Making plans

Ruth Kelly has unveiled major reforms of the country's planning system to make it fit to tackle new challenges in the 21st century. Estates Review looks at what the communities secretary has in store

The Planning White Paper is based on four key ambitions, three of them affecting the commercial sector. Those relevant to commercial property companies are proposals for a better, quicker system to decide major infrastructure projects with “enhanced community engagement” and an improved level of expertise planning to play a bigger role in tackling climate change, ensuring the planning system continues to support vibrant town centres.

The Government also pledged a new commitment to protect the green belt, making clear previously developed brownfield land must remain the priority for housing development with parks and green spaces protected. Simplifying the local planning system for householders would allow councils to focus on strategic priorities such as more homes for future generations and tackling climate change.

The White Paper will bring in a new system for dealing with major infrastructure decisions - transport, water, waste and energy - with community consultation locked into every stage of the process.

The Government proposes bringing forward new planning rules to enable councils to better prioritise town centres over out-of-town shopping and block developments that threaten the survival of high streets and small shops. A new test will require councils to scrutinise any proposal for shopping developments outside of the town centre.

It will require councils to carry out a rigorous assessment of the impact of unplanned out of town developments and to refuse any application that may have a negative impact on the local high street.

Local authorities will also get the power to rule whether a development will support the town centre and benefit the consumer in deciding whether new shops should get the go-ahead.

Nobody would agree with every planning decision but the proposed reforms would make the system better focussed, fairer, faster and more accessible for all. They would support the government’s goal of improving the places where people lived, worked, visited, and enjoyed, she said.

Kelly pointed out that the planning system had improved significantly since 1997. Decision-making was quicker, housebuilding had risen and town centres had been revitalised.

More than 40 percent of new developments were built in the heart of towns and cities compared to fewer than than 25 percent ten years earlier.

However, communities could still find the planning system too hard to engage with, for example, determining major infrastructure decisions could be inaccessible to local people and too slow and bureaucratic in meeting the needs of the country as a whole.

Alistair Darling, trade and industry secretary, said: “We need to streamline the procedures so that people can have their say at the same time as reducing delays and uncertainties. Secure, clean energy supplies are vital. “Currently major energy projects, including wind farms, can take many years going through the planning system which is confusing and unpredictable for both industry and communities.”

He said that with a third of power stations needing replacing by 2020 these new proposals would help industry make the investments that the country needed and provide communities with clarity on how they could take part in the decision-making process.

Douglas Alexander, transport secretary, emphasised the crucial role transport played in everyone’s life and in the UK’s economy. The planning system in the past had sometimes lead to too much uncertainty and delay for projects that would deliver big benefits for all.

“These proposals, consistent with the Eddington transport study, will improve the decision making process whilst still ensuring that schemes remain subject to rigorous scrutiny and wide public consultation,” Alexander said.

David Miliband, environment secretary, pointed out that getting the right planning decisions for everyone was fundamental to the quality of people’s lives.

It ensured everyone had access to green space and unspoiled countryside and supported the economic development which was vital to creating jobs and ensuring continuing prosperity.

“But the challenge of climate change means we also need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and use our natural resources wisely.

“This White Paper proposes to simplify the planning system and ensure that we meet our social, economic and environmental objectives, including tackling climate change, in an integrated way. I believe these reforms are essential if we are to create a planning system that is fit and able to meet the challenges we face,” he said.