First intimation as to what is to come was revealed
at a meeting of the Chiltern Society Planning
Committee to which the Society is affiliated.
Regional plans will be discontinued. In July
the South East Plan itself was abolished. The
whole concept of central planning and the
imposition of housing targets will be replaced
by local assessments of local needs The role of
the Regional Authorities themselves is
seriously diminished. This is the first step in
returning power to local communities.
The need to make the most efficient use of
land still remains an overriding concern due
to the burgeoning population. Government
funding for planning may be seriously cut
back and the effect of this remains to be
seen. One possibility being raised by the
government is that in an attempt to speed up
approval of planning proposals, where there
is little local opposition, the developer may
offer to pay or recompense affected people
for their loss of amenity, so effectively buying
off the objectors.
The key government guidance document,
called PPS3, has been modified to remove the
minimum build of 30 units per hectare; to
designate gardens as green field not developed
land; and to no longer require planning
permission for change of use from single to
multiple dwellings.
How the slimmed-down and localised
planning system will work in practice no one
knows. The old Local Plan is still extant in
areas which the Core Strategy has not touched,
e.g. design of new buildings, but where the
Core Strategy does have policies they
supersede those of the old Local Plan.
Planning 'legal eagles' and developers may
have a field day. There is bound to be a period
when everyone will be feeling their way and
testing the new system when it eventually
comes in.
So, for the moment, 'Localism' is the way
forward: let the locals decide what's needed.
Karl Lawrence, Eva Lipman, Fred Russell
