The Bigger Picture: the case for strategic planning A briefing by the Campaign to Protect Rural England

Transcription

1 The Bigger Picture: the case for strategic planning A briefing by the Campaign to Protect Rural England September 2010 Introduction The creation of regional government has been described by the Conservative Party as one of Labour s most effective anti-localist measures 1. While the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) agrees with the new Government that local councils need to be empowered, we also believe that retaining some form of strategic planning is necessary. Strategic planning is essential in order to protect the Green Belt and promote urban regeneration, and to co-ordinate development, service delivery, landscape management and conservation of the natural, historic and cultural environment. It should also address cross boundary issues that might arise from several different planning strategies. We urge the Government to consider in more detail, therefore, how strategic planning should be undertaken in the future. Background CPRE was instrumental in the creation of the planning system. Good planning has been one of our central interests since our formation in 1926 as we believe that the land use planning system is a vital tool for delivering necessary development while protecting and enhancing our countryside. In order to deliver sustainable development, planning should integrate the needs of the economy with environmental and social goals, to create sustainable communities and retain and enhance our cultural, historic and landscape assets. In the past County Structure Plans have provided a coordinating layer of strategic planning above local authority development plans and beneath the level of national planning. Regional spatial planning was then introduced on a non-statutory basis, usually by local authority planning conferences, but the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 introduced a new statutory spatial planning system in England, part of which was to be delivered at the regional level. National level planning policy sets out broad principles and decision-makers consider nationally significant issues, such as the need for, and location of, major infrastructure. The national level has not historically translated those principles down to a local level, or balanced provision between local authorities. Local planning, working within the framework of national policy, has been the level at which local decision-makers have determined the location of development. In order to prevent these decisions being made in isolation from their neighbouring authorities strategic planning has been necessary. Without strategic planning the risk is that it will be parochial and competitive, not always acting in the wider regional or national interest. 1 Conservatives (2009) Control Shift: Returning power to local communities - 1 -

2 The role of strategic planning CPRE recognises that the Government intends to abolish regional planning and has already revoked Regional Strategies. In the past we have vigorously opposed the imposition of top down housing targets by regional plans on local planning authorities. We have repeatedly raised concerns that the housing targets were based on uncertain long term predictions and inadequate information about the potential environmental impacts, We welcome, therefore, the intention to return decision making powers on housing numbers to the local level. We would highlight, however, that strategic planning should be about far more than simply delivering high housing numbers. It should provide a framework for the delivery of development and services across a broad area, allowing proper decisions to be made about the most sustainable locations for particular projects and protecting important social and environmental assets. Although we recognise that regional structures will be removed, CPRE believes that there is a need for some form of intermediate spatial planning, which sits above the local level and below the national. Removing a sub-national strategic planning tier risks losing many of the benefits of coordination and could lead to more disputes at local level as well as piecemeal delivery of key national goals on climate change and the environment. Encouraging local authorities to collaborate can also prove cost effective, which will be more important than ever in these times of severe financial constraints. Based on our experience we have identified three important roles for a future approach to strategic planning. a. Setting a spatial framework Strategic planning sets a spatial framework for local planning. This framework should be developed at a level where there can be meaningful debate about the consequences of development and the cumulative impacts of local development can be considered. It should set out policies on countryside and Green Belt protection, housing delivery, economic development, transport, environment, minerals and waste. Bringing local authorities together in discussions about such a framework provides a forum for managing larger projects, such as transport schemes, which cut across local authority boundaries, but not large enough to merit national planning. b. Managing debate between local authorities Strategic planning is the means of managing the debate between local authorities and resolving disputes over the level and general location of development. In many areas of policy, particularly those which are politically contentious or where authorities are in competition for development, local authorities on their own have historically struggled to resolve issues in a way that balances local concerns with wider objectives. In the case of employment development, for example, competition between local authorities to attract development could lead to more development on greenfield land than necessary, while previously developed sites, which were in need of regeneration, could be left derelict. Cross boundary planning, both in urban and rural areas, should identify sites which would be most appropriate for development and regeneration, in order to support the sustainable development of the wider area. This should be beneficial, in the long term, for the area as a whole. c. Maintaining an overview of implementation - 2 -

3 A strategic tier allows monitoring of progress with implementing a plan at a level which can understand the cumulative impacts of development trends. This understanding should enable local authorities to appreciate, and react where necessary, to unforeseen environmental, social or economic impacts. National monitoring is often too broad brush to pick up issues relating to particular parts of the country and may not be relevant to the particular environmental, social or economic circumstances of local areas. What we stand to lose Below, we set out some recent examples of the particular value gained from strategic planning across England. North East - Tackling the challenge of climate change The regional planning process provided the forum for discussion across a wide range of sectors about the likely impact of climate change in the North East. The Regional Environment Forum which brings together statutory, voluntary and local authority bodies voiced concerns that needed to be addressed in both the planning and economic contexts. Local authorities wanted to take action to meet emerging national policy guidance but some issues required cross boundary action and pooling of resources to make them viable. A North East Climate Change Action Partnership emerged from the strategic planning process, which allowed the private sector in the region to learn more about, and address the likely economic opportunities and impacts of, climate change at a strategic level. While national policy provided a broad generic framework for addressing climate change, an understanding of likely sub-national impacts was needed to make local planning meaningful. The regional planning process brought representatives from a range of sectors and organisations together, and allowed them to address climate change at the appropriate level. North West Delivering sustainable economic growth Planning at a strategic level enables places to develop in a complementary manner and has contributed strongly to economic renewal and regeneration in the North West. It has established, for example, clear priorities, policies and actions for how the development of the more prosperous south of Greater Manchester can best support, rather than undermine, the regeneration of the northern areas. It has also established how to develop the role of the conurbation as a whole, and the individual town and city centres within it, in relation to centres in Cheshire and Lancashire such as Warrington, Chester, and Preston, as well as to Liverpool. Strategic planning has enabled local authorities to broadly agree on the required amount, distribution and priority locations for housing, employment land, infrastructure and types of business across the region, promoting mutually-reinforcing growth. A common approach to the promotion of environmental quality has improved the image of the whole region as a place to live, work, invest, visit and study, bringing benefits to all local areas. Yorkshire and Humber Providing energy projects in the right locations In the Yorkshire and the Humber region there is the potential to deliver a significant contribution to our national move towards a low carbon economy. Power stations, at Drax and Ferrybridge, amongst others, are gearing up to address this issue. Wind farms will also be important. Their - 3 -

4 location is sensitive, however, as the region possesses some of the best and most attractive landscapes in the country and the benefits will have to be weighed against the visual impact. There are a raft of opportunities for new energy sources, such as biomass, but there are potential conflicts between different land-uses, for example, land for food or land for fuel, while, at the same time, there is pressure from the City Regions over energy consumption. Local authorities can promote energy conservation and identify appropriate locations for renewable energy, but a strategic approach, which enabled the local authorities to work together, has been better placed to consider the options available, provide an over-view of how the low carbon economy can be delivered and guide delivery of schemes. It is hard to see how the critical strategic issues can be resolved locally or by local authorities having voluntary discussions between one another. East of England Coordinating waste management across the Greater South East Waste policy may not be the most headline grabbing area of government, but it is one that demonstrates a clear need for some kind of strategic planning. In 2007, for example, the East of England accepted 3.1 million tonnes of waste from London for landfill. Increasingly each part of the region will take a share of London s waste so that the burden will not fall entirely on those authorities closest to London. Current planning indicates that the amount of waste the East of England will have to accept from London will decline steeply to Nevertheless it is clear that throughout this period and beyond London will still need to dispose of significant quantities of waste to surrounding areas. Strategic planning plays a key role in determining how much waste each authority will be obliged to take and how the waste will be treated. It is highly unlikely that individual authorities will have the time, the expertise or the influence when dealing with partners such as London to address the issue of waste as effectively on their own as they would in some form of strategic arrangement. East Midlands - Raising the bar on environmental issues In the East Midlands strategic planning has helped raise the bar on environmental issues by setting standards that many districts would otherwise not have included in their local plans. For example, the regional plan introduced regional priorities for environmental protection. Many local authorities across the East Midlands are now preparing green infrastructure plans; this probably would not have happened without the regional push. Regional policy has also raised the bar on landscape policy helping ensure local authorities respect landscape character and recognise the value of tranquillity and dark skies. Many environmental issues such as landscape, biodiversity and woodland management require a strategic level for policy and management to be meaningful. Strategic planning allows crossboundary issues to be handled and ensure local authorities develop woodland planting or landscape strategies with reference to what is happening in neighbouring authorities. National standards are not always appropriate, or often lag behind, best practice. Strategic planning can help plug that gap and drive standards up at local level

5 West Midlands - The minerals issue Sand and gravel provision in the West Midlands has historically come from Staffordshire which accounts for 65% of the resource mined in the region. While this partly reflects the geology of the county it is also partly a result of minerals being mined there in the past. The question is whether it would be more sustainable and fairer to provide more sand and gravel in other counties closer to where it is used. A thorough examination is also needed to examine the availability of alternative supplies and the environmental and transport constraints to utilizing them. There is strong opposition to change both from local authorities who might get more minerals extraction and from quarries in Staffordshire which makes it hard to resolve this issue at local authority level. A Minerals Statement was produced this year which took a strategic overview and aimed to better balance provision in the region. It is not clear, however, how that will progress and whether there will be any mechanism to produce a fair and environmentally sound approach to Minerals in the future. South East Benefit of selective areas for development Transport planning in the South East of England faces the challenge of being radially focussed to London, with very few major and highly congested routes, including the M25, crossing the region. The process of spatial planning, through work on the South East Plan, made it possible to agree where infrastructure investment should be focussed in terms of hubs and spokes. These started as transport hubs, but evolved into economic development hub proposals, to be considered alongside environmental constraints and local political appetite. A plan led approach made it possible to have sound proposals which had the support of local interests, and, very importantly, enabled limited resources to be allocated efficiently. At the same time the South East Plan mapped and set priorities for where development should be focussed, taking into account the fact that 40% of the South East is designated landscape as AONB or National Park. The South East has an ongoing need to allocate resources as efficiently as possible to meet the demands of potential high growth areas and to address the pockets of severe deprivation and regeneration need. One example of this would be the strong regeneration and growth focus in South Hampshire known as PUSH (Promoting Urban South Hampshire), which has brought together economic and spatial planning, and helped to safeguard the highly valued countryside adjacent to development areas. South West Focusing on urban renewal Strategic planning had, and continues to have, the potential to support achieving the most sustainable approach to new development by agreeing an urban focus for the bulk of it. This has helped support an urban renaissance; maximise the use of sustainably situated brownfield-land (distributed unevenly across the South West); match new housing development, infrastructure and new jobs more closely (again distributed unevenly across the region); assist with reducing the need to travel and developing carbon neutral communities; and to reduce dispersed development in the countryside

6 There has been a mutual understanding across the local authorities that make up the South West that the dispersed development, seen for more than a decade, needs to be prevented in the future. The strategic approach has taken this into consideration and aims to prevent deeply rural districts, such as North Dorset and Torridge in north Devon, still amongst the fastest growing districts, from experiencing further erosion of their tranquil countryside. Recommendations CPRE has extensive experience of strategic planning. As part of the proposed planning reform we are keen to work with the Government to develop appropriate mechanisms for delivering strategic planning to ensure that while appropriate development is permitted the countryside remains both beautiful and productive. In developing mechanisms we encourage the Government to address the following criteria: Set out a flexible framework for local plans Regional Spatial Strategies faced significant opposition from local people, MPs and local authorities because they imposed housing targets on local areas. Strategic planning should not impose things on the local level, but rather provide a vehicle for local authorities to discuss, and reach agreement on, issues that have impacts across boundaries. Achieve a balanced focus While economic development will be an important goal for strategic planning, environmental and social factors should be given equal weight so that the approach is sustainable, and delivers a better quality of life for communities. It should not be focused on economic growth at any cost. Be transparent and accessible to the public If we are to empower local people to engage in planning structures should not hinder people from feeding in to decisionmaking processes. The transparency of structures, so that local people understand what bodies are doing and how they can feed in, along with good communication with local communities, will be essential. Equally, those involved in strategic planning must place significant emphasis on enabling local people to participate fully in planning processes. Simply consulting people is not sufficient. Inclusive so that local expertise is fed into the process Locally elected members should take the lead in strategic planning to ensure that it is democratic, but this should not prevent them from recognising the importance of, and need for, expert advice and direct engagement on environmental, social and economic issues. Local experts from the NGO and voluntary sector, beyond statutory agencies, should be encouraged to participate in, rather than simply consulted on, the development of strategic plans. Meets the need of both rural and urban communities There are different challenges facing rural and urban communities which require appropriate solutions and structures. We believe that rural local authorities can benefit from strategic collaboration and coordination but the different challenges they face to urban authorities need to be acknowledged and addressed as well as the issues that cross between rural and urban authorities CPRE September