Localism - Communities and Local Government Committee Contents


Written evidence submitted by RIBA (LOCO 36)

INTRODUCTION

The Royal Institute of British Architects champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members. The 40,000-strong professional institute is committed to serving the public interest through good design, and represents 85% of registered architects in the UK as well as a significant number of international members.

SUMMARY

The RIBA is responding to this inquiry focusing on the question:

The extent to which decentralisation leads to more effective public service delivery; and what the limits are, or should be, of localism

Effective public service delivery includes the provision of housing and planning services within a local framework of delivery. The RIBA supports a focus on local communities and the decision to put them at the heart of planning decisions. However, this must not impact adversely upon the quality of our built environment. New local policy initiatives must ensure supra-local planning is carried out where necessary. Planning decisions with cross boundary impacts need to be made at a suitable level. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) would provide an ideal setting for these decisions.

To ensure that infrastructure projects are successfully delivered in a locally-led system, the RIBA recommends that LEPs should have a role in assessing the need and opportunity for strategic planning and delivering major infrastructure, development or regeneration projects that impact across local boundaries. In some cases LEPs will also need to work with other LEPs and Local Authorities to deliver these projects. Examples of these sorts of projects include area regeneration; major retail or commercial developments; transport and energy infrastructure; large housing developments; and flooding prevention and management.

LOCAL OR LARGER THAN LOCAL?

It is essential to have structures and mechanisms in place which enable the delivery of the projects necessary to support new development and economic growth, and manage activities that cross Local Authority boundaries. The Regional Development Agencies currently play an important role in delivering strategic planning objectives, and we believe that alternative methods of delivering the built environment need to be established once the RDAs are abolished. Many Local Authorities do not currently have the skills or expertise to deliver strategic planning and economic development priorities.[7]

ROLE OF PLANNING FOR LEPS

If Local Authorities are to be real leaders in development, they will need to work with a range of partners, including neighbouring Local Authorities. They will need to take a strategic approach to planning policy to ensure there is an adequate delivery of housing, and of the infrastructure required to support development.

We believe that LEPs would seem to be the natural place for strategic planning decisions to reside. To ensure that planning projects are successfully delivered in a locally-led system, the RIBA recommends that LEPs should have a role in (1) assessing the need and opportunity for and (2) strategically planning and delivering the following:

¾  Transport.

¾  Energy infrastructure.

¾  Significant housing developments.

¾  Waste, refuse and recycling.

¾  Significant economic developments (eg superstores or major retail parks).

¾  Flood defences.

These are the minimum requirements for LEPs to be useful, and the most appropriate areas to take on critical functions that might otherwise be lost through the abolition of regional development agencies.

Given these minimum requirements, it would make sense for their remit to extend further and take up other elements previously governed at Local Authority level, in order to facilitate delivery of its economic strategy. In particular, Planning resource for large schemes should be pooled at LEP level. This will be more efficient and effective in dealing with larger planning applications. Better decisions about these applications will be made faster, and Local Authorities will be able to focus on smaller, local schemes. LEPs should also therefore have responsibility to:

¾  Create a joint Spatial Plan for the authorities involved in the LEP, covering the issues listed above.

¾  Pool some local authorities' planning resource to deal more efficiently with those economically and socially important schemes.

¾  Run Design Reviews[8] which review those significant schemes (using national planning guidance, and local authority guidance specific to that location).

¾  Have a single design guide aligning local authority design criteria and policy, to relate to the types of development listed above.

DELIVERING BETTER QUALITY DEVELOPMENT

It is essential that LEPs and the planning system deliver a high quality built environment. Regional Design Review panels, currently funded by the RDAs, operate across most regions. They assess large schemes and have played an important role in maintaining the standard of significant new developments and ensuring that design considerations are taken into account pre-application. The abolition of the RDAs will mean that the future funding of these panels is uncertain.

We suggest that design review should continue to be conducted. This could be provided at a LEP level or, as it does already in many areas, at a Local Authority level.

October 2010


7   For example, a recent Training in Development Economics report sponsored by a number of bodies including the CLG, HCA, RTPI and RICS, concluded that planners and councillors need more training in the economics of the development process. Back

8   A panel of professionals including architects, landscape architects and others to assess design quality of proposed schemes to support the Local Authority, the applicant and the architects to get the best scheme for the area. Back


 
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Prepared 9 June 2011