In the wake of reforms to the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF), Viral Desai, practice director for planning, environmental consenting, and communities at AtkinsRéalis, discusses how reforms alone may not be enough
Both the Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner have come out with pledges to fix the planning system and launch a ‘golden era’ of building in the UK.
Furthermore, they have announced changes to local councils with more elected mayors introduced across England under new plans for a major redesign of local government.
Elected metro mayors are also set to gain new powers over planning, in a bid to speed up the delivery of new housing and infrastructure. This is crucial to get Britian Building.
Construction decision making needs to improve along with NPPF reforms
As it is, the slow pace of decision making is hindering growth and impacting the economy at all levels. But while there are clearly efficiencies through digitisation and extra resources needed, real planning reform is about decision making.
We have to get better at making decisions and make a change in how we engage with the public to ensure we achieve the critical mission to ‘kickstart economic growth’.
There is an opportunity to do this with the local plan system, which needs to be strengthened so that it delivers what it says it will deliver.
Development should be built against that adopted local plan rather than going back to committee after committee, which gives local politicians an opportunity to object and create delays, even though the principle has already been agreed in the local plan.
So should we actually give more delegated powers to the planners based on their professional credentials and because the key political decisions have been made?
Local planning needs addressing as much as national
A strengthened local plan system should also mean more effective engagement with communities at an earlier stage, so that they have a much better understanding of what’s in the plan.
We are beginning to see more centralisation of decision-making, such as speeding up decisions on DCOs identified for major infrastructure projects or the recent calling in of major housing applications.
Keir Starmer has said more than once that he’s not afraid of making unpopular decisions. But for people who need critical infrastructure improvements from education, housing, transport and employment in their locality to progress their lives – are these really unpopular decisions?
The biggest driver for change is going to come from the devolved regions and Angela Rayner’s plan to hand greater control of planning to the metro mayors, which should fix one of the biggest blockers for progress – the lack of strategic planning.
To shift the dial on the build rate of new homes, clean energy, sustainable infrastructure and new transport links, we need a holistic approach to planning that focuses not just on speed of consenting but also on building a holistic system, more regional structures and ‘good strategy’.
This means working to a regional spatial plan, with local structures in place and regions connecting up local authorities as many of the issues we have to deal with are cross-boundary.
Devolution will remove complications from the system
The devolution deals from the last government were a great sign of what we should be expecting and those mayors need the planning powers in place to unlock the potential for regional growth.
There is a real opportunity now to demonstrate how planning can be the solution to cementing growth, creating places and infrastructure that meet the needs of communities, the environment and the economy.
But it is going to take better decisions, at local, regional and national levels of government. We can then realise that opportunity and put robust, strategic plans in place for the next 15 to 20 years in order to create opportunities for all in society to benefit from the government’s pledge to ‘Get Britan Building Again’.
