The abolition of the Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS’s) for development planning by the Coalition Government represents a return to Ground Zero for planning in this country, writes Edward Cooke, a partner at West law firm Withy King.
Development planning is a long term and highly expensive business involving the acquisition of land interests and promotion of planning applications in an increasingly complex environment.
Developers need certainty in planning policy to justify their investment. For political reasons, this has been wiped away at a stroke by Eric Pickles.
Each region in the UK has invested several years in developing its RSS, having followed a thorough process of consultation and review.
There was much more to these overarching strategy plans than just housing numbers which were the subject of fierce debate, where the previous government had proposed unpopular increases in numbers.
This seems to have been the Coalition’s justification for abolition of the RSS’s, so as to allow the local planning authorities to decide housing policies without Government intervention.
This may have been politically attractive but they have destroyed a workable system and replaced it with a vacuum.
Ironically, housing numbers may not be such a big issue in the short term because most Planning Authorities have unmet targets for housing numbers, so we can expect a spate of opportunistic planning applications.
It is the bigger issues which the RSS’s had addressed which will suffer, and which will ultimately stall the planning process until resolved.
For example, infrastructure and transport strategies, which cannot be dealt with except on a national basis.
Also, many aspects of economic development, such as employment, healthcare and affordable housing, require a national overview in order to achieve joined up, rather than competing local policies.
Some small shaft of light is shed on the Coalition Governments plans for replacing these RSS’s in a letter to chief planning officers this month.
The letter advises that “New ways for local authorities to address strategic planning and infrastructure issues based on cooperation will be introduced”.
The often repeated reassurance that “local authorities will continue to work together” gives no confidence, because we know that in practice this does not happen.
Therefore many aspects of economic development are at risk whilst we await the rebuilding of the planning process.
As a major national developer commented to me today, “the rollercoaster world that is our planning system would be fun to watch if we were not all so involved".
