Written evidence submitted by the Planning
Officers Society (LOCO 47)
The Planning Officers Society (POS) represents the
most senior professionals and managers of planning functions in
the English Local Authorities. We are rightly styled as "the
credible voice of public sector planning".
We set out to:
¾ enable
public sector planners to work together with Government and partners;
¾ be a
strong and united voice for public sector planners supporting
and shaping planning policy and practice in local communities;
¾ be a
preferred point of contact for public sector planners where they
can access learning, support and networking opportunities;
¾ find
common ground with other disciplines, organisations and the media
to improve the planning process, policy and implementation; and
¾ broaden
our membership and create a strong cohort of young planners, representative
of the ethnic and gender diversity of the UK.
The Society's aim is to make planning more effective
in delivering sustainable development to support the well-being
of our communities.
The Society would like to respond to the Committee's
consideration of:
¾ The
role of local government in a decentralised model of local public
service delivery, and the extent to which localism can and should
extend to other local agents.
SUMMARY
In response to the Government's Localism initiative
POS is in the process of preparing a portfolio of responses to
influence the Government's thinking; DCLG officials have already
informed us that the time is right to do so and have welcomed
our initiative. The POS portfolio comprises:
¾ the
future of planning—an overarching paper that relates the
planning process to the localism agenda and signposts the separate
papers that have been/are being prepared;
¾ decentralised
strategic guidance—showing how authorities might go about
setting their own housing targets; develop appropriate and relevant
plans which achieve and can demonstrate coherence with the plans
and strategies of adjacent authorities; and highlight other implications
of the Government's statements on its intentions for the plan-making
system;
¾ shared
services—drawing upon the experiences of authorities that
have already progressed along this route to create guidance that
will leave managers better equipped to successfully share planning
services;
¾ local
infrastructure tariff—POS has been particularly concerned
that LPAs should have sound and sensible guidance on implementing
new national procedures, learning the lessons from the difficulties
encountered in the introduction of the LDF processes;
¾ community
engagement—existing good practice and prospects for such
activity in pursuit of localism;
¾ neighbourhood
planning—existing good practice and prospects for such activity
in pursuit of localism;
¾ sustainable
development—what constitutes "sustainable development"
in the context of it having a statutory definition and there to
be a presumption in favour of it when making decisions in a local
context; what incentives for "sustainable development"
might comprise, and what the implications are of "rewards";
¾ pre-application
discussions—POS welcomes a compulsory pre-application consultation
for proposals above a certain threshold, as authorities should
be undertaking this style of approach in any event. POS has drafted
a fresh good practice advice note;
¾ planning
appeals—third party appeals and of local member involvement
in appeal decisions both have pros and cons; and
¾ planning
for schools—POS applauds any changes that would give rise
to more well located and properly funded and managed schools;
however, we do not subscribe to the Government's proposals in
so far as they affect the good planning of neighbourhoods.
1. In response to the Government's localism
initiative POS in the process of preparing a portfolio of responses
to influence the Government's thinking; DCLG officials have already
informed us that the time is right to do so and have welcomed
our initiative. Our portfolio approach comprises:
2. The Future of Planning—an overarching
paper on what the future planning system should comprise is in
preparation. POS has, however, already issued its own manifesto
"3 Steps to Better Planning".[10]
It is intended that a more efficient and effective planning system
will:
¾ feature
small changes to the system that can deliver big impacts for the
better;
¾ ensure
that the right decisions are made by the right people at the right
level—including allowing local communities to have a direct
influence over their futures; and
¾ develop
and retain skills and expertise within the public sector to deliver
sustainable communities and support long term economic growth.
The overarching paper will demonstrate the interrelationship
of the component parts of the Society's portfolio, cross referenced
to the Government's specific proposals.[11]
3. Decentralised Strategic Guidance—The
LGA and POS have identified the need for early advice to assist
planning authorities to make effective progress with their LDFs
in the new situation following the cancellation of RSSs. DCLG
officials have signalled clearly that Ministers do not expect
to issue guidance to authorities on how to go about this beyond
that contained in the letter from the Chief Planner of 7 July,
on the basis that they can be trusted to sort it out for themselves.
4. The LGA and POS have therefore concluded that
the sector needs to take a lead in providing such advice as is
likely to be helpful to authorities, and have asked POS Enterprises
to prepare an advice note on this matter; a draft has been prepared
that addresses:
¾ what
is needed in the short term to set out an authority's intentions
and provide some foundation for how it will deal with planning
applications and appeals which raise strategic issues in the short
term;
¾ how
authorities can establish their own sub-regional context, and
how each authority should work with its sub-regional neighbours
to prepare and publish a "local strategy statement";
¾ how
authorities might deal with the situation where the abolition
of the RSS has created gaps in the policy framework for their
area, and how these might be plugged in both the short and longer
term;
¾ the
issues which will arise where an authority decides that it wishes
to revise the key targets for planning in its area; particularly
how authorities might set their own targets for new housing provision;
¾ how
authorities in different situations might progress their plan
making, depending on the position they have reached and whether
they are minded to make changes to strategy and/or targets; and
¾ the
situation which has arisen in terms of five-year housing supply
and the basis upon which it will be calculated pending the adoption
of core strategies.
5. Shared Services—Following discussion
with the LGA and the District Councils Network, POS is preparing
an advice note for managers of the planning service who are contemplating
sharing planning services, together with a summary for chief executives
and councillors. It draws on the experiences of authorities that
have already progressed along this route and lessons from the
planning collaboration projects in Surrey and Hampshire so that
managers can be better equipped to successfully share planning
services. The issues specific to planning focus on:
¾ relationships
to shared service boards of authorities;
¾ ICT/GIS
use;
¾ the
interface with councillors and implications for new governance
arrangements;
¾ best
practice on community engagement;
¾ the
change to core strategies which stress vision and objectives with
less site specific policy; and
¾ experience
of economies of scale for joint enforcement teams and specialist
expertise.
6. Local Infrastructure Tariff—POS
has been very active in the development of the Community Infrastructure
Levy, working with Government to improve its proposals and with
Local Planning Authorities up and down the country to help them
in advance of implementation. POS has been particularly concerned
that LPAs should have sound and sensible guidance on implementing
new national procedures, learning the lessons from the difficulties
encountered in the introduction of the LDF processes.
7. At the request of the LGA POS is preparing
a submission to DCLG on the provision of local tariffs. Our view
is that the outline of the proposals for a "Local Tariff"
system as outlined in Open Source Planning are a positive
step towards a workable system based on local priorities. We have
identified nine key principles of a new system, including:
¾ The
removal of the direct link between the proposed development and
its impact as the basis for assessing infrastructure contributions.
¾ The
scaling back of S106 obligations to deal only with the remediation
of site specific, local impacts.
¾ A national
framework with local discretion.
¾ Tariffs
should be capable of application to all forms of development,
with only de minimus exceptions.
¾ "Local
Tariffs" should be based on a robust appraisal of the infrastructure
requirements necessary to support the level of growth anticipated
within the area and likely availability of funding from all sources.
¾ Setting
"Local Tariffs", collection and spending should be determined
at the local level by the Local Planning Authority.
¾ There
should be flexibility to relax tariff requirements where essential
to enable desirable and sustainable development to proceed.
¾ Provision
should be included for payment in kind where this would be more
efficient, less costly or otherwise benefit the delivery of recognised
infrastructure requirements.
¾ There
should be a straightforward provision for the avoidance of "double
counting".
8. With our in depth knowledge of what is happening
locally, POS is in a strong position to assist government in devising
a straightforward system which would accord with Coalition objectives
and provide for local implementation. We would welcome the opportunity
to work with CLG to achieve these objectives.
9. Community Engagement—a paper
is in preparation on existing good practice and prospects for
such activity in pursuit of localism.
10. Neighbourhood Planning—likewise,
a paper is in preparation on existing good practice and prospects
for such activity in pursuit of localism. A response to the Community
Right to Build consultation has already been submitted[12]
which highlights that the e proposal to sit Community Right to
Build (CRtB) outside the mainstream planning system puts the CRtB
body at considerable risk from poorly considered planning constraints,
unforeseen planning impacts, flawed procedure, and human rights,
and possible legal challenges flowing from these. We consider
that a joint working arrangement with the LPA would transfer risk
to a body with the necessary experience and know how, whilst recognising
the independence of the CRtB body, and giving DPD status to its
proposals. In combination with simple changes to rural planning
policy at national level, we believe that CRtB development could
be delivered quickly. In short, it is the current planning policy
not the process which is proving one of the greater barriers to
overcome.
11. The Society has suggested a "Community
Right to Plan", (CRtP) by which the community could call
upon the LPA to closely support their work, bear the professional
risks associated with it, and procure any additional specialist
work required from consultants. This would need to be a strong
partnership, more than would necessarily emerge from a simple
"duty to co-operate". It would have the advantage of
generating, in most cases, some ownership on the part of the LPA,
which would make it more likely they will give the proposal accreditation
once the plans are complete.
12. Sustainable Development—a paper
is in preparation as to what constitutes "sustainable development"
in the context of it going to have a statutory definition and
there to be a presumption in favour of it. Furthermore, a paper
is in preparation as to what incentives for "sustainable
development" might comprise, and what the implications are
of "rewards" to councils that give planning consent
and support the construction of new home.
13. Pre-Application Discussions—in
response to the suggestion that councils will need to make it
easier for residents to influence development proposals POS welcomes
a compulsory pre-application consultation for proposals above
a certain threshold, as authorities should be undertaking this
style of approach in any event. POS has issued a reminder that
it already provides good practice advice on pre-application discussions;[13]
however, a fresh good practice advice note has been drafted.
14. This POS advice note highlights that however
detailed the Local Plan proposal for sustainable development of
major sites, there will still be issues benefiting from discussion
with local communities prior to the submission of a planning application.
Therefore, it would be helpful if the duty to cooperate between
local planning authorities and other public service bodies were
extended explicitly to developers of major proposals. The duty
for public service bodies to engage in pre application discussions
would ensure that those bodies currently unwilling to adopt a
collaborative approach refocused their resources on this need.
Council's Statements of Community Involvement can then ensure
that local communities are fully involved in pre application discussions.
This duty to engage should include master-planning or development
briefs, particularly where there is no local plan framework to
ensure community engagement in sustainable development.
15. Planning Appeals—preliminary
consideration is being given to possible amendments to the appeals
process; including the pros and cons of both third party appeals
and of local member involvement in appeal decisions. The Society
doubts the efficacy of third party appeals and is strongly opposed
to the concept of Local Member Review Bodies.[14]
16. Planning for Schools—POS applauds
any changes that would give rise to more well located and properly
funded and managed schools; however, we do not subscribe to the
Government's proposals in so far as they affect the good planning
of neighbourhoods. Schools are an essential element of the social
infrastructure that makes neighbourhoods sustainable, but they
need to be sited in places that optimise their accessibility,
and fully contribute to meeting local education needs, in accord
with local education and infrastructure plans. POS has issued
a response to the Government[15]
and is of the view that the planning system plays a valuable role
in ensuring schools are appropriately located and meet community
needs without undue disturbance to the local neighbourhood.
17. Accordingly, we believe that identifying
new schools as part of the neighbourhood planning process and
strengthening the policy presumption in favour of school proposals
is the most equitable approach to meeting the Coalition Government's
aspirations. Proposals that do not pay proper consideration to
local traffic and environmental constraints will be unlikely to
gain the support of either the local authorities or people living
in the neighbourhood, and experience shows that schools proposals
generate more objections at planning application stage than almost
any other kind of development. We suggest it is best to keep schools
firmly within the established mainstream planning regime where
the key impacts can be properly dealt with, and we would support
the community being empowered to create a planning brief as a
first step. POS also consider that a policy presumption in favour
of school development would give helpful direction to the planning
process, without prejudicing the right of those parts of the community
opposed to a particular proposal to be heard.
The Planning Officers Society would be willing to
provide to the Inquiry further explanation and amplification including
the specific papers referred to in this submission.
October 2010
10 see http://www.planningofficers.org.uk/POS-Library/POS-Publications/Three-Steps-to-Better-Planning_17.htm Back
11
See Draft Diagram on page 7 Back
12
See http://www.planningofficers.org.uk/POS-Library/POS-Responses/Community-Right-to-Build_11.htm Back
13
This includes advice on Pre-Application Discussions, Councillor
involvement in pre application discussions and Probity
in Planning (including advice on members and pre-application
discussions); see http://www.planningofficers.org.uk/POS-Library/POS-Good-Practices/Pre-Application-Discussions_10.htm Back
14
See the Society response of August 2007 to "Improving the
Appeal Process in the Planning System" at http://www.planningofficers.org.uk/POS-Library/POS-Responses/Improving-the-Appeal-Process-in-the-Planning-System_25.htm Back
15
See http://www.planningofficers.org.uk/POS-Library/POS-Responses/Response-to-the-Coalition-Government's-emerging-policy-on-Planning-for-Schools_24.htm Back
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