan said he’d prepare the usual response, when he’d

finished with their comments on, among other things, the Housing and Planning Bill, the many proposed changes to it (he recalled that at one time bills had been thought about before, rather than after, publication), major infrastructure, the technical details surrounding Section 106 and CIL, and changes to the NPPF. The last of these had caused concern around the communal scrubbing brush.

Mrs McTavish thought the definition of a transport interchange in para 15 was replete with terminological inexactitude. Mr Khan was more worried about the obsessive concentration on starter homes, and pondered what would happen to local plans when this was no longer flavour of the month.

Mrs Braithwaite mused on why it took 28 pages to set out a few changes to the NPPF, the government having loudly boasted that the whole shooting match was only 50 pages long.

“Have you seen the latest?” said Mrs McTavish, changing the subject. “They’re going to let ‘alternative providers’ run development control.”

She emptied the dryer. “Do you reckon we could do that while we’re waiting for the delicates to finish?”

Chris Shepley is the principal of Chris Shepley Planning and former Chief Planning Inspector

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

22/01/2016 15:18

Quote unquote FROM THE RTPI AND THE WEB

“I cannot say how profoundly wrong the government have got it. The failure to think about it is great” DR HUGH ELLIS, HEAD OF POLICY, TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ASSOCIATION, SPEAKING ABOUT FLOODING AND CLIMATE CHANGE

“It remains only one piece of the jigsaw. The ongoing skills shortage is as pertinent for local firms as it is for larger contractors” BRIAN BERRY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE AT THE FEDERATION OF MASTER BUILDERS, ON THE UK GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONING NING NIN G AFFORDABLE HOMES

“The biggest blockage in the planning system is the lack of adequate resources within local planning authorities”

“City devolution will see the long-overdue return of this country to the 19th century dynamics which made it the world leader in the Industrial Revolution” LORD HESELTINE, SPEAKING AT THE RTPI AND IPPR’S GREAT NORTH PLAN CONFERENCE

RICHARD BLYTH, HEAD OF POLICY, RTPI, ON THE GOVERNMENT’S ANNOUNCEMENT FOR SINK ESTATES AND “SWEEPING AWAY PLANNING BLOCKAGES”

“Employers in the South are beginning to o worr worry ry about the potential exodus up North of skilled people who are thinking about where they want to put down roots” RTPI CHIEF EXECUTIVE TRUDI ELLIOTT ARGUING THE CASE FOR A GREAT NORTH PLAN

“Unfortunately, this is not an issue that will go away, and these ‘unprecedented’ events which are no longer unprecedented will come along more and more often. We need the government to acknowledge this” KATE WILLSHAW, POLICY OFFICER, FRIENDS OF THE LAKE DISTRICT SPEAKING ABOUT EXTREME RAINFALL AND FLOODING

I M AG E S | A L A M Y / G E T T Y /

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FE B R U AR Y 2 0 16 / THE PLA NNER

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22/01/2016 17:45

CORRESPONDENCE

I Inbox

YOUR NEWS, VIEWS AND QUESTIONS F E E D B ACK

Two minutes with… Una McGaughrin

Philip Bisatt — Whilst I can see the logic in Lord Kerslake’s suggestion that “we should think of Chief Place-making Officers instead of Chief Planners”, we need to make sure that we can, so to speak, master the act of walking before attempting to run, and that the post of “Chief Planner” is actually recognised for its critical importance in successful local government.

As Lord Kerslake says, we do indeed need a holistic approach encompassing economic development, local services, transport, design and the environment.

Some of us were perhaps naïve enough to believe that this was what professional planning was all about, and why we were expected to spend many years in higher education and learning the ropes in planning practice to earn the accolade “MRTPI”.

In my 30 years in local government, I have encountered local authorities that appeared to believe that responsibility for planning services could be allocated to almost any manager in need of a job in the latest restructuring. Worse still, in one case, a chief planner was effectively bullied out of a job by making what were regarded, in some quarters, unpopular recommendations. Whilst these may be a minority of cases, I suspect they were by no means unique, and this really is not good enough.

I think it is time that the role of “Chief Planning Officer” was made a statutory one, alongside that of the

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UNA MCGAUGHRIN is an associate who leads AECOM’s site assessment for neighbourhood planning work. She is the author of Site Assessment For Neighbourhood Plans, a new toolkit published by Locality.

Can you tell us about the toolkit you’ve written?

Site Assessment For Neighbourhood Plans is one of a series of 10 toolkits commissioned by Locality (national network of community-led organisations) for the DCLG. It’s part of a programme of free technical support for neighbourhood planning groups. Four toolkits have now been published, with another six to follow this year.

The toolkits are to help neighbourhood planners understand the process of neighbourhood planning – how they can bring forward the development they want and shape development to best meet the needs of their community and the wider area.

This one explains clearly and simply the principles for allocating sites in a neighbourhood plan, as well as the methods for doing so.

It looks at why we consider allocating sites, what the steps are, the different types of site allocations and different types of development, such as housing, employment, and community facilities.

Why is it needed?

There’s guidance out there.

There’s Planning Practice Guidance and a number of local

Head of Paid Service and the Section 151 Officer. After all, if councils displayed the same antipathy towards the accountancy and legal professions as some of them

planning authorities have put out some great guidance. This is part of the DCLG programme for delivering technical support for neighbourhood planning groups.

When you think about the parameters you have to work within in planning – the steps you have to go through, such as looking at potential sites and whether they are suitable, finding out who they are owned by and whether they are actually developable – these are quite difficult things for a non-professional to do.

I think it’s something communities can do themselves, but obviously they should be working very closely with their planning officers, who should be supporting them through the process.

What principles did you follow while writing Site Assessment For Neighbourhood Plans?

I was thinking about it from the point of view of non-professionals with no background at all. I was starting right from the beginning.

A neighbourhood planning group might have identified a housing need or have been told by the local authority about the need to identify land for homes. I’ve worked

do towards professional planners, they would spend much of their time bankrupt and in court!

Philip Bisatt

from the starting point, which is identifying sites, through to assessing sites to meet criteria.

I’ve considered community engagement and linking shortlisted sites to local plan policies.

I’ve looked at why you might want to allocate development in the neighbourhood plan and understanding the context for that, including, for example, conformity with strategic policies of the local plan.

What are the challenges for anyone working with communities on neighbourhood plans?

I think the very concept of having to accommodate and accept that your neighbourhood needs to grow – often that’s a very difficult one for communities to accept.

But once they understand how powerful the neighbourhood planning process can be to help them shape their communities they realise they really can shape where growth goes, and that they have control over the design, layout, height of buildings and pace of development.

They understand that the decisions they make carry weight in planning applications. It’s very empowering when they realise that, and it guides them over a stumbling block.

What’s the value of a resource like this to planners?

It’s a really good resource that neighbourhood planning officers can read and learn from and share with the groups they are working with.

After all, it’s the local planning authority that has to support the neighbourhood.

The guide doesn’t replace the support planners’ offer – it supplements it and can be used as a starting point. k Site Assessment For Neighbourhood Plans is one of four toolkits available from www.mycommunity.org. uk. Others address housing needs assessments, viability, environmental assessments, and design.

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22/01/2016 15:19

SECTOR INFORMATION GUIDES Throughout 2016 The Planner will be publishing several A5-sized desktop reference supplements. These will be targeted at local authorities, other planners and professionals of all types seeking to get updated quickly on the services of planning consultancies in key sectors from urban regeneration to conservation, transport and major infrastructure.

These annual guides detail the policy, legal, demographic and other issues that make for the current state of the sector, looking ahead to the events and trends likely to influence the sector over the course of the coming twelve months.

Make sure your consultancy’s activities and capabilities are demonstrated to The Planner’s critical audience

›› ›› ›› ›› ››

Urban Regeneration Heritage Environmental Planning Transport Infrastructure Large Scale Residential

Throughout the guide there will be advertising and advertorial pages for planning consultancies to:

›› Showcase their work via case studies

›› Promote their unique skills ››

and expertise Provide planners with necessary information on their business & why they should work with you.

The guides will be sent to all RTPI members who receive The Planner magazine OCTOBER 2015 YOUNG PLANNERS SURVEY: NOW IT’S OUR TURN // p.20 • HOMES FOR BABY BOOMERS AND BEYOND // p.28 • RTPI AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PLANNING FOR BUILT HERITAGE: DUDLEY REBORN // p.32 • ASKING FOR A PAY RISE: DO’S & DON’TS // p.34

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

O Opinion

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Craig McLaren is the director of RTPI Scotland

The Scot Scottish election on 5 May will fra frame a lot of work and future policy, with political parties announcing what they aim to achieve should they get into government.

RTPI Scotland has published a manifesto that we have shared with the main political parties.

Planning In The Next Parliament: Building A Successful And Sustainable Scotland sets out seven game-changers, including housing, resources, infrastructure and energy.

The new government will have some difficult choices to make on resourcing and that’s why once the new Parliament comes into place, RTPI Scotland will be promoting the benefits of planning and the need to invest in the planning service.

The independent planning review will continue to be a key workstream in 2016. Oral evidence was taken in January, and will continue to be taken during February. The panel is expected to report in May after the election.

I’ve no doubt that it will lead to a new work programme for the Scottish Government involving a new planning bill, secondary legislation, advice and guidance, including on content and processes for drafting development plans. I hope that it will allow planning to become more delivery and outcome focused; to be seen and used as a more corporate function within local

Hannah Wright is a senior planner at Arup

What’s the Plan B for housing recovery?

What does 2016 hold for planning in Scotland?

authorities and the government; to be more proactive; and to be resourced to add value.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will progress through Parliament. This contains provisions to establish the Scottish Land Commission, including information about owners and controllers of land; engaging communities in decisions about land; about enabling certain persons to buy land to further sustainable development; about the change of use of common good land; and access rights to land.

The Scotland Bill will continue through the UK Parliament and an important part of this is the future of the Crown Estate in Scotland. The Smith Commission recommends that the management of Crown Estate assets in Scotland and their revenues should be devolved to the Scots Parliament. The Scottish Government aims to develop a new framework, which would be consulted on, for control and management of Crown Estate assets once the legislative powers have been devolved.

Evidence-gathering on the potential impacts for oil and gas development will be completed in the summer and will inform a full public consultation in winter 2016-17.

This is an abridged version of a blog on the RTPI website: tinyurl.com/planner0216scotland-planning

“THE NEW GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE SOME DIFFICULT CHOICES TO MAKE ON RESOURCING”

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As the London Mayoral eleca tions approach, the capital is reimagining how it plans its priorities. But London must consider the effect that the cost of living in the capital has on its ability to compete. London attracts a wide swathe of society, given its innovation hubs, diverse community, distinctive neighbourhoods and cultural offer. Its population is at its highest ever. Yet more 30-39 year olds are leaving London than ever before.

After five years in the capital, I understand why people would feel the need to leave. We face a disproportionate cost of living to earning, charged housing searches, long commutes and intense competition for school places. More mobile Londoners are questioning their ability to stay; the less mobile are left with a poorer quality of life.

The government has responded to the drop in home ownership with initiatives that place an overwhelming emphasis on building and buying homes.

And the emphasis on home ownership compounds the issues; the Starter Homes Initiative, for example, risks sacrificing the provision of affordable homes to rent.

The cost of housing makes buying far from a reality for most. Although surveys show that people still aspire to own a

home, I can’t help but wonder in what timescale buying becomes a realistic possibility.

We need to consider more feasible options. Finding a London rental property is messy and competitive – yet projections show that rental demographics will continue to grow. Savills predicts a 22.8 per cent increase in mainstream rent in the next five years.

But “Generation Rent” campaigns highlight how existing rental models don’t work for tenants. Tenancies are short term and the ability of landlords to hike rents at the end of an agreement has altered the power balance between landlords and tenants. This, and problems such as poor housing, makes it difficult for a range of renters from families with children to the growing number of over35s renting.

What is the Plan B for housing recovery should government initiatives fail to provide the quality and quantity of homes needed? London, like cities in, say, Germany and the Netherlands, must seriously consider mechanisms to make the private rented sector work for its diverse range of households.

Link that with interventions to improve genuinely public space, health, wellbeing and active travel in the city, and London can keep the talent that it needs.

“AFTER FIVE YEARS IN THE CAPITAL, I UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE WOULD FEEL THE NEED TO LEAVE”

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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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Judith Barnes is a partner at law firm Bevan Brittan LLP

The pull of a plan for the North

As a No Northern lass, I am very interest interested in the North and the notion of a Great North Plan, fuelled by the Northern Powerhouse. Having worked with many local authorities over the years, I am well aware that every local authority and every area is different and we should be doing our best to promote the strengths and diversity of each part of the North, from the North-West across to Humberside, down to Sheffield and up to Scotland, (especially to inward investors).

Yet our cities underperform in comparison to our international counterparts.

Lord Heseltine at the recent Northern Summit hosted by RTPI and IPPR North (see news analysis, page 6) suggested that an elected mayor who can deliver strong leadership may provide the opportunities to help to secure the growth and improved productivity needed to enable the North to compete better on a global stage.

Devolution presents the North’s chance to take far greater control of its future. Combined authority mayors will be a democratically elected, powerful voice for the North.

The summit took place on the cusp of Royal Assent for one of the most significant pieces of local government legislation for decades – the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016.

Let’s hope it will deliver on its

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promises. There is far too much prescription and control through secondary legislation and most of the enabling powers in the bill could sensibly be left to local authorities to determine.

We can only hope that the secondary legislation allows local areas freedoms and flexibilities to deliver on the aims of the legislation, and that the government plays ball on devolving power.

We should review our strengths to help focus on what should be in the Great North Plan, whether that is the green economy, digital, assets, investment in health R&D, advanced manufacturing supply chains, culture, heritage or international professional services.

Most people at the summit were agreed on the need to: c Establish a vision; c Attract investment through a prospectus; c Enhance collaboration through sustainable developments; and c Galvanise action through a clear action plan.

Local authorities are pivotal; they have wide powers to buy, sell and develop land and powers over housing strategy and delivery. Perhaps if local government had been more adventurous, we might not be where we are now.

A bold leap of faith is required to make the greatest part of the UK even greater.

“DEVOLUTION PRESENTS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NORTH TO TAKE FAR GREATER CONTROL OF ITS FUTURE”

Simon Marsh is head of sustainable development for the RSPB

Nature has a part to play in flood defence

Today I walked w past the plaque that rec records the height of the devastating flood of the River Great Ouse in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, in March 1947. It reminded me that the planning system, established in the same year, has a long history of tackling flood risk.

Provisional Met Office statistics confirm that December was the wettest and warmest on record. Its chief scientist said: “It is entirely plausible that climate change has exacerbated what has been a period of very wet and stormy weather arising from natural variability.”

Such extremes are likely to become the norm, and we need to prepare for it.

Many factors contribute to flood risk, and so society’s response needs to be multi-pronged. The government’s promised national flood resilience review is an opportunity to assess whether, for example, we have adequate plans in place to slow the water flow upstream to reduce peak floods or to build greater resilience in floodplain land uses, especially in farming.

These ideas and others featured in our joint Flooding In Focus report, published after the floods of 2013/14. But what more can planners do?

I am astonished to read of major housing schemes still being approved in flood-risk areas. There may be good rea-

sons for doing so, particularly on defended brownfield sites, but I query the wisdom of permitting development that commits the taxpayer to the future maintenance of new flood defences.

We need to think radically about solutions that both minimise flood risk and help communities to be more resilient to extreme events. Nor is it a case of choosing between flood defence and wildlife; nature can play a vital role in flood defence, often at a fraction of the cost of hard engineering, as has been done to protect Pickering in Yorkshire.

Sustainable urban drainage should also be the norm for all development, whether or not it’s at risk of flood. The RSPB and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust have published a guide that contains several helpful case studies.

Better river management now means that when the Great Ouse floods, the peak is less extreme and the park on the opposite bank from my home provides storage capacity. The meadows on either side of the river play their traditional role of flood relief and also provide a green corridor through the heart of the town.

Incorporating this approach in new development, and re-engineering it into existing communities provides one approach for planners to take in an era of increasing flood risks.

“WE NEED TO THINK MORE RADICALLY ABOUT SOLUTIONS THAT MINIMISE FLOOD RISK”

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PLANNING TEAMS

AS LOCAL AUTHORITIES ADAPT TO CUTS AND A POLICY SHIFT TOWARDS ECONOMIC GROWTH, SOME ARE DISCOVERING NEW WAYS OF WORKING AND A FRESH SENSE OF PURPOSE, FINDS SIMON WICKS

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“Planning is at a crossroads,” says Mike Harris. The RTPI’s deputy head of policy and research cites a study of local authority planning teams in north west England published by the Institute and Arup in autumn 2015. The research (see box – Striving, surviving) found that planning teams had lost around a third of staff to cuts since 2010.

The majority of authorities had restructured their planning service – in many cases merging planning teams with the likes of housing or regeneration. It’s not just junior staff who have gone, Harris points out – there has been a loss of management (around 20-30 per cent of management posts gone) and expertise.

“This can lead to problems in some applications for developments that need, for example, a strong environmental or historic environment specialist," he says.

“People cannot just be specialist anymore, and that can play out positively and negatively.”

Positively – a broadening of portfolios that fuels a more rounded approach to planmaking. Negatively – a loss of expertise and time spent learning new roles such that it creates “confusion and delay”. Then there’s a lack of “strategic depth” within new team structures; as statutory planning processes have to keep going, strategic postholders are often the first to be let go.

Another factor that is altering the character of planning is a tidal shift in policy, as former head of the civil service and now chair of Peabody housing association Lord Bob Kerslake stresses. “With the pressure of budget reductions and the shift away from physical regeneration towards economic regeneration and skills, somewhere along the way the placemaking component of growth has been reduced,” he says. “You see less of that capability available on the ground. There are fewer people who have that breadth of vision.”

Yet, as Harris says, the visionary element of planning is critical to the economic and social development of communities. As the guiding hand of orderly development, planning can ensure that wellbeing, education and employment dovetail with physical development in building robust communities.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for planning is proving its worth. Its contribution to the economic health of communities is not obviously measurable, but tends to play out over a long period in conjunction with other social forces. Presently, it’s far from clear how changes to local authority planning will play out.

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Planning at the centre in Birmingham

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Birmingham City Council merged planning with regeneration and housing in 2010, creating interdisciplinary teams for different zones in the city.

Transport and skills have now been added to the mix, and the city’s head of planning Waheed Nazir has been made strategic director for economy.

“Regardless of savings, a multidisciplinary approach is required to make sure you have balanced growth for developing places and a more efficient structure to manage, Planning is at the centre of a local authority’s activities. It’s the strategic

Primus inter pares

Booming in Brum

In 2015’s RTPI Nathaniel Lichfield Lecture, Lord Kerslake argued that, to master their new economic brief, local authority planning teams needed to work in more inter-disciplinary ways. Breaking the boundaries of narrow expertise is thus a good thing. “[Crown Estate chief executive] Alison Nimmo is a textbook example of someone from a planning background who ‘gets’ great placemaking, and who ranges from economics to property to transport to planning,” he explains.

Chief planners, he says, should perhaps reinvent themselves as “chief placemakers”.

Planning itself, amid associated disciplines, needs to assert its place as “primus inter pares” – ‘first among equals’ – and work with all.

“Hence why I was saying that you need to link the issues of great placemaking and more strategic approaches with the issue of collaboration.”

For Kerslake, the “crossroads” is clearly signposted and planning could follow one of two paths. One leads to a “sunny uplands” where planners provide the strategic steer in placemaking, managing dynamic public/ private sector partnerships that strengthen communities.

The other path leads to “low roads”, says Kerslake. “It could be with diminishing resources and increasing focus on the processing of planning applications, there’s an increasing imbalance between public and private sector.”

Turned off by the prospect of pressure and process, planning graduates are snubbing the public sector in favour of the private which “has a role but the tendency is a narrowing of expertise. They tend to have highly expert people within a very particular field, which I think is the opposite of what you need in a local authority”. He pauses. “I genuinely don’t know which way it will go.”

Under chief planner Waheed Nazir, Birmingham’s planning department was restructured in 2010 to create a leaner, more integrated team that blended planning with housing and regeneration (see box Planning at the centre in Birmingham).

Nazir introduced a business-like approach to the work, with a strong performance culture. Public/private partnerships are de rigeur, and the city has pulled in huge private investment to fund new development. The team is encouraged to find new ways to generate revenue.

Indeed, Nazir has made the relationship between planning and economy so explicit that he has just been appointed the council’s strategic director of economy. Planning, he says, is so strategically necessary that it needs to be at “the centre” of local authority work. “If you run an authority as you would a company, you would manage resources

“WITH THE PRESSURE OF BUDGET REDUCTIONS AND THE SHIFT AWAY FROM PHYSICAL REGENERATION TOWARDS ECONOMIC REGENERATION AND SKILLS, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY THE PLACEMAKING COMPONENT OF GROWTH HAS BEEN REDUCED” LORD KERSLAKE

function that sits above everything else.

“Local government has to continue to evolve. You have to be more strategic in your interventions and resources, and you have to be more commercially savvy. You have to work with the private sector — you have more resources to utilise.

“Integrating disciplines has helped us focus on where we see the greatest growth potential in the city. Now I have transport and skills. If you expect communities to support growth, you have to have appropriate infrastructure – and we’re trying to create places where local people can live and access work.”

in a way that has the greatest return. We’re focused on where the greatest impact can be achieved.

“Why can’t we be as lean? Someone still has to write the masterplan. The private sector doesn’t magic up a new way of doing things. Structurally, we are as lean as the private sector would be. And we are as competitive as anyone.”

Nazir does, however, emphasise the difference in values between the public and private sectors – and the responsibility that his team has to create ‘places’ that provide good housing, skills and employment to the existing population.

Birmingham, a huge authority, is manifestly not representative of most planning departments, however. Yet there are smaller authorities joining the dots in a similar way.

Breaking down silos In Watford, Jane Custance used to be head of planning. Now she’s head of planning, economic development, regeneration and property. “I’ve had to expand my skills, become a lot more commercially aware and a lot more positive,” she says. “You can probably criticise planners for being the people that say ‘No’. I’ve had to have a change of mindset to ‘Make it happen’.

“It’s more rewarding. We are more engaged with the rest of the council,” she

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“WHY CAN’T WE BE AS LEAN? SOMEONE STILL HAS TO WRITE THE MASTERPLAN. THE PRIVATE SECTOR DOESN’T MAGIC UP A NEW WAY OF DOING THINGS” WAHEED NAZIR

continues. “Becoming a smaller organisation is breaking down silos.”

The more open structure is giving her team greater ability to address key social issues within the borough, such as homelessness. “The only way we can influence that is by working with partners – the community housing trust, registered housing providers. And private developers.”

Watford also outsources its environmental and historic environment expertise to smaller neighbouring authority Three Rivers. As a sign of the times, it’s typical – and may become more so in an age of devolution in which authorities will likely be expected to work together in what Kerslake refers to as “sub-regional” planning.

This is also an age in which planning teams face the prospect of having some services, such as processing planning applications, outsourced. Custance has experienced this before and says she would be concerned about quality of work. Kerslake notes that outsourcing increases the “risk of exacerbating the complete imbalance of the private and public sector”.

Striving, surviving In October 2015, the RTPI and Arup published Investing in Delivery: How we can respond to the pressures on local authority planning (tinyurl.com/rtpi-delivery).

Based on a survey of local authority planning teams in the North West of England, it found that between 2010 and 2013, they lost a third of their staff – 37 % in planning policy and 27 % in development management.

In the last two years, 43% conducted a recruitment

Planning is changing. At this point no one really knows which path the discipline will go down. But all of our commentators agree that it needs to reassert its placemaking role.

“It’s beholden on us not so sit and complain but to tell the story of what we have actually been doing on the ground, and show what a positive impact we can make in terms of placeshaping,” says Custance.

“That quality is one of the things councillors are most interested in.”

Lessons of leadership Our commentators agree, too, that planning needs more resourcing. “An area we haven’t emphasised enough is the money that planning services bring in, but which doesn’t tend to be reinvested in the planning service,” Harris observes. “For example, the New Homes Bonus brings in £16 million in each sub-region. As planners we need to get better at saying we are helping to generate significant revenue for local authorities.”

The economic argument appears to have been won in Birmingham and even in Watford. But that’s far from the case everywhere.

Finally, perhaps it comes down to what is hardest of all to engender – leadership.

“What comes out in the cases where it [restructuring] has worked is strong planning leadership and strong political support for planning from the local authority,” says Harris. “Someone who can speak up for the planning function.”

freeze and 86% went through a restructure.

Broadly, the research found that authorities were either “striving, surviving or struggling”.

“In some places a restructure has worked out well,” says Mike Harris, the RTPI’s deputy head of policy and research. “In others it’s led to further confusion, delay and people having to get used to new workflows.

“It can be good to have a better understanding of different portfolios and responsibilities. But if you’re losing people with

“I’VE HAD TO EXPAND MY RANGE OF SKILLS AND BECOME A LOT MORE COMMERCIALLY AWARE, AND A LOT MORE POSITIVE” JANE CUSTANCE

experience in certain areas, that expertise walks out the door.

“Planning services are surviving essentially on the goodwill and professional integrity of officers, and local authorities have done all the things you do first: restructuring, looking at costs, juggling staff, outsourcing.

“The point that we made in the North West research was that planners need to argue for the importance of their work – that planners are critical to the economic and social development of their communities.”

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THE HOUSING CHALLENGE

IN THE POSTWAR HEYDAY OF HOUSE BUILDING, COUNCILS BUILT MORE HOMES THAN PRIVATE DEVELOPERS. NOW, AT THE HEIGHT OF A HOUSING CRISIS, THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO NUMBERS IS NEGLIGIBLE. MARK SMULIAN ASKS WHY COUNCILS AREN’T BUILDING MORE HOUSES

I L L U S T R AT I O N | B R AT I S L AV M I L E N K O V I C

COUNCILS OF If there is a law of unintended consequences, it is surely in play in the world of council house building. Or is it?

The government has not explicitly sought to prevent councils from building homes, but the combined effects of policies on rent reduction and right to buy discounts for housing associations are likely to do just that.

This would strangle at birth the modest but useful revival in new building by councils by cutting away the financial base on which these programmes rest.

It is a moot point whether the government chose a subtle means to deliberately stop councils building, or whether it merely failed to think through the cumulative effect of other policies.

But the result is that planners struggling to find ways to meet housing demand may be deprived of a relatively straightforward way of helping to do this –

councils building on their own land, often on small sites on existing estates of little interest to developers.

All change Council housing was once big business, with 175,550 homes a year being built in its 1960s heyday (see box).

The Thatcher government switched funding to housing associations in 1989, after which council building declined to almost nothing.

A change to the housing finance system by the coalition government – combined with its promotion of localism – saw many councils freed in 2012 to build again.

The details of this change have been known to fry the finest brains in housing finance but, put simply, councils could borrow against future rental income to raise money to build homes.

No one suggested this would solve the housing shortage, but in towns in need of new homes there could be an important contribution both in absolute numbers and because some homes would be for affordable rent.

But then chancellor George Osborne began to pull rabbits from hats.

First was the Conservative general election promise to extend right to buy rules to housing associations, with purchasers’ discounts paid for by forcing councils to sell their highest-value vacant homes and remit most of the proceeds to the government, except for an unspecified proportion they could retain to

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THE HOUSING CHALLENGE

before you look at how to house those who may be housing need or unemin hou ployed.”

Life is somewhat more for council homes has been ploye Oxford, also thrivpredictable for council brought into one budget for ing, house building in the both council and registered in has an equally severe housing probdevolved administrations social landlords. sev than in England.

West Lothian Council’s lem, w which the city counThe Welsh Government new-build programme is cil had intended to help last March said local one such example, with tackle through building.

Deputy leader Ed authorities would be 800 homes completed Depu allowed to keep all rental since 2010 and a Turner says: “Oxford is an income and invest this to commitment to build area of high housing stress build council homes and another 1,000 by 2017. with the t least affordable prices outside London. improve existing ones.

Responsibility for Indeed, on some tests it’s Among those taking housing in Northern even less affordable than advantage of this is Ireland was handed to the London if you compare Flintshire County Council, Northern Ireland Housing house prices to average which plans 100 new Executive in 1971, following wages. homes over six years. allegations of sectarian bias “The council has Councils in Scotland in allocations by some of intended to build 1,000 were given incentives by the then 26 councils. homes over 10 years both the Scottish Government to There it remains, despite on its own land and by build in the Council House last year’s reorganisation buying the homes for Building Programme, into 11 councils with social rent at the Barton introduced in 2009. wider powers than their Park urban extension.”

Since 2012-13, funding predecessors.

Cutting rents by 1 per cent a year removes £30 million that Oxford had intended to use says Birmingham’s building “is not yet directly for building, rather than borrowaffected, but it could be in future.

“It is quite a large programme and ing, and “on top of that we have to set a lot so has economies of scale that are perof money aside to deal with forced sales”, haps not open to smaller councils, and notes Turner. cross-subsidy from building homes for He points out that when the UK built sale helps. at rates near to meeting demand – 40 or “We’ve been building homes since 50 years ago – “councils were involved in 2009 and are established, but I think if a major way, adding to the capacity of the we were trying to start this now it would house building industry and using sites be a more difficult sell.” which might not be used commercially”.

One of the largest planned council house building programmes is in the Rising to the challenge London Borough of Southwark, where Birmingham City Council has more than the council intends to press defiantly 1,400 homes built or under construction, ahead despite the loss of rental income, and intends to build more than 80,000 by says Mark Williams, cabinet member for 2031. regeneration and new homes.

Head of housing Clive Skidmore With 11,000 families on the waiting list, Southwark is committed to build 1,500 homes by 2018 and a further 9,500 by “WE GET COMPANIES 2043.

WANTING TO COME HERE “We are still committed to that,” says THAT WOULD PROBABLY Williams.

“What the government has OTHERWISE LOCATE done is to make that more challenging OVERSEAS BUT THEY and difficult and we have to use a numARE CONCERNED ABOUT ber of other methods including more use WHETHER THERE WILL of cross-subsidy from selling some homes BE HOUSING AVAILABLE and looking to use our land in partnerFOR THEIR STAFF” ships.”

Southwark is in the happy position of

Across the UK

build replacement homes and an equally unspecified amount towards a “brownfield fund”.

Next came July’s Budget and the chancellor’s surprise 1 per cent cut in social housing rents each year until 2020.

These measures combined to capsize the calculations on which councils had based building programmes.

Most depended on borrowing against future rental income, and over 30-year business plans, too.

With those rents now falling by 1 per cent a year and vanishing almost entirely on homes that councils would be forced to sell, could new-build still be afforded?

Loss of rental revenue Areas of high housing pressure don’t come much higher than South Cambridgeshire, which surrounds the booming city of Cambridge, where a building programme was planned both to meet need and to accommodate employees of the many companies that choose to locate there.

Housing director Stephen Hills says the council had expected to build at least 1,000 homes, probably nearer 2,000, over 30 years.

“The 1 per cent rent cut squeezes that out almost entirely as it means we will lose £134 million of income over four years and we had set aside £135 million for house building,” he says.

“This is one of the fastest-growing areas of the country and prices in the city are close to London levels at a £450,000 average, so the income levels needed to pay for that are high.

“We get companies wanting to come here that would probably otherwise locate overseas, but they are concerned about whether there will be housing available for their staff, even for those on middle-to-good salaries, and if we can’t provide enough it will deter them. That is

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being able to charge “commuted sums” for social housing on developments along its river frontage in central London.

Rents in this area are so high that nothing “affordable” – defined by the government as 80 per cent of market rents – could be provided even if developers wished to.

Southwark instead charges them £120,000 per habitable room as part of planning gain, and builds homes elsewhere.

Thurrock Borough Council is among the first to say it will try the route of seeking an exemption from the 1 per cent rent reduction, the outcome of which is yet to be decided.

It argues the resulting loss of £14.6 million out of its business plan by 2020, and of £218 million over 30 years, would make its building programme unviable.

Exemptions may help some councils, but obviously only a few could be granted by ministers without defeating the intended impact of their policy to cut rents.

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has warned that the government has vastly overestimated the proceeds from the policy of forced sales for highvalue vacant homes, and that almost nothing will be left to support council building.

It has forecast that only between 2,100 and 6,800 such homes are likely to become empty and be sold each year – compared with the government’s estimate of 15,000 – generating up to £2.2 billion instead of the £4.5 billion expected by ministers.

There would thus be barely enough to compensate housing associations for their discounted sales of homes under right to buy, ”leaving virtually nothing for councils to replace the homes they have sold or for the brownfield regeneration fund”, the CIH found.

John Bibby, chief executive of the Association of Retained Council Housing, which represents councils that directly own homes, fears that many of his members will have to rethink building plans.

“We’ve not got the details yet, but a rent cut of 1 per cent and the requirement to sell high-value voids to pay for housing association right to buy is going to play quite significant havoc with councils’ business plans, and the likeliest thing to go first will be new-build homes since councils must maintain the homes they

HOUSES BY NUMBERS

Council house building starts (England) 1979 - 80

67,450 1969 - 70

175,550

1989-90

16,110 1999-00

20 2 2014-15 0

1,890

390 2009-10 09-

860 S O U R C E : D E PA R T M E N T F O R C O M M U N I T I E S A N D L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T

“THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HOUSING (CIH) HAS WARNED THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS VASTLY OVER­ ESTIMATED THE PROCEEDS FROM THE POLICY OF FORCED SALES FOR HIGH­VALUE VACANT HOMES” have,” he says.

“It’s difficult to say whether the government intended to prevent councils building homes or whether this is simply the effect of separate policies, but that is what will happen.”

Intended or not, councils that thought they could build their way out of housing shortages are scurrying back to the drawing board to find out what the government’s changes of heart means for them.

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P L A N N I N G FO R R E N E W A B LE S

WHERE NOW FOR

Will withdrawal of government support for onshore wind leave the industry dead in the ground, or is there a future for a technology that was beginning to thrive? Elisabeth Jeries reports 26

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After the UK government announced in 2015 it was withholding onshore wind farm support this April, it looked as though the UK industry would collapse. Deprived of the Renewables Obligation Certificate scheme they have benefited from for 14 years, and faced with planning blocks, few wind power developers now have the stomach to drive through new projects.

Encouraged by incentives and backstabbed by ministerial diktats, onshore wind farm development writhed on a policy spit that has only recently been removed, leaving just a few projects in the embers. Thus, according to Gemma Grimes, director of onshore renewables at trade association RenewableUK, little can be expected from onshore wind – at least in England and Wales. “There will be a gradual decrease in deployment between now and 2018, and very little after that,” she predicts.

Oddly, the cut has occurred at a point when the onshore wind sector was taking off.

“The industry has been growing quite successfully, and

{

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P L A N N I N G FO R R E N E W A B LE S

all this has happened quite suddenly,” says Grimes. To make matters worse, the removal of climate change levy exemptions for onshore wind could see the operators lose at least 6 per cent of revenue, according to accountancy firm Ernst & Young.

Grimes and other industry opinion leaders draw attention to two major uncertainties obstructing investors in addition to the ROC removal. Both relate to the new energy supply allocation regime under the energy market reform launched by the coalition government, Contracts for Difference (CfD). Under CfD, which is due to replace the ROC system, companies can bid for low-carbon energy generation contracts in auctions held by the government.

But energy secretary Amber Rudd has held onshore wind in limbo. There is no confirmation as yet whether onshore wind developers will be allowed to participate in the next round of bids for these contracts.

At the same time, the exact revenues for a potential wind farm are unknown.

“It’s difficult to justify planning a new onshore wind project if you don’t know the price per megawatt-hour [MWh] nor whether onshore wind will qualify for CfD. So very few people have been investing in new projects,” says Ben Warren, partner and head of energy and environmental finance at accountancy firm Ernst & Young.

“EVEN IF ENGLISH WIND SPEEDS ARE CURRENTLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH WITHOUT SUPPORT, THEY MIGHT BE IN THE NEAR FUTURE”

But renewables developer Dale Vince, managing director of green energy firm Ecotricity, takes a different view. “What the government says about localism is untruthful – it’s a clever ruse. They can say wind can only go ahead if it is in a zone identified as suitable by a local plan, but actually there are very few places like that,” he points out.

Scotland’s silver lining But for wind energy fans, a silver lining can be perceived – and one that illustrates the power of planning policy. Indeed, the development of Scottish wind farms continues with hardly a pause, ROC or no

ROC. As Vince explains: “The big difference in Scotland is wind speed, and wind conditions are the most important factor when choosing a site. It is twice the speed of England. Double the wind speed means you get eight times as much energy out of the wind farm. So the average project usually needs less support than in England.”

Nonetheless, he does foresee some problems. “Fewer projects will be installed if there is no CfD for onshore wind, but there will still be some. If CfD does come through for the sector, more projects will result,” he says.

But the favourability of Scottish planning conditions prove the industry’s

Last nail in the coffin Meanwhile, planning changes have driven the last significant nail into the coffin of onshore wind – at least in England.

Last June, for example, the government announced that local authorities should only grant planning permission for wind energy development under two conditions. Firstly, the development site should be in an area identified as suitable for wind energy in a local or neighbourhood plan.

Secondly, planning impacts identified by the local communities affected by them will need to have been fully addressed and received their support. At the same time, the Energy Bill now passing through Parliament removes onshore wind projects of more than 50 megawatts from the development consent process, returning the decision-making power to the local authority.

On the surface, this looks like a move to decentralise planning in the field.

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ONSHORE WIND IN SCOTLAND

Year

Projects Approved

MW Approved

Projects Refused

MW Refused

2005

15

389.9

12

308.15

2006

19

679.4

10

314.15

2007

25

533.95

16

515.1

2008

35

1268.4

8

942.6

2009

53

642.52

15

237.1

2010

40

693.13

26

413.5

2011

59

698.65

35

234.53

2012

137

1307.59

72

558.68

2013

121

771.27

127

999.11

2014

118

1532.52

109

888.94

2015

64

918.85

68

1280.6

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Wind farm acceptances in the UK After a slow start between 2003-2008, onshore wind farm acceptances soared in 2012 and 2014, years in which the highest amounts of megawatts were approved. At the same time the industry experienced record rejection, with 243 projects refused in 2015, amounting to 1,993 megawatts. Government estimates show 2.2 gigawatts are now under construction and up to 1.8 gigawatts await construction.

1 GW would power about 0.8 million homes. A grand total of 12.9 gigawatts will be in place in the UK when all work in progress under the ROCs is completed.

resilience more emphatically – even to the point that wind farms will survive without CfD or ROC. Jon Grantham, director of planning at Land Use Consultants, draws attention to the difference made by national planning policy in an emerging field like wind power “In Scotland, there has been a strong national steer on renewable energy goals. It was a policy objective so the question comes up in terms of how much renewables are needed to meet them. At the same time, more work was done at the local level,” he observes. The established planning process was key, rather than government intervention.

An abyss opened up years ago between the two countries in this respect, as Grantham notes. “The abolition of regional planning authorities in England and Wales [at the beginning of the coalition government] made a crucial difference,” he says. In England, project developers would spend several million pounds on environmental impact assessments, planning applications and other procedures, only to find projects turned down at the last minute by central government.

But, as Grantham points out: “The evidence suggests that the industry is more active in Scotland, and there is enough of an incentive and encouragement from government to get a wind farm through a planning system and built.”

Some projects are still rejected, of course.

But according to Grantham: “It’s not ‘open season’ but it’s a more positive framework. You spend money where you think you’ll get the support.”

Bowing to the English shires Yet even in England, the background picture is perhaps not as bleak as it appears.

Cuts to government funding always prompt major complaints from industry because acceptance is deemed to send out the wrong signals. But an even more relevant point is the state of the industry as a whole beyond the English and Welsh borders.

As Vince points out: “There is the impact of falling turbine costs on projects; there is an inevitability about renewable energy now,” he says. “Even if English wind speeds are currently not good enough without support, they might be in the near future.” His comment is not just bluff in the face of opposition; it is widely acknowledged that the industry is competing more successfully with fossil fuel and other types of energy.

For example, a study in October 2015 by analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance found that onshore wind in the UK and Germany was fully cost-competitive with gas-fired and coal-fired generation once carbon costs are taken into account. In the UK, the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of onshore wind averaged at $85/MWh in the second half of 2015 compared with $115 for combined-cycle gas and $115 for coal-fired power.

“IN SCOTLAND, THERE HAS BEEN A STRONG NATIONAL STEER ON RENEWABLE ENERGY GOALS. IT WAS A POLICY OBJECTIVE’

LCOE is a widely used measure taking into account the cost of generating a marginal megawatt hour of electricity as well as the upfront capital and development expense, the cost of equity and debt finance, and operating and maintenance fees. Globally. LCOE average for onshore wind was close to $83/MWh in the second half of 2015.

Viewed in this light, the UK government’s apparent perfidy is perhaps less surprising.

“I agree with the view that the government is trying to push industry harder to reduce costs. But a there’s a big difference between sending those messages and implementing policies with very limited warning to investors. Making changes suddenly is very disruptive,” says Grimes.

With regulatory risk a major consideration among investors, there is more reluctance to commit, even if the industry is becoming more viable.

According to Warren, its interference is guided by party political motivations, probably in the form of a large rump of Conservative backbenchers representing English shire constituencies. The premature ROC withdrawal (originally scheduled for 2017), which took place after the government’s surprise general election win, suggests the same intent.

The sector will continue to stagger on for the next two or three years. It may grind to a halt but get a kick-start following the next general election, depending on the winner’s political hue. But that it has been cut in its prime there is no doubt. “If funding had continued, there is potential for the industry to have continued deployment probably a decade beyond what is currently foreseen to 2018,” says Grimes.

Certainly, the policy’s wastefulness is not in doubt. As Warren points out: “If you spend 25 years subsidising it, why not endorse it at the end and get as much as possible out of it rather than stopping the industry in its tracks?” Good windy space in England remains, and some commentators suggest big potential in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, for example.

But in a post-2020 landscape, the wider wind market may have moved further into Asia. Offshore projects will probably have started to flourish in the North Sea, perhaps leapfrogging onshore wind. By the middle of the century, historians may well look back at onshore wind as one of those big white elephants that occasionally blunders into British industry.

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URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE

U

CAN RAPIDLY DEVELOPING ASIAN CITIES UPGRADE TO 21ST­CENTURY INFRASTRUCTURE MORE READILY THAN THEIR WESTERN COUNTERPARTS? NOT WITHOUT MANAGING POPULATION GROWTH, SAYS KRIS HARTLEY

OVERCROWDING ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

URBAN PLANNERS are faced with the challenge of maintaining infrastructure services amidst budgetary constraints, restrictive regulations, and booming demand. In Asia’s rapidly developing cities, roads, bridges, and airports seem to appear with the snap of a finger. However, Asia faces headwinds in infrastructure development, not least of which is overcrowding. Infrastructure strategy should include a holistic policy effort to manage demand through population control.

Asia often seems to have a clean slate for development, bolstered by deep coffers and strong political authority. By contrast, the West appears stagnant and inefficient, unable to manage crumbling infrastructure. This was not always the case. During the early modern era, infrastructure innovations in the West applied new technology to improve lifestyles, first through water transport and ultimately

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mass transit, electricity, and modern construction methods. Limited international benchmarking and vast differences in wealth generated an infrastructure gap between the West and the rest.

Since the mid-20th century, however, Asia has outpaced the West in infrastructure growth. In addition to policy systems unfettered by democratic obstructions, moderate fiscal stability has enabled rapid and widespread development. New airports, rail systems, and highways are quickly transforming the urban landscape.

For example, Shanghai’s massive Pudong Airport took less than a decade from planning to operation, and only two years to construct. The 300kph maglev train from the new airport to central Shanghai was completed in four years.

While Asia continues to set the 21st-century standard for development, the West is struggling to modernise legacy infrastruc-

“CREATIVE PLANNING MUST ANTICIPATE INNOVATIONS AND DELIVER INFRASTRUCTURE AMIDST EXISTING SYSTEMS AND FISCAL CONSTRAINTS”

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ture as development restrictions, political wrangling, and limited fiscal resources stunt progress. Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport has been planned since 1990, and a quarter of a century later is still under construction. Heathrow’s Terminal 5 took 20 years from planning to operation, and a proposed third runway is threatened by grassroots opposition and central government hesitancy.

Legacy liabilities Despite Asia’s recent building binge, its image as a world leader in infrastructure development may be weakening. Among many complicating factors is massive demand, which strains existing infrastructure and impedes expansion. Like the West, Asia must also work around legacy infrastructure. The challenges facing both are how to build over, through, and around existing systems while maintaining service continuity levels for a growing population. This often imposes costs on uncompensated parties.

In dense cities like Bangkok and Jakarta, infrastructure development can be highly disruptive, with multi-year construction projects (for example, subway systems) threatening local economies. In Ho Chi Minh City, construction on the city’s first metro rail line has long diverted traffic and complicated pedestrian access in several core business districts. This type of collateral cost is not unique to Asia, but in the region’s densely populated cities any spatial disruption is significant, and extended construction delays can be fatal for local businesses.

Additionally, as Asian cities age and infrastructure requires replacement, development will increasingly require a destroy-and-rebuild approach. Urban renewal programmes of this sort in 1960s America negatively impacted low-income residents, and the same is now true of many private and public developments in Asia. Displacement and under-compensation for appropriated land are common, raising questions about the legitimacy, political feasibility, and transferability of Asia’s supposedly efficient, clean-slate development models.

Aside from infill and urban core redevelopment, Asian cities continue to grow outwards as well. Public and private investment are lavished on suburbs, satellite towns, and industrial estates, but land grabs at the urban periphery have ethical costs, as families are displaced

“ASIA OFTEN SEEMS TO HAVE A CLEAN SLATE FOR DEVELOPMENT, BOLSTERED BY DEEP COFFERS AND STRONG POLITICAL AUTHORITY”

Politics and pillars in Bangkok Despite stories of success (many from China), Asian infrastructure projects are often beset with challenges. Development of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport experienced repeated setbacks from protests, corruption, and political instability; nearly three decades separated initial planning from operation. Further, after only two years construction was suspended on the city’s US$3.2 billion “Hopewell” elevated rail line, which was planned to link two airports with the urban core.

Development was permanently ceased five years later (1997) under a barrage of legal challenges. Comically labelled “Thailand’s Stonehenge”, the abandoned project left more than 1,000 weathered concrete pillars later deemed useless and slated for removal. Factors contributing to the project’s failure include government instability (a coup), the absence of a timeline and feasibility study, and wrangling among project partners. Across Asia, such stories about infrastructure development derailed by poor planning and corruption are common.

and agricultural livelihoods are destroyed.

The feeling that space is plentiful recalls America’s Manifest Destiny years, from which a liberal development philosophy emerged and now implicitly supports modern sprawl. Despite the aggressive efforts of many Asian cities to stay ahead of growing demand for suburban development, particularly Western-style shopping malls and low-density housing, population always seems to catch up with new infrastructure sooner than expected.

The challenge of overpopulation Quality infrastructure service is a product of two factors. The first is a capacity to absorb innovation, particularly in an era of exponential scientific progress.

Nevertheless, upgrading to accommodate new technologies is troublesome in the current political environment of short-run management. The leader who puts a shovel in the ground is rarely the one who cuts the ribbon. Announcing a project is cheap but following through is

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URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Contrasting procurement models for infrastructure development

expensive, and no leader wants to preside over blown budgets and missed deadlines. Designing innovation-related scenarios into plans and construction is wise but costly; the public wants good service, Institutional reform has soon, and cheap. In the long run, as John significant implications Maynard Keynes said, “we’re all dead”. for Asia’s infrastructure The second factor behind good infraequal to 100 per cent space for coordinating development. One structure development is demand manof the region’s gross investment and related example is devolution agement. Smarter land use planning has economic output. In growth policies. of fiscal autonomy, been used to manage transport demand; a Wall Street Journal In developing granting cities the article, a Chinese infrastructure, power to more readily conservation campaigns have been used government think Kaohsiung exhibited assume debt. to manage electricity and water demand; tank analyst said of comparatively more In China, Chongqing public health efforts manage hospital and Chongqing’s highfiscal prudence than and other inland service demand. All of these strategies profile and ultimately Chongqing, although cities have rapidly strive to manipulate behaviour, but infradisgraced former mayor, the city was not free upgraded infrastructure structure in particular faces an additional “Mr Bo was a bit too of financial struggles. to stay ahead of challenge – overpopulation. eager to succeed.”

Kaohsiung’s MRT metro surging demand.

The idea of population control has few Infrastructure rail system descended Chongqing’s ambitious adherents.

For development efforts into debt in 2010 and and interventionist example, China’s were well-founded tepid demand plagued local government given the city’s growing some stations, but aggressively invested one-child polpopulation, but a risky operational and pricing in public transit, road icy has recently “EVEN THE financing model left adjustments, along networks, housing, and been criticised taxpayers and the with well-timed capital industrial facilities.

SMARTEST SYSTEMS for disrupting the central government injections, eventually The city’s GDP growth CANNOT ALWAYS country’s gender with a sizeable bill. stabilised the system’s rewarded this strategy, ACCOMMODATE balance.

AcaIn Kaohsiung, Taiwan, finances. outpacing that of China OVER­FLOODED demic arguments port infrastructure These two cases as a whole.

DEMAND” for controls are was initially funded illustrate that Although the soridiculed for being and developed by infrastructure success called “Chongqing neo-Malthusian the government is dependent on Model” captivated the before gradually the viability and imagination of leaders and quaintly autocratic. However, popbeing privatised. The sustainability of and analysts, the ulation hyper-growth remains a critiadministrative merger financing models. In city’s municipal debt cal obstruction to development, and is between Kaohsiung’s Asia, this is a step that eventually ballooned a bigger threat to Asia than to the West. harbour and city is often mishandled to more than US$50 Even the smartest systems cannot always government created – with perilous billion. Some estimates accommodate over-flooded demand. new institutional consequences. were much higher – It is gravely impolitic for leaders to even mention the issue of overpopulation; indeed, the decision to have children is deeply personal, and for rural families a matter of livelihood. However, better healthcare has reduced the need to hedge Finding a seat on the train One attempt to cross the street in Hanoi during rush-hour – with thousands of against premature deaths by having many Asia has neither the resources nor the children. Also, technology-based agriclean slate to simply bulldoze and replace motorbikes cramming even the sidewalks cultural productivity improvement has legacy infrastructure every generation.

– would raise awareness. One afternoon reduced the need to have more kids for This should be done haltingly and only in a 50-lane Chinese traffic jam, one hour labour. Do these advancements portend under rarely favourable circumstances; it waiting to board a subway during Beijing’s the end of the 10-child family? is not a strategy on which urban leaders peak commute, or one taxi ride through The better question is whether families can permanently rely.

Jakarta would be evidence enough. will adapt, or continue to have children A two-pronged approach should be Fluidly functioning infrastructure has out of tradition, societal expectations, and considered. Firstly, creative planning become Asia’s impossible dream. The associated ideologies. The effectiveness of must anticipate innovations and deliver costs of gridlock and overpopulation to infrastructure amidst existing systems both the economy and quality of life are infrastructure is only as good as the choices and fiscal constraints. Secondly, governrapidly escalating. There are simply too of individuals, but behaviour often eludes ments must find a way to manage popumany people. the influence of public policy. As long as lation growth. rural families continue to multiply and Kris Hartley is a visiting researcher at the One ride on India’s commuter trains young people continue to migrate to cities University of Hong Kong, and a PhD candidate – with people lying on roofs and hanglooking for work, urban infrastructure will in Public Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore ing off doors – would raise awareness. be in a permanent state of catch-up.

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CASE STUDY

GOING DOWN TO LIVERPOOL

On the Mersey: The revitalised Albert Dock and the Museum of Liverpool Life sit in the shadow of the venerable Three Graces – The Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building

AWARD: WINNER, ENGLAND’S GREAT PLACES LOCATION: LIVERPOOL WATERFRONT KEY PLAYERS: MERSEYSIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, LIVERPOOL VISION, UNESCO, LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL, PORT OF LIVERPOOL Liverpool in the early 1980s: the city is acutely depressed, its decline capped by the riots that have engulfed the inner city neighbourhood of Toxteth – at the time the largest disturbance on English soil for more than two centuries.

Nowhere is this more evident than on the Liverpool waterfront, where the once thriving docks lie derelict, its iconic Three Graces buildings cut off from the rest of the city centre.

Chris Brown, now chief executive of regeneration developer Igloo, has just begun his career as a rookie surveyor working on the regeneration of the historic Albert Dock, the project that will eventually kick-start the waterfront’s revival.

“The dock itself was full of mud,” he recalls. “Inside the building, plants were growing and there were masses of pigeons.” Generally the city was a “dismal place”, adds Brown.

Fast-forward 30 years, and Liverpool presents a very different face to the world, one that was recognised last month when members of the public voted the city’s waterfront as England’s Greatest Place in the RTPI-organised award.

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Janet Askew, former president of the RTPI, says Albert Dock itself had already been rescued from demolition by farsighted city planners, who had recognised its critical importance in Liverpool’s maritime history.

With an estimated £140 million worth of investment by the Merseyside Development Corporation, which was set up by then-environment secretary Michael Heseltine to spearhead the waterfront’s revival, the ground floor of the dock’s historic warehouses was turned into shops with flats on the upper levels.

Even then, though, the waterfront’s revival was far from secure.

“It worked and looked fantastic but didn’t have much footfall,” says Askew, who was born and brought up on the other side of the Mersey in Birkenhead.

”DEVELOPMENT CONTROL WASN’T REALLY AN ISSUE – IT WAS ABOUT POSITIVE PLANNING“

H E R I TA G E R E S T O R E D That changed when one side of the warehouse became the northern branch of the Tate Art Gallery, cementing the Albert Dock’s regeneration. Since then, the Tate has been joined by the Beatles Story and museums of maritime history and slavery.

Brown says the dock is now the NorthWest’s leading tourist attraction. “It’s the place you would take your friends and family if you live in Liverpool.”

The designation in 2004 of the waterfront as a World Heritage Site by Unesco, in recognition of its importance in the history of North Atlantic trade, further spurred the area’s regeneration.

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David Hughes, chief planner at Liverpool City Council, says: “It meshed into the existing fabric of Liverpool’s street network: we didn’t end up with one big mall stuck on the end of the Strand.”

Askew agrees that the project has been carefully integrated with Liverpool’s existing shopping core while pulling people down to the docks.

Not everything has worked. Hughes acknowledges that the Strand – the multi-lane highway that cuts off the city centre from the waterfront – remains a problem – one the city council is attempting to remedy through a public realm strategy designed to improve connections across the road.

A MIX OF D E S T I N AT I O N S

PRIDE OF PLACE When shortlisting Liverpool waterfront area, the RTPI’s Great Places judging panel said: “The regeneration has transformed this area into a vibrant place and a cherished place for locals and visitors alike. There is a great degree of pride in Liverpool for this place.”

Liverpool’s chief planner David Hughes saw this when he was showing RTPI president Janet Askew around the waterfront on her recent visit to the city. While local people often feel regeneration is imposed on them, he was struck by the number of Scousers who came up to talk about what had been achieved there.

“You could just see the pride oozing out,” he says.

The Liverpool Vision urban regeneration company, set up under Labour, spearheaded the creation on a neighbouring site of the city’s first convention and exhibition centre, which has emerged as one of the UK’s premier conference venues.

More controversial were plans for the gap site on the other side of the Albert Dock for the Mann Island development, housing the relocated Museum of Liverpool Life, which opened at the turn of the decade.

Cruise ships have returned to the Mersey with the creation of a terminal next to the Three Graces, and the Port of Liverpool has invested in new container facilities farther downstream where the

channel is broad enough to accommodate the giant vessels of today.

Meanwhile, the city council had put together plans for the Liverpool One shopping development, which sparked controversy because it involved building on an area of open ground.

Although its opening coinciding with the onset of the late Noughties recession, the project has been an enormous success story, creating an easy way for pedestrians to navigate between the city’s retail core and the waterfront convention centre.

Meanwhile, the regeneration of the waterfront itself is a continuing process. Half a mile north of the Three Graces, the developer of Belfast’s Titanic Quarter has turned a historic warehouse on Stanley Docks into an upmarket hotel. And Liverpool’s directly elected mayor Joe Anderson has moved his office to the Three Graces.

Liverpool Council itself is drawing up a masterplan to regenerate the King’s Dock on the opposite side of the convention centre from the Albert. “We know we need another reason to add to critical mass of users down there,” says Hughes, who suggests an ice arena as one option. Although there is strong interest from private rented sector developers in the site, he says it is crucial to avoid creating what he describes as a “sterile” mono-use environment.

“It’s not just about docks or culture or residential dominating, it’s about a mix of destinations,” he says. Hughes adds that a key factor underpinning the waterfront’s success has been the local authority’s determination not to compromise on the quality of what was delivered there, even when it was no doubt tempting to chase flavour-ofthe-month commercial projects.

Brown says that robust planning has been crucial to the success of Albert Dock. “Development control wasn’t really an issue – it was about positive planning.

The development corporation was a proper planning vehicle that would not only plan but deliver it, which is what the planning system was always meant to do: it was an 1980s version of what was envisaged in the 1947 Planning Act. “What they have done is create a very much better place than it was in the 80s,” he concludes.

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INSIGHT

DiF { D

DECISIONS IN FOCUS

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

HOUSING

220 Congleton homes no risk to heritage assets

Clark favours local plan in 110home approval

( SUMMARY Permission has been granted for up to 220 homes in Congleton, Cheshire, after inspector Frances Mahoney decided that previous development showed that its effects on heritage assets would be limited.

( SUMMARY Communities secretary Greg Clark has granted permission for 110 homes in Ringmer, East Sussex, although the development proposal conflicts with an emerging neighbourhood plan.

( CASE DETAILS The emerging Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy (CELP) identifies Congleton as a key service centre with an identified requirement of 3,500 new homes over the period 2010 to 2030. But because at this stage the plan’s compliance with national planning policy is not confirmed, Mahoney gave little weight to it.

Cheshire East Council acknowledged its inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing; consequently, the council’s saved policies on housing could not be considered up to date.

It was the council’s view that there is considerable developer interest in the Cheshire East district, with some 15,122 dwellings already committed to be supplied, so it was confident that the specified lack of

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A proposal for up to 220 homes in Congleton, Cheshire, would not harm heritage assets

provision could be identified elsewhere. But Mahoney found this argument to be “unsubstantiated and unconvincing”, attaching substantial weight to the housing shortfall.

The appeal site is referred to as a “historic finger” of green land that extends almost into the heart of the town centre, classified as part of an area of Medieval Town Fields. But Mahoney found that previous “manipulation of the landscape” – including the creation a golf course and extension of a graveyard – “had created modern boundaries which have disrupted the medieval field boundaries, diminishing their distinctiveness and

value in the context of their relationship with medieval Congleton”. Mitigating highway measures suggested by the appellant were also accepted to improve and protect these heritage assets. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The scheme was found to be beneficial because of its impact on biodiversity, its sustainability in relation to Congleton, and its 30 per cent provision of affordable housing, and so permission was granted.

Appeal Ref: APP/ R0660/A/14/2228681

( CASE DETAILS Clark noted that since the report by inspector Richard Schofield had been submitted the Draft Ringmer Neighbourhood Plan (DRNP) was successful at referendum and should be afforded substantial weight, though it would not form part of the development plan until it was formally made by Lewes District Council. The proposal conflicted with the DRNP in that it sought to build 110 houses on a plot of land designated within the plan for 86 homes in two stages.

Clark also noted that the council was in the process of preparing a replacement local plan with the South Downs National Park Authority with which the appeal scheme conformed.

Schofield asserted that this plan should be given precedence, as it was correct within the plan-making

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process that “strategic decisions are made in a local plan and conformed to by policies in a neighbourhood plan”.

The secretary of state further agreed that as the DRNP had allocated housing for the site and therefore agrees with residential development in principle, the addition of 24 homes would “not represent a substantial uplift over the minimum proposed in the plan and would not present any greater adverse effect upon the character and appearance of the area, protected species, highway issues or drainage”. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The secretary of state asserted that the scheme would make a significant contribution to the provision of market housing in the area and a 40 per cent affordable housing provision.

Appeal Ref: APP/ P1425/W/14/3001077

HOUSING

Coalville housing scheme approved ( SUMMARY Gladman Developments has been permitted to develop 180 homes, a retail unit and associated infrastructure in Coalville, Leicestershire, after an inspector ruled that North West Leicestershire District Council was unable to show a five-year supply of housing sites to meet the full objectively assessed need (FOAN) of the area. ( CASE DETAILS Inspector Harold Stephens noted that the appeal site constitutes 7.22 hectares of fields, currently in I M AG E S | A L A M Y / G E T T Y

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agricultural use. The site lies outside the Limits to Development as identified in North West Leicestershire Local Plan 2002. But Stephens asserted that in his view “housing policy which constrains new housing development to settlement boundaries formulated in the 1990s and which expired in 2006 cannot be consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework, which seeks to boost the supply of housing to meet objectively assessed needs”.

After taking issue with the council’s approach to calculating the FOAN for the area, and determining the council’s Strategic Housing Market Assessment to be outdated, Stephens ruled that the council could not prove a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites.

The inspector noted that the site falls within an Area of Particularly Attractive Countryside (APAC), however, he gave little weight to this designation because there had been no analysis of how the landscape value had changed since its designation in 1976. He further asserted that an identified “attractive gateway and rural approach” would be maintained, and that overall the development would not materially harm the character of the area.

A solar farm has been approved in the Shropshire Hills AONB

( CONCLUSION REACHED The development was deemed economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, with financial contributions also being secured towards education, health services and Leicestershire Police.

Appeal Ref: APP/ G2435/W/15/3005052

HOUSING

DCLG rejects Lydney dwellings over plan conflict ( SUMMARY Communities secretary Greg Clark has overturned an inspector’s decision to permit 200 dwellings in Lydney, Gloucestershire, after finding that the extent to which the proposal conflicted with Forest of Dean District Council’s Allocations Plan Submission Draft August 2015 (AP) and the emerging Lydney Neighbourhood Development Plan (LNDP) outweighed its benefits. ( CASE DETAILS The proposal, submitted

by Allaston Developments, included up to 20 self-build plots, up to 37 retirement flats, affordable housing, and

a community building.

Clark agreed with inspector Neil Pope’s assessment that the main issues involved in this case were the lack of a five-year housing supply in the district, the impact of the scheme on the character and appearance of the area, loss of agricultural land, and its effect on highway safety.

Clark acknowledged that the emerging AP and LNDP had advanced considerably since the start of the inquiry, but that given the incomplete status of these documents he was unable to ascertain whether or not a robust five-year housing land supply could be demonstrated.

He gave consideration to the Public Sector Equality Act 2010, finding that “the refusal of the appeal may have a detrimental effect on persons who share a relevant protected characteristic in terms of the non-provision of the proposed retirement apartments, and affordable housing”.

He agreed with Pope’s assertions on the benefits of the scheme, which included a boost to the local economy and assistance with the government’s efforts to stimulate self-building within the industry. But he found that some of the listed benefits of the plan should be given less weight as they were not “site specific”. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Clark ruled that the harm arising from the scheme’s conflict with the emerging AP and LNDP, the adverse impact on landscape, traffic impacts and adverse effect upon air quality outweighed the benefits of the scheme.

Appeal Ref: APP/P1615/A/14/2218921

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INSIGHT

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DECISIONS IN FOCUS HOUSING

Dundela Football Club in Belfast achieved its goal of gaining permission for 23 flats

Housing aids retention of football club ( SUMMARY Outline planning permission has been granted for 23 flats on land belonging to Dundela Football Club in Belfast, after a commissioner accepted that the scheme was necessary to alleviate the club’s debts and retain the community benefits it offers.

TRANSPORT

Mining gases pose threat to bus depot ( SUMMARY A condition requiring the submission of a scheme to protect buildings from the ingress of gas from former mine workings has been enforced at an Arriva/British Bus Properties bus depot in Ashington, Northumberland. ( CASE DETAILS The appeal site is within the government Coal Authority’s high-risk referral area, and is subject to hazards from past mining operations, including stythe gas – a mix of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen and methane.

Inspector Elaine Worthington noted that the appellant had originally applied to Northumberland County Council to have the disputed condition discharged, but that concerns raised by the environmental health officer led the council to decide that insufficient evidence had been supplied by the appellant, and the condition should stay. The depot was subsequently completed, with the appellant also submitting

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additional supporting data to address these concerns.

The appellant argued that the condition was not necessary or relevant to planning as “the matter of the ingress of gas from former mine workings is controlled under building regulations, and… by environmental health legislation”, and that this overlap in controls was unreasonable.

Worthington was satisfied that the condition related to planning objectives as set out in both the National Planning Policy Framework (para 120) and the Wansbeck District Local Plan (policy GP29) and was not “unreasonable or disproportionate”. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Worthington said there was insufficient evidence of protective measures implemented by the appellant, including the fitting of a 1,200-gauge membrane, to confirm that workers at the depot would be protected, and the submission of a scheme should be enforced.

The council confirmed that a mitigation scheme could be imposed.

Appeal Ref: APP/ P2935/W/15/3131744

( CASE DETAILS The site constitutes a sloping area of disused overgrown grassland. Commissioner Pamela O’Donnell noted that Planning Policy Statement 8 – Open Space, Sport and Outdoor Recreation (PPS8) details that “presumption against the loss of open space will apply irrespective of its physical condition and appearance”, but a number of exceptions apply surrounding a proposal’s suitability in relation to the area’s visual amenity and the community benefits it might support.

O’Donnell noted that permission for a similar development had been granted to the club in 2008 with a site valuation of £400,000 – 75 per cent of which was to be spent on ground works and 25 per cent to go towards reducing the club’s debt. This permission has now lapsed and the club has entered a contractual agreement with appellant Acheson Homes.

An interim period of economic downturn has resulted in the site value falling to £173,250, and the club’s debt mounting to £214,000. As a result, the club said it was necessary to contribute 75 per cent of the site’s value to debt reduction, with the remainder to go

towards ground works. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Although O’Donnell found that the community benefits of the club as it stood were limited, she noted that the scheme had the potential to unlock broader benefits “as the club would be in a better position to obtain future funding”. The club has received planning approval for a new 4G artificial football pitch and clubhouse, which O’Donnell conceded would be more likely to gain funding if the appeal were granted. She ruled that the proposal should be granted subject to a detailed design statement.

Appeal Ref: 2014/A0139

HOUSING

Scheme would not erode faith in planning system ( SUMMARY The development of 16 dwellings with associated parking and landscaping has been approved for the village of Broadway, Ilminster, after an inspector decided that approval of the scheme would not undermine local policy and public confidence in the planning system. ( CASE DETAILS South Somerset Council had argued that the need for open market properties had not been proved and that the scheme lacked “robust community engagement or general community support”, thus bringing the scheme into conflict with Local Plan Policy SS2 (development in rural settlements), which seeks to restrict development that would affect the

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sustainability of a rural town.

Inspector Neil Pope noted the council’s acceptance that it could not show a five-year supply of housing.

He contended that a mix of open market and 35 per cent affordable housing would increase the overall sustainability of Broadway.

He said that “established planning law does not require public support before permission can be granted”.

He added: “For a settlement of the size of Broadway the level of local opposition could not be reasonably described as substantial or overwhelming.” He noted that national policy seeks to boost the supply of housing and while some residents would be disappointed by the plan’s approval, more would question how permission could be withheld for a residential scheme in an area where there was a shortfall in the supply of market housing. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The council had acted unreasonably in dismissing the appeal on a basis of conflict with LP policy SS2.

Appeal Ref: APP/ R3325/W/15/3063768

AGRICULTURAL

Pig finishing unit approved for North Yorkshire ( SUMMARY Permission has been granted for a 1,000-place pig finishing building and feed silo at Colburn Grange Farm in North Yorkshire, after an inspector found that there was lack of evidence to support residents’ concerns about odour, noise and flies in the vicinity. ( CASE DETAILS Inspector Anthony Lyman noted that Richmondshire District Council’s main objection to the proposal was that the proposed pig unit would be too close to several sensitive receptors in the surrounding housing areas, Colborn Primary School and nearby play areas.

An odour dispersion modelling study (ODMS) submitted by the appellant, confirmed that the nearest residences would be roughly 290 metres from the unit.

Those opposing the proposal said “it is still widely accepted within the planning sector that a livestock unit within 400m of a dwelling has the potential to impact on residential amenity”, but

Lyman noted that “there was no outright prohibition” on units within this distance of sensitive receptors.

He accepted that according to the Environment Agency’s best available techniques criteria for avoiding or minimising all types of emissions, the predicted odour concentrations from the development would be below the benchmark for moderately offensive odours.

In response to a submission by a local residents’ group claiming that “it is undoubtedly the case that increased odour, noise and flies would result, with adverse impact on the health, social activities and general amenity of the local community”, Lyman found that as the group had not undertaken an independent modelling exercise, these assertions were “unsubstantiated, and appear to be conjecture”. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The inclusion of a sealed underground slurry tank would minimise the risk of odour, and the spreading of slurry to be restricted to twice a year. A number of other good management practices were considered enforceable through a condition.

Appeal Ref: APP/ V2723/W/15/3130939

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Solar farm approved in Shropshire Hills

Approval was granted for a 1-000-place pig unit in North Yorkshire

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( SUMMARY Permission has been granted for a five-megawatt solar farm and ancillary works near Acton Scott, within the Shropshire Hills Area of

Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), after an inspector ruled that the contribution of the scheme towards renewable energy targets outweighed any harm to the nearby landscape. ( CASE DETAILS Inspector Phillip Ware noted that the site constituted an 11-hectare field of poor quality pasture land, located within a wide valley.

Ware gave great weight to the untouched appearance of the designated landscape, and accepted that the solar farm would appear out of place. But he said it was not correct to assert that the area was “devoid of manmade influences” given the presence of houses, power lines and a disused rail line.

Ware further posited that the enclosed nature of the site would help to diminish the perceived size of the farm, with Shropshire Council also accepting the appellant’s assessment of a slight adverse landscape impact. He acknowledged that the proposal would be visible from some public footpaths, but asserted that in most cases this would be from a great distance.

He did not accept thirdparty concerns about the loss of agricultural land, given the low quality of the land. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The proposed solar farm is capable of generating enough energy to power 1,450 homes.

The inspector said national policy gives great support for renewable energy proposals, and does not altogether prohibit development within an AONB.

Appeal Ref: APP/ L3245/W/15/3022913

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INSIGHT

LLegal landscape SORRY, BUT WE MAY NEED TO BUILD ON THE GREEN BELT We all understand and prize the green belt, but the reality is that we may have to build on some of it, says Jay Das – so let’s do it sensibly and sensitively The protection of the green belt has been a national pastime for more than 70 years, but the principles are now under attack. Many will remember the appearance

by Nick Boles on Newsnight that sent shivers through the Establishment when he spoke of a “moral right to own a house and garden”.

The realities are that virgin land is easier and more profitable to develop, and homes surrounded by some greenery appeal to most of the population. A more attractive development that appeals to the masses will invariably be built earlier than other more complicated “brownfield” sites.

This was one of the main reasons for the success of garden cities and why new proposals for garden cities have resulted in much interest and support generally. The protection of the green belt has often been described as nimbyism because it is invariably those who already have the benefit of living in such areas who are trying to protect their views and vistas from encroachment by new development.

Despite concerted efforts by governments over the

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past decade it appears that the increase in numbers of planning permissions granted by councils has not resulted in the consequential increase in housing delivery everyone had hoped for. The Guardian recently reported that the nine biggest house builders are sitting on enough land to build 615,152 homes and that many local councils are now promoting taxing planning consents as a “stick” to be used to deliver more housing.

The reality is that in a free market economy a stick is unlikely to achieve the desired results. Radical proposals are necessary. A Garden Of One’s Own, a report prepared by the Adam Smith Institute, promotes greater development

Jay Das on the green belt.

The report suggests that there are nearly 20,000 hectares of accessible green belt within 10 minutes of an existing station, which at an increased density of 50 units per hectare would free up enough land to meet all housing demand in and around London until 2030.

The institute maintains that the protection of the green belt is unsustainable.

The Housing and Planning Bill, together with the changes proposed to the National Planning Policy Framework (which would allow greater infilling on green belt land), should present fair

“THERE ARE NEARLY 20,000 HECTARES OF ACCESSIBLE GREEN BELT WITHIN 10 MINUTES OF AN EXISTING STATION. AT AN INCREASED DENSITY OF 50 UNITS PER HECTARE THIS WOULD FREE UP ENOUGH LAND TO MEET ALL LONDON HOUSING DEMAND UNTIL 2030”

opportunity for increased housing development which, combined with the relief from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for Starter Homes, should present the “carrot” the industry needs to develop housing.

The critical issues are those relating to quality and protection against natural disasters such as flooding. Provided that the safeguards usually required in the form of Environment Statements (which should consider both the individual and cumulative impact on the environment of developments – for example, increase in noise or pollution or flooding – and provide solutions for any concerns arising) and appropriate design and protective measures such as sustainable and urban drainage strategies are not compromised, one would think a better solution to the housing shortage would be delivered sooner rather than later.

It has long been accepted that development will occur on green spaces and the purpose of the local plan process was to deal with the creation of new towns and cities and urban extensions in such green spaces. The development plan process is well suited to ensure that identified harms are addressed in so far as they can be dealt with given that the development of housing is such a pressing concern for the country.

Places such as Coventry (which was recently allocating 10 per cent of the green belt) and Knowsley Council and Merseyside (those who have put forward nine green belt sites) seem to be leading the way in providing muchneeded homes.

Jay Das is head of planning at Wedlake Bell

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LATEST POSTS FROM THEPLANNER.CO.UK/BLOGS

B LO G S An amended regime for DECC fracking consents that allows fracking in national parks has been criticised, with the government accused of “sneaking through” changes

L E G I S L AT I O N S H O R T S New shale regime needs care Roy Pinnock

The House of Commons voted before the Christmas break to allow fracking in national parks and some other sensitive areas. The vote was taken without time for a debate and the government has been criticised by Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs for “sneaking through” changes. As ever with shale news, the changes are less dramatic, and the freedoms to develop greater, than suggested.

A done deal The reversal of the “outright ban” on fracking in national parks and Sites of Special Scientific Interests announced in January 2015 has been on the cards since last July, when the Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2015 were published. MPs have now simply accepted that they make sense.

Effect of changes The way that the Petroleum Act 1998 provisions (Section 4A) are now drawn, following changes under the Infrastructure Act 2015, means that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will not issue consents for “associated hydraulic fracturing” above 1,000 metres’ depth. It will only grant them below

this outside protected groundwater and “other protected areas” (OPAs).

The new regulations carve back these OPAs to land below 1,200 metres in national parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and World Heritage sites. It will therefore be possible to hydraulically fracture in these areas, below this depth.

Planning is not the biggest hurdle Despite the recent award of 159 more licences, the challenges of achieving planning consents and the oil price continue to represent significant barriers for investors. The government’s decision to recover Cuadrilla Resources’ appeals in Lancashire illustrates the priority being given to taking a clean decision.

It is worth bearing the following mind, though.

The planning process for consents needed to simply monitor and test drill sites is complex, but there is no ban on granting planning permission in these areas. The government’s planning policy

approach remains that authorities should give great weight to both the benefits of the mineral extraction and the need to protect AONBs, national parks and general amenity. Carefully sited and properly mitigated proposals should stand a good chance where they represent the reasonable best alternative. Marrying that up with the surface access rights available, and communicating it clearly in the planning process, is a challenge.

The amended regime for DECC fracking consents needs to be approached with care. Section 4A of the Petroleum Act 1998 now means that the DECC may be tempted to rule out fracking at sites where planning permission includes some land in OPAs for non-fracturing purposes (e.g. parking or pipework).

Legal challenges are likely both to the planning process and the DECC consenting process. The new regime appears to allow the DECC to consent surface installations for fracking in OPAs. Given that the likelihood of effects on these areas from above and near to ground operations is likely to be greater than fracking at depth, this may be an unintended aspect of the recent changes.

Roy Pinnock is a partner in the planning and public law team for Dentons UK. For his full article, visit: http://tinyurl.com/ planner0216-fracking

Court orders owner to repaint striped home A home owner who painted red and white stripes on to her mews house in the Kensington Square Conservation Area of London has been ordered to comply with a section 215 notice issued by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

The owner argued that a Section 215 notice could only be used to remedy the state of repair and not to control the colour or manner in which the property is painted.

District Judge Susan Bayne ruled that the painting of the property harmed the visual integrity, which is fundamental to the conservation area, and rejected the owner’s appeal. The property must be repainted white within 28 days.

The property owner had previously lost a High Court appeal to have Kensington and Chelsea’s revised basement policy quashed.

Charnwood Borough Council Core Strategy challenged Developer Rosconn Group has submitted an application to the High Court for a judicial review of the examination process and adoption of Charnwood Borough Council’s Core Strategy, after finding issue with the extent to which the council’s five-year land supply position was examined.

The core strategy lays out aims for the development of around 9,000 homes and 44 hectares of employment land across the borough.

The application seeks for the core strategy to be quashed, a declaration that the council and inspector erred in law by not examining the five-year land supply appropriately, and calls for the inspector’s examination to be re-opened and cross-examination on land supply allowed.

The High Court will decide whether a judicial review can take place once it has received the council’s response to the application.

Scottish Government faces court action over air pollution The Scottish Government is facing the threat of legal action if it fails to tackle illegal levels of air pollution “blighting” the country’s biggest cities, according to environmental law organisation ClientEarth.

The group identified four zones within the country where illegal and harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide are present, arising mostly from diesel vehicles.

ClientEarth lawyer Alan Andrews said: “With Glasgow a key city in our case against the UK government, we know that air pollution is causing a huge public health issue in Scotland.

“Air quality in Scottish cities is in our sights as much as the rest of the UK and the Scottish government should be aware that it could face legal action should it fail to act.”

In April 2015, ClientEarth won a UK-wide case when the Supreme Court ordered the UK government to draw up plans to deal with air pollution as quickly as possible.

The group argues that the government’s plans were inadequate and has pledged to bring the case back to court.

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INSIGHT

Plan ahead P

Send feedback to editorial@theplanner.co.uk Tweet us @The Planner_RTPI

A change in the climate Removal of government support and a change to the planning regime for onshore wind and solar farms have transformed the outlook for renewables. What do planners need to know?

“A lot of anticipated [onshore] wind and solar farms have just dropped away,” says Amy Longmore, senior planner at Turley. “The risk is too high for a lot of developers. Those projected developments haven’t come forward as we anticipated.”

It seems an innocent enough thing – a written ministerial statement. But one such from energy secretary Amber Rudd in November has had severe ramifications for investors and developers of renewable energy. Effectively, it has stopped the industry stone dead in the UK. Longmore herself uses more understated language.

The decision to withdraw government support for wind and solar, and to subject proposed onshore wind and solar farm applications to a stringent community support test has, “resulted in a number of market changes”.

As our feature on the future of wind on pages 26 to 29 explains, developers typically fork out a million pounds or more to shepherd a wind farm application through

“I DON’T THINK RENEWABLE ENERGY IS DEAD AT ALL. WE STILL NEED RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS” 42

Northern lights: How will the government’s strategy work?

the planning system. Until now, this cost has been partly mitigated by a relatively supportive environment for renewables. But now it’s tantamount to throwing cash away, and the government has signalled strong support for gas, particularly shale, and nuclear power.

This fairly bleak scenario is one that planners have to get grips with – not least because, according to Longmore, all is not lost for renewables. On March 16, she’s organising an event with the RTPI North West to bring planners up to date with the new context for renewables and to talk through some of the challenges and opportunities.

Planning For Renewable Energy – A Change In The Climate will begin with an analysis of what Rudd’s written ministerial statement means for practising planners.

“The first speaker will be from the renewable energy industry and will talk about what the changes are and what

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that means in practice,” says Longmore. “Then we’ll look at some project examples – one is a wind farm in the NorthWest and we’ll look at how the developer approached the submission of the application and how the written ministerial statement has impacted on that.”

She is also hoping to get the views of consultants and local planning authorities, and then to take a closer look at a solar development. In the afternoon, the event will “focus more on the opportunities and future opportunities in the renewable energy sector”, says Longmore.

“And we’ll be drawing on

the fact that in the written ministerial statement Rudd outlined the government’s support for gas and the nuclear sector.”

Despite the immediate prognosis for renewable energy in the UK, Longmore insists that wind and solar are far from over – and the planning system may offer ways to continue to bring schemes forward.

“There’s the point about how local planning authorities need to allocate areas for renewable energy development,” says Longmore. “I’m speaking to an officer to see whether they are looking at implementing that into local plans in the future.

“It [renewable energy] is most desirable in terms of securing an energy supply in the UK. I think the focus on having the community support and also for it to appear in local and neighbourhood plans pushes the emphasis towards looking at sites from a much earlier position and working within local plans – more like housing. I don’t think renewable energy is dead at all.

“We still need renewable energy developments,” she continues, not least because of the goals agreed at the United Nations climate Change Conference in December last year. “We have to be at the forefront of renewable energy generation because we’ve progressed it so much that we have put ourselves in an excellent position.”

B LO W I N G I N T H E W I N D What: Planning For Renewable Energy – A Change In The Climate When: 16 March 2016 Where: Great John Street Hotel, Manchester Find out more and book: tinyurl.com/planner0216energy-1603

I M AG E | G E T T Y

22/01/2016 15:58

DIARY

LISTINGS Talks, conferences, training, master classes – everything you need to keep on top of the latest thinking and developments in the planning world.

LONDON 25 February – RTPI’s guide to the planning system in 2016 This conference addresses two big political themes – planning in the context of wider discussions around devolution to local government and how planners are coping with resource limitations.

Venue: The Hatton (etc Venues), 51-53 Hatton Garden EC1N 8HN Details: tinyurl.com/ Planner1216-LO-2502 3 March – Nationally significant infrastructure projects and PINS This briefing and workshop brings together key participants in the process to discuss its operation, to map out its effects and to advise on the best ways to achieve successful outcomes.

Venue: Prospero House (etc Venues) 241 Borough High St, London SE1 1GA Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0216-LO-0316 09 March – Writing skills for planning professionals Good communication skills have never been more vital.

This intensive and practical masterclass focuses on helping you to plan your document, write fluently without the struggle, and to polish and edit your work.

Venue: The Hatton Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0216-LO-0903

SOUTH EAST 22 February – Planners’ Question Time This year’s PQT will consider the recent and ongoing reform agenda and consider questions exploring the impacts of these reforms on society in terms of places, opportunities and longterm challenges.

Venue: Henley Business School Building (G15), Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading,

Wokingham RG6 6UD Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0216-SE-2202

WEST MIDLANDS 10 February – Planning Law Update WM A seminar led by planning lawyers on topical legal issues, new and emerging legislation and guidance, recent case law and appeal decisions plus the significance and impacts of all of these.

Venue: Offices of DLA Piper, Victoria House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, West Midlands B2 4DL Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0216-WM-1016

EAST MIDLANDS 23 February – Post adoption of neighbourhood plans The Planning Advisory Service is delivering a number of topical workshops for local authority officers on neighbourhood planning.

This workshop event is for local authority planners only. Places are limited.

Venue: Mercure Nottingham, 2 George Street, Lace Market NG1 3BP Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0116-EM-2302 24 February – Environmental Impact Assessments The EIA process is complex, involving screening, scoping, and assessment stages. This workshop covers the relevant legislation, provides explanatory examples and will assist with submitting an EIA. Venue: Nottingham Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0116-EM-2402 25 February – East Midlands Awards Evening Presentation of Regional Awards for 2015. Keynote speaker

DON’T MISS Young Planners and Legislation: A Scottish Young Planners’ Network Event This is an opportunity for any young planner in the first 10 years of their career to learn more about the formation of law, to tour the Scottish Parliament, and to meet an MSP. Nigel Don MSP, Convenor of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, will introduce the session at the Scottish Parliament, followed by discussion on the scrutiny of primary legislation by MSPs, the drafting of secondary legislation, the differences between government and parliament, and the differences between reserved and devolved powers.

Date: 23 February Venue Scottish Parliament, Horse Wynd, Edinburgh EH99 1SP Details: tinyurl.com/planner0216-SC-2302

is Steve Quartermain, DCLG chief planner.

The award categories are: Plan; Development scheme, Local Authority Planning Team; Planning Consultancy; Young Planner; and Chairman’s Award.

Venue: Nottingham Contemporary, Weekday Cross, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG1 2GB Details: tinyurl.com/ Planner1215-EM-2502

SOUTH WEST 23 February – Development management This event will explore the latest PAS research and case studies on development management.

Sponsored by Ashfords.

Venue: The Rougemont Hotel, Exeter, Devon Details: tinyurl.com/ Planner1215-SW-2302

NORTH WEST 11 February – Planning support: Knowledge and networking This event is intended to provide administrators and technical support colleagues with an understanding of the plan system to enable them to appreciate the wider context within which they are working.

Venue: BDP, Manchester M60 3JA Details: tinyurl.com/ Planner1215-NW-1102 24 February – CPO Breakfast Seminar This seminar will cover:

Proposals for CPO reform and what’s in the Housing and Planning Bill; overview of the new CPO Guidance; tactics for objecting to CPO and what promoters of CPOs can learn from this; CPO case law update.

The event is hosted by Shoosmiths.

Venue: Shoosmiths, 7th Floor, 3 Hardman Street, Spinningfields, Manchester Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0216-NW-2402 24 February – Staff retention and growth This event will discuss: staff retention issues; improving your attrition rate; recruiting for growth; and staff motivators. This event is presented by Blayze Group.

Venue: Eversheds, 70 Great Bridgewater St, Manchester Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0216-NW2-2402

NORTH EAST 24 February – Design matters – making successful places This event will examine the ways in which great design is achieved. It will consider how the national design agenda and local design guidelines are translated into sustainable development. It will use best practice and case studies both within and outside the region to provide a clear idea of how we can provide better design in place-making.

Venue: The Assembly Rooms, Fenkle Street, Newcastle NE1 5XU Details: tinyurl.com/ Planner1215-NE-2402

EAST OF ENGLAND 24 February – Lessons from city planning: Regeneration, development & transport A one-day conference sponsored by the Peterborough Investment Partnership, a joint venture between Peterborough City Council and other partners.

Venue: Peterborough Conference & Events Venue, ABAX Stadium Details: tinyurl.com/ planner0116-EE-2402

YORKSHIRE 18 February – Delivering viable development: Young Planners Event A seminar to help attendees to understand development viability, the language used, approaches to undertaking appraisals, developer and landowner perspectives on land value and the impact of planning policy and appeal decisions on preparing viability assessments.

Venue: DLP, Ground Floor, VI – Velocity, Tenter Street, Sheffield S1 4BY Details: tinyurl.com/ Planner0216-YO-1802 25 February – The role of town planning in health and wellbeing Exploring our role through plan-making, decisionmaking and as facilitators in promoting health, wellbeing and inclusive communities.

Venue: Kings Manor, University of York, Exhibition Square, York Details: tinyurl.com/ Planner0216-YO-2502

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NEWS

RTPI {

RTPI news pages are edited

by Josh Rule at the RTPI, 41 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DL

Solving the housing crisis needs more investment in planning, not less The Chancellor of the Exchequer is set to deliver the Budget on 16 March. There is likely to be a continued focus on house building and rightly so, as we’re in the midst of a housing crisis.

We actually have two housing crises in this country, and both require more investment in planning. The first crisis is a crisis of quantity – we’re not building enough homes. The second, less discussed, is a crisis of quality – the homes and neighbourhoods we do build are often low quality and uninspiring.

If the chancellor travels in the same direction as the government has been, there are likely to be more cuts to planning when we need more investment.

This combined with over 30 years of everincreasing deregulation and liberalisation of development means a further erosion of the positive impact planning can have.

Many of those who have been the strongest proponents of this deregulation are now desperately trying to understand why this hasn’t led to the increased housing delivery they predicted.

In other parts of Western Europe, local and central planning bodies have been increasingly given the powers and tools to improve not only delivery, but also the quality of development. The results have been startlingly better built environment outcomes.

The RTPI has looked at some of these developments in a report that examines the role of “planning as market-maker”.

The report demonstrates that proactive and positive planning has been critical to delivering built environments that would be the envy of any UK town or city.

On the basis of the Housing and Planning Bill, the UK Government appears to think that the housing crisis is primarily (or even exclusively) one of quantity rather than quality – hence its proposals for both further deregulation and more powers for the Secretary of

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State. The problem is that such reforms risk further undermining the ability of local planning authorities and other public agencies to play the kind of positive planning roles that we examine in the report.

A better starting point for major developments in the UK would be to decide what we want from the places in which we live and work. Anyone’s list is likely to include good public transport, strong and sustainable economies, green spaces and good urban design.

We can’t leave these things to chance in the hope that private sector developers will deliver them without a leading role for planning. It is unreasonable and unrealistic to expect the private sector to deliver these kinds of places on their own, when developing great places requires a broad vision and coordination across developers, investors, local policymakers, and communities.

Planning is the one function that can undertake this coordination. When given a more enterprising and creative role, planning can provide a better environment for the private sector, and deliver a better built environment for everyone else.

Planning is much more than just about regulating the use of land, but somehow this has become the dominant thinking in the UK and has led to the

perception that planning is anti-growth, cumbersome and bureaucratic.

What comes out perhaps most strongly from our recent research is the leading role that local government and public agencies can and often need to play in new development. In-depth case studies from Hamburg, Lille and Nijmegen illustrate how planning can overcome market failure and deliver positive economic outcomes for people and places. In all three cases, the planning system has played an enterprising role in negotiating with, shaping, and stimulating the market, and in providing the preconditions for private investment.

Most of those in the private sector would welcome this form of planning, since it reduces risk, provides greater certainty, helps to guarantee demand for their developments, and creates demand for the kind of places people want to live and businesses want to invest in.

Indeed, the UK has examples where this kind of planning has been delivered.

Brindleyplace in Birmingham and MediaCity in Manchester (pictured) are good examples of high-quality, mixeduse environments where the ingenuity and creativity of private developers was matched with the coordinating ability of the local authority. We need more examples like this in the UK. With cuts hitting planning departments hard, alongside further calls for more planning deregulation, planning teams are less able to play their role as effectively as they would want to in delivering the places and houses people want.

It’s time to see political messages and resourcing that recognise how planning can be a positive tool for a stronger economy and a better society. So, ahead of this Budget, we remind the chancellor that if he is serious about delivering more houses in the UK he needs to be serious about investing properly in it.

This was written by David Pendlebury, former RTPI economic research officer.

He now works at AECOM. n Read Planning As Market Maker here: http://www.rtpi.org.uk/ planningasmarketmaker

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Editorial E: rtpinews@rtpi.org.uk

RTPI (switchboard) T: 020 7929 9494

Registered charity no.

262865 Registered charity in Scotland SCO37841

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

Jenny Salt Chartered Planner FISHER GERMAN LLP There is often opposition from local residents to large-scale housing developments.

At present Neighbourhood Plans are voluntary; to produce a comprehensive plan requires time and inclination.

By making the process a compulsory part of meeting a local authority’s development needs, individuals are likely to be more engaged and willing to work in partnership with developers to ensure that the goals of both parties can be achieved.

Defining schemes of 2,000-plus homes as nationally significant infrastructure under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) process would enable new settlements to come forward sooner and in areas where local authority boundaries are not seen as a restriction.

While it’s perhaps a little controversial, where members overturn an officer’s recommendation at planning committee, I feel those members who vote to against the officer’s recommendation should be actively involved in defending the case during the appeal process.

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Make Neighbourhood Plans compulsory

2,000­plus homes to become NSIPs

3 Make planning committee members more accountable

POSITION POINTS

YOUR INSTITUTE, YOUR QUESTIONS Why does the RTPI hold planning awards in the nations and regions?

ANDREW JOHNSON, PLANNING OFFICER, EREWASH BOROUGH COUNCIL

PLANNING ENFORCEMENT TOOLKIT KATHERINE POLLARD, POLICY & NETWORKS ADVISER

RTPI’s Network for Planning Enforcement (NAPE) and the Planning Advisory Service have created an enforcement advice note following the University of West England/ NAPE publication Planning Enforcement England: At The Crossroads from 2014. This highlighted that there are existing tools in the toolbox that are perhaps not being used as widely as they could be and suggested they would benefit from greater publicity and focus. This has been supported by the advice note and includes tools that may be useful such as enforcement plans, Proceeds of Crime Act, S215 Notices and Voluntary Start Notices.

n http://www.pas.gov.uk/enforcement/-/journal_ content/56/332612/7553767/ARTICLE

SUZANNE SLACK, RTPI EAST MIDLANDS REGIONAL COORDINATOR The awards celebrate the positive contribution that planners and planning make to the nations and regions by highlighting exceptional examples of planning. While we run the international Awards for Planning Excellence there are lots of local projects, people, and teams that demonstrate excellence and improve and enhance the local environment and community. It’s important that we promote these projects so that they can be used to inform other similarsized projects or be scaled up to larger projects. Each of the nations and regions hold their awards at different times during the year. For example, the RTPI East Midlands will be looking to recognise and award exemplary individuals, teams and practices on 25 February in Nottingham. For more information about the awards: www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you

TRANSPORT LED REGENERATION: HAS TFL’S GROWTH FUND RISEN TO THE CHALLENGE? The Mayor of London aims to house much of the capital’s growing population in brownfield sites designated for major regeneration. This report from the London Assembly Regeneration Committee looks at how Transport for London has been supporting this process with a £360 million Growth Fund, which helps to encourage development by improving accessibility. The RTPI believes that brownfield regeneration should be targeted on sites with good public transport connections, and welcomes the funding of transport infrastructure to help unlock sites. The report notes that the fund has been successful in some places, but calls for the allocation process to be made fairer and more transparent.

n www.london.gov.uk/about-us/london-assembly/ london-assembly-publications/transport-ledregeneration

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NEWS

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CHARTERED MEMBERS JOINED OCT­DEC 2015

PLANNING THEORY AND PR ACTICE

“Many congratulations to all of our new Chartered Members. Employers rightly recognise the hallmark of professional expertise and integrity conferred by charter status. Being a chartered member of the RTPI makes you part of a community at the forefront of planning” – Phil Williams, RTPI president.

Victoria Pinoncely Research Officer

Bridging the gap between policy and practice The latest edition of the RTPI’s journal Planning Theory And Practice (volume 16, issue 4), is out now.

In the editorial, Robert Upton argues that planning encompasses a wide range of practices in different political, social, environmental, economic contexts. Following this, Campbell and Zellner look at how the complex systems underlying human settlements (i.e. their social, biological and built infrastructure) generate wicked problems such as neighbourhood effects, and tensions between individual and collective interests, and how planning can use the tools of complex systems to tackle these wicked problems.

Rozema looks at infrastructure planning through the example of the A4 Delft-Schiedam in the Netherlands, and how its proponents made the case for development.

Baum, using examples from planning practice, looks at how emotional concerns and thinking tend be marginalised in planning practice and theory, although they are powerful factors in how people deal with their material interests.

Babb identifies a gap in research on how built environment audits are

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Congratulations to our newly elected Chartered Members between October-December 2015

used in practical planning contexts and whether they are an effective means of planning for multi-modal transport.

The Interface section, edited by Hendrik Wagenaar and Patsy Healey, argues that civic enterprise, i.e. initiatives arising from within civil society, may have the capacity to do more than just plug the increasingly frequent gaps in services required by society and become a form of additional capacity that seeks to deliver goods and services that have societal value.

Finally, Shaw comments on the subject of “Planetary urbanisation: What does it matter for politics or practice?”.

Walks reviews The Public City: Essays In honour Of Paul Mees, and Thomas reviews two textbooks – Planning In The UK, An Introduction, and Town And Country Planning In The UK – 15th edition. n For more information on Planning Theory and Practice, go to: www.rtpi.org.uk/knowledge/ publications/planning-theory-andpractice

Joanne Althorpe Christopher Barnes Ben Bassett Danielle Bassi Jennifer Beardsall Douglas Beasley James David Beynon Simon Nicholas Blacker Kate Bowen Tomas Bradley Rowan Miranda Brentley Amanda Jane Broadhead Iain Flemming Brodie Matthew Richard Brook Charlie Brown Griffith Giles Bunce Christopher Burton Luke Butler Alex David Candlish Amanda Chan Jennifer Coppock Matthew Paul Corcoran Suzanne Crawford Jake Crompton Iain Crossland Ruth Evelyn Cuthbert James Dempster Laura Dimond Alan Robert Divall Thomas Henry Dobson Nick Mark Eagle Lindsay Egner EladEisenstein Christine Marie Ellera Christopher Fairchild Alex Ferguson Samuel Nathan Finnis Sarah Fordham DanielFrisby Christopher David Fry Anna Gadd Laura Gardner Matthew Garvey Belinder Gill Matthew Alistair Golisti James Ian Green Andrew Gregory Pearce Gunne-Jones Alison Jayne Hall Catherine Hanly Robert Harding Patrick Harmsworth Helen Harris Helen Harris Kate Harrison Claire Katherine Hattam Jonathan Hill Kelly Hillman Sophie Hockin Alison Hope Kimberley Hopkins Simon Adam Hoskin Laura Hunter Amanda Jacobs Iestyn Huw Jenkins EmmaJohnston Phoebe Juggins

Ronan Thomas Kirrane Sze Nga Kong Colin Lamond Robert Lankshear Gregory David Logan Alice Rebecca Lomas Laura Loudon Gerard McCormack Rosanna Metcalfe Deborah Ellen Miles Benjamin Luke Mitchell Julia Mitchell Julian Moat Craig Lewis Moon Paul Henry Murray Kirsty Nicholls Samantha Jayne Nicholls Saiqa Noreen Lorna O’Carroll David James O’Connor Joanne Oldfield Jonathan Ordidge Rosie Paget Robert Parkes Sachin Parmar Thomas Payne Andrew Pearce Anita Pearce Claire Pegg Jonathan Penrose Helen Pineo Matthew David Porter Stephanie Porter Declan Redmond Harry Renton-Rose Melissa Sophie Kasia Robertshaw Christopher Roe Ellen Sanderson Alan Shand Gareth Sibley Colin Sinclair Caroline Strudwick Kim Louise Tagliarini Zoe Elizabeth Thirlaway Fiona Thompson Christopher Tinsley Maria Elizabeth Tomlinson Jennifer Towers Andrew John van Vliet Adrian Walker Hannah Louise Walker Elizabeth Walker Alexandra Mary Walsh Jennifer Watson Stuart West Alice Weston Aimee Louise Williams Natalie Winspear Thomas Winter Pola Wojcik Chun Ho Brian Wong Elizabeth Woodall Alfred Yeatman Masayuki Yokota Rebecca Ann Young

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RTPI Y ACTIVIT E PIPELIN Current RTPI work – what the Institute is doing and how you can help us EARLY BIRD RATE: PLANNING CONVENTION 2016 BETTER PLANNING SOLUTIONS THE CHALLENGE OF GROWTH Critically examine the best solutions that planners in UK and internationally can provide in tackling the issues of infrastructure, housing, economic growth and the environment now and in the future, at a time when planners are also facing a number of wider challenges in adopting new policy frameworks within finite resources. Speakers will include: Alfonso Vegara, president of Fundacion Metropoli and Lord Adonis.

The 2016 Planning Convention will also feature a wide range of panel debates led by key influencers on major issues; energy, smart cities, land value capture, design, ethics and devolution, and you will hear what the planners of tomorrow feel will be the key issues for the future. Book now – the first 50 places booked each save £25.

For more information visit: www.theplanningconvention.co.uk

RTPI SHORTS

RTPI ADOPTS NEW COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES A clear and effective process for managing complaints is vital to a profession working in the public interest.

The RTPI has updated its operations to reflect the findings of a member-wide consultation in which there was significant support for a clearer, more streamlined process.

Iram Mohammed, 2015 Chair of the Membership and Ethics Committee, said: “We have reviewed the Complaints Procedures to ensure that the complaints-handling process remains manageable and fit for purpose. Following extensive consultation, the changes ensure that the process remains contemporary and continues to best serve the needs and expectations of RTPI members and the general public, who have a right to expect the highest levels of service from the profession. I would like to thank all members who responded to the consultation.”

HOT TICKETS FOR THE AWARDS FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE Tickets for the premier awards of the year will go on sale in mid-February and sell out fast. The winners will be announced at the ceremony to be held at Milton Court, Barbican, London on 5 May. The Awards are a fantastic occasion to celebrate and display you and your team’s achievements and network with your peers.

To register your interest for tickets please email awards@rtpi.org.uk The finalists for each of the 14 categories will be announced in mid-February. Full details will be available on www.rtpi.org.uk/excellence.

Headline sponsors are AECOM and Savills. If you wish to raise your profile, there is an array of sponsorship opportunities available.

Please contact rebecca.hildreth@rtpi.org.uk for more details

RTPI BURSARY SCHEME SET FOR SECOND YEAR As part of the RTPI Future Planners campaign, 44 postgraduates at 23 accredited planning schools have received a bursary to assist with costs such as field trips, study materials, or fees. The success of the scheme has been due to the support of a range of public and private sector sponsors and a number of RTPI regions. Work experience has been offered, while universities also provided match funding.

The Institute is extending the programme in 2016. Students from any undergraduate discipline expressing a clear interest in planning as a career will again be eligible. Would your organisation be in a position to provide sponsorship to encourage the next generation of planners?

If you are interested in supporting the scheme please contact education@rtpi.org.uk or 020 7929 9451

HAVE YOU PAID YOUR 2016 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS RENEWAL? Thank you to all of our members who have already renewed their subscription for 2016. If you have not paid yet you have a number of different options. You can spread the cost by setting up a direct debit for payment in equal quarterly instalments. You also have the option of paying online by credit or debit card on the RTPI website.

You may qualify for a reduced subscription fee if you are on a low income or if you started maternity leave during 2015.

To pay online: http://www.rtpi.org.uk/subscriptions Further details http://www.rtpi.org.uk/subscriptions.

If you have any queries please contact the Subscriptions Team at subcriptions@rtpi.org.uk, or call 080 7929 9463

Other key changes include: c Greater clarity in relation to the roles and responsibilities of all parties including RTPI members, along with the type of complaints not appropriate for investigation; c Formal investigations will be undertaken following an assessment by RTPI officers; c Complaints of a frivolous or vexatious nature, or complaints where there is no obvious evidence to suggest a breach, will not be investigated; c Criteria have been added to guide disciplinary decisions and improve transparency; and c Grounds of appeal have been defined.

More information: http://bit.ly/1OmDhHj

CONGRATULATIONS TO MEMBERS OF THE PROFESSION HONOURED BY THE QUEEN The RTPI has congratulated planning and built environment professionals who were recognised in the New Year’s Honours list.

Two RTPI members, Alice Lester and Malcolm Sharp, received MBEs. RTPI members honoured, with their official citations: c Alice Lester, Programme Manager, Planning Advisory Service, received an MBE for services to planning. c Malcolm Sharp received an MBE for services to Town and Country Planning in England.

We also congratulate: c John Worthington Director, Academy of Urbanism and Commissioner, ITC, received an MBE for services to Urban Regeneration and voluntary service to Transport. c Peter Eversden Chair, London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies, received an MBE for services to community engagement in planning for London. c Rosaleen Kerslake Chief Executive, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, received an OBE for services to British Heritage.

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ADVERTISEMENTS

Recruitment { We are now looking to recruit a Development Planner.

Job Title: Status: Hours: Salary: Location:

Senior Planning Officer – Development Management Permanent 2 x Full Time (37 hours per week) 1 x Job Share (18.5 hours per week) Grade 7 (£28,746 - £30,978 pro rata) The Symington Building, Market Harborough, Leicestershire

Situated in recently refurbished offices, Harborough District Council serves one of the most prosperous and attractive areas of England. Market Harborough is easily accessible from the M1 and A14 and is only 20 minutes from Leicester and an hour from London by train.

The offices are based in an attractive town centre with a range of facilities and amenities.

We are seeking to appoint enthusiastic and committed development management planners, who are keen to make a significant contribution towards the performance and achievements of our successful team. There are some major employment locations within the district, which provide interesting casework.

You will need to be a team player with a positive approach; committed to meeting challenging targets and maintaining the quality of the environment across the District.

In return, we will offer you plentiful and varied experience, dealing with a wide range of planning applications and appeals, including major housing and commercial proposals, as part of a dynamic and modern team.

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please call Adrian Eastwood, Development Management Manager on 01858 821142.

To download an application pack or to apply online please visit www.harborough.gov.uk/jobs.

Find out more about the benefits of working at Harborough District Council at www.harborough.gov.uk/working-for-us HDC promotes diversity and equality of opportunity in employment Closing date: 12 noon on Thursday 18th February 2016

Reporting to the Planning Director you will be responsible primarily for the preparation, submission and management of planning applications and subsequent condition discharges. The ability to appoint and co-ordinate consultancy teams and liaise with company solicitors with regard to necessary planning obligations documentation is an intrinsic aspect of the role.

The successful candidate will be an experienced individual able to demonstrate a proven and Apply with your CV and covering letter to: successful track record of Helen Hick, obtaining consents, and having Group Human Resources Director, a firm commercial awareness Larkfleet Group, Larkfleet House, of the development process Falcon Way, Bourne, Lincs PE10 0FF to ensure consents delivered Closing date for applicants are viable.

26th February 2016. No Agencies.

Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro

Consultant or Senior Consultant Planner

More than just a stunning landscape More than just a Planning role

Team Leader: Development Management

Ruth Jackson Planning Ltd. is based in Manchester City Centre.

Founded in 2011, we continue to grow and are now searching for a chartered town planner to join our small and ambitious team.

£35,662 to £41,140 pa To lead this National Park Authority’s committed Development Management Team of 15 (including enforcement) into a challenging period where we are expecting an increase in planning applications which will be seeking to develop the tourism aspects of the Park.

You may be looking to develop your career and/or interested in working flexibly or reduced hours – please see website for further details of the post

www.pembrokeshirecoast.org.uk Benefits include car allowance, local government pension scheme, payment of professional subs.

Closing date for applications (on our standard form, no cvs) 5pm Thursday 25 February 2016.

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Development Planner

The role will also require liaison with internal departmental colleagues and preparation of reports to assist management overview.

We offer a range of excellent benefits, including flexible working hours, generous holidays, free parking, essential car user allowance, discounted leisure facilities membership and one professional membership paid.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

Larkfleet Group an award winning, family run construction company is looking for a Development Planner.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of a growing consultancy and to build experience in large infrastructure projects including transport and energy, and in the housing and commercial sectors.

We are trusted advisors to national and regional scale organisations as well as to small and medium sized housebuilders and developers.

We work on both urban and rural schemes right across the UK. Your responsibilities will include: project managing planning applications; policy analysis and reporting; coordinating mixed professional teams; programme management; direct client liaison, and sourcing new work.

Candidates need to be skilled in planning strategy and negotiations; and commercial management of project programmes and budgets.

Excellent report writing skills; knowledge of planning policy, law and procedures; and ability to work independently to tight deadlines will be essential.

A minimum of four years post qualiÀcation experience is required.

A competitive remuneration package will be offered to the right candidate. To discuss this role in strict conÀdence, please email info@ruthjacksonplanning.com. Applications for this post should be submitted by email no later than the 29th February 2016.

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ADVERTISEMENTS

Exciting opportunities to fast track your career in a quality environment As one of the busiest planning authorities in the country, and with our emerging strategic plan identifying major development in the green belt and a recently announced Enterprise Zone, it’s an exciting time to join us!

We have opportunities for ambitious, enterprising and enthusiastic planners who are keen to advance their careers. To support our growth, we have positions at various levels including:-

Transformation Manager Salary package up to £60k Ref: PBCC14

Planning Team Leader Salary package up to £49k* Ref: PBC030

Senior Planning Officer (2 posts) Salary package up to £40k* Refs: PBC018 and PBC019

Planning Officers (2 posts) Salary package up to £34k* Refs: PBC066 and PBCC13

Our competitive salary package includes market supplement*, car scheme and generous employer pension contributions. Other benefits include annual leave of up to 31 days, paid RTPI fees, staff parking permit, home working, flexible working options, and lease car option.

Set within green belt, off the M1, A1M and M25, St Albans district includes a cathedral, historic city centre, vibrant villages and two world leading research establishments. Our city centre offices are near to the station (London St Pancras in 20 minutes), shops and restaurants. So, come and develop your career with us and help shape our beautiful city and district.

For full details of any of these roles and to find out how to apply, please visit our website: www.futurestalbans.co.uk Closing date for all posts: Monday 15 February 2016.

All posts are subject to a Basic Disclosure Check.

We are an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Graduate Planning Officer Salary package up to £27k* Ref: PBC068

Public Services Directorate

Assistant Director - Planning Salary £48,436 - £67,388

This is a great opportunity if you have the qualities to be an inspirational leader, responsible for a set of high priority council services. We are seeking a high calibre individual to help drive our ambitions.

We require someone with a sound knowledge and relevant experience of plan making and implementation. You will be used to managing competing demands of a set of services while handling specific functions. The postholder will be a member of the council’s corporate management team.

Just look at the prospects – located in west Essex and close to Cambridge, the district offers a high quality of life in its historic small towns and villages. Its large swathes of open countryside are subject to high development pressure, and its residents are well informed customers. London Stansted Airport has unused runway capacity and growth plans. Seeking to deliver sustainable development for our communities and businesses, while preserving what makes Uttlesford special, is a key aim for the council.

In your application you should demonstrate that you are the person we seek by giving evidence that you meet the requirements of the post.

We are an innovative and performing Council. Why not join us at this pivotal and exciting time? We need to meet the government target for submitting our local plan for examination. We need to maintain a substantial supply of residential land, and Stansted Airport is drawing up its proposals.

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For an informal discussion about this post, please contact Roger Harborough, Director of Public Services, on 01799 510457.

If you are interested in this post please telephone our 24 hour recruitment answerphone on 01799 510666 quoting reference GPM001/1001 for an application form and information pack, or alternatively visit our website at www.uttlesford.gov.uk to download an application form.

The closing date for completed applications is Friday 26 February 2016.

CVs will not be accepted.

We positively welcome applicants from all sections of the community.

15/01/2016 12:12

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INSIGHT

Plan B P THE TOWN THAT FELL TO EARTH On 10 February 1972, in a large pub in a small corner of south-west London, a chapter in our recent cultural history began.

The Toby Jug in Tolworth hardly ranks alongside Madison Square Garden in the pantheon of performance venues, yet it was here that David Bowie unveiled Ziggy Stardust to a perplexed, excited public.

It seems remarkable now that a fairly well-known performer with a recent album now regarded as a classic (Hunky Dory), a striking Old Grey Whistle Test performance and an outrageous interview in Melody Maker just published, would launch a UK tour in a pub beside an access junction to the A3, in full glam regalia.

But the Toby Jug had also hosted Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac, and it was part of a circuit of small venues that big names would play because – well, that’s what you did. In 1972, the Hammersmith Odeon was as big as it got. A week after The Toby Jug, Bowie and the Spiders from Mars played Wallington Town Hall.

How the world changes. The Toby Jug declined under the pressure of new markets, struggled during the 90s and was demolished in 2000. Two years later its plot was parcelled up with some Ministry of Agriculture land and sold to Tesco.

For 14 years, this derelict site has been in planning limbo. Tesco submitted a series of planning applications to develop

the site as a superstore with housing.

Kingston Borough Council didn’t want a supermarket. With each iteration of the proposal, the size of the store receded and the number of homes went up.

In March 2015, the retailer submitted a bid for more than 700 homes on the site, then sank into an accounting scandal. It sold the land to ‘retail specialist’ Meyer Bergman, who pledged to continue with the application, which now includes a 21-storey tower block.

Across the road from Bowie corner, the council has consented to a £300 million redevelopment of the (architecturally notable) Tolworth Tower. Previously offices, this will now be joined by four other buildings up to 19 storeys. Collectively, the development will provide 300 homes (just 10 starter homes, mind), plus office space.

Tolworth can be seen as a microcosm of London. Here we have the loss of a small but notable venue; extensive housing

development; office-to-residential conversion; glass and steel towers; starter homes; affordable housing pushed offsite.

Realistically, there is no place for the young and impecunious – not anywhere you’d want to be, anyway.

Forty-four years ago, a lower middle-class boy from Brixton had lodged, squatted and busked his way through the 60s in a miasma of chemical and musical experimentation, and initiated a cultural revolution here. You wonder whether, had David Jones been born in 1997 rather than 1947, he could have become David Bowie in contemporary London. Our suspicion is that young David might now be more inclined to head to Brighton or Bristol or Manchester, or even to Barcelona, Berlin or Warsaw – places where young people are valued for enterprise and creativity, and their artistic ambition isn’t squeezed out of them by long hours, bad contracts, unaffordable flats and a corporatised public realm that is hostile to nonconformists.

RIP The Toby Jug, RIP David Bowie.

RIP you pretty things in the town that fell to Earth.

THE SECRET WORLD OF CRANES IMAGES | ALAMY / GETTY

We hear many reasons put forward for the sluggishness with which planning applications can become completed developments.

Very often, we’re told, the planning system is to blame – and there may be some truth in that. Then you hear that developers are sitting on tens of thousands of consented applications – when asked why they’re not building, they point to skills shortages and a lack of materials, such as bricks.

This week we heard on the grapevine another, less expected,

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reason for construction delays – in London, at least: apparently there’s a “two-year waiting list” for a crane in the capital.

Plan B’s not been able to verify whether this is to do with an actual shortage of cranes or just a rationing of permits to use them. In any case, it would seem to reflect the volume of high-rise development in the capital.

On the plus side, it’s introduced Plan B to the hitherto hidden world of crane-related media. A cursory search has produced Cranes Today, Hoist Magazine, CraneMag,Vertikal (we like that one because it sounds like a German industrial rock band), International Cranes and Specialized Transport, American Cranes and Transport, Crane Hot Line… Who knew crane drivers were such voracious readers?

n Turn and face the strange Tweet us - @ThePlanner_RTPI 22/01/2016 15:58

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} Recruitment Planning Business Manager Ref: PL001534

Principal PIanning Officer (Strategic Applications) Ref: PL001535

Senior Planner- Development Ref: PL001536 Management Planner- Development Ref: PL001537 Management Graduate Planner

Ref: PL001538

Projects Officer

Ref: PL001539

This is an exciting time for the London Borough of Redbridge; we are at the heart of regeneration and change in East London, with unprecedented investment in the area expected in the next few years and Cross Rail will open up new opportunities for new homes and jobs. We benefit from excellent transport links across London and Essex and our offices, based in Ilford, are only 9 minutes from Stratford and 18 minutes from Liverpool Street, in the heart of the city.

Our vision is Ambitious for Redbridge, and to help us meet our challenges the Council is shaping its service areas to meet the needs and diversity of the population. As part of the vision we have undertaken a major restructure of the Planning and Regeneration Services and are currently recruiting to a number of new and exciting posts. The reorganisation of the service area enables the potential for career development and progression as we grow our team.

About the Roles These roles are paramount to the delivery of the Council’s strategic corporate priorities. Working for us you will have the opportunity to make a real difference for our residents, securing ‘Growth’ with new homes and regenerating the town centres, reducing inequality and offering value for money.

Planning Business Manager - £34,590-£37,476 Will oversee performance and process management of the planning administration and technical support teams in planning and building control, managing income of up to £1.5m and budgets of £4m.

Principal Planning Officer - £37,476-£40,218 Will manage complex and strategic planning applications ensuring that Redbridge benefits from new development activity, shaping high quality place-making.

Senior Planner - £34,590-£ 37,476 Will have a range of casework and given the opportunity to deliver on more complex development proposals.

Planner - £31,368-£32,784 This is likely to be your second or third role in a Planning Service and you will have plenty of opportunity to hone your skills managing case work to a very high standard, helping to deliver the corporate priorities of the Council.

For further formation about all the job roles contact: Robert Lancaster Strategic Applications Manager Robert.Lancaster@redbridge.gov.uk OR Becky Smith Head of Business and Performance Becky.Smith@redbridge.gov.uk If you are interested in applying for these roles please visit our website at www.redbridge.gov.uk/jobs Closing date: midnight, 14 February 2016 Interviews will be scheduled during March 2016.

Please advise of any dates when you will be unavailable due to holiday.

Graduate Planner - £24,744-£26,277 Will have the support to develop a career in planning. You will have a planning qualification and be looking to develop experience in a forward looking and pro-active Development Management team Projects Officer - £31,368-£32,784 Will be involved in a range of feasibility studies, including a district heating scheme in the borough and also involved in the delivery of physical development projects.

Redbridge is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young children, young people and vulnerable adults. Some posts will require a DBS disclosure check; references may therefore be taken up prior to interview.

Ambitious for Redbridge

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22/01/2016 10:27

Better Planning Solutions The Challenge of Growth 28 June 2016 | London Dynamic programme covering wide range of current issues Industry leaders and expert speakers Panel debates Networking opportunities

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Just announced, Lord Adonis, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, Keynote Speaker

RTPI members

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