I was delighted to be invited to participate in this event with Michelmores and the LPDF. Steve Quartermain and I were set the challenge:
“Have the recent planning reforms been radical enough? Will the next round of changes proposed make a real difference?”.
The legal context was really helpfully set out by Helen Hutton. It is no wonder that those of us in the system trying to make it work find it increasingly complex, slow and bureaucratic.
I believe there was a broad consensus that some of the changes planned will make small changes; however, not the scale to unlock economic growth, which is stubbornly stuck, or indeed deliver the new homes we need.
I loved the quote Steve shared from Sir John Templeton: “I wouldn’t call it radical; I would call it enthusiasm for progress”.
The planning system remains complex, multi-level, with different consenting regimes operating. The NPPF remains light touch on economic matters, despite it being the critical issue for the Government.
For many in the room, the day-to-day, practical operation of the system on the front line was nigh on impossible. Whether BNG or nutrient neutrality or even processing simple applications, the system seems to be bogged down with unnecessary consultations, tasks that add little value with increasing costs, delays and deteriorating performance. There appears to be no collective accountability or one team approach to delivering outcomes and unlocking the mission of growth and housing delivery at pace.
Yet, didn’t we all start our careers because we wanted to make a difference – for me, that is about shaping place-based visions, working collaboratively with statutory consultees and communities, enabling job creation, connecting new opportunities to young people, helping residents improve their homes, delivering new homes and infrastructure improvements, facilitating strategic environmental enhancement schemes…and more.
At present, culture is a problem and examples of good practice are absent. We are overwhelmed with examples of practice which are questionable, obstructive and not delivery-focused.
Maybe we only hear about problems? So, I ask, ‘What does good look like? And can we move beyond good to excellence?”.
If you have a positive example of where the planning system is working brilliantly, do let me know!
