I was recently
asked by the local RICS to give a talk on a year in planning. As it was in the
evening and in a restaurant I obviously threw in some wilder comments to keep
the audience awake, but because it counted as an hour’s CPD I thought I should the
subject justice.
For a Year in
Planning or so, I focused on what I see as the two good areas and two bad ones
for Planning in this time. Hence I have called it a curate’s egg.
Bishop: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones"; Curate: "Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!" "True Humility" by George du Maurier, originally published in Punch, 9 November 1895.
Good
1.
The
introduction of the clear, comprehensive, simplified and accessible national
policies in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in March 2012 and the
subsequent more detailed work on particular topics in the National Planning
Policy Guidance (NPPG) in March 2014 has been the big planning plus by this
Government.
2.
Locally
for Leicester, the Mayor’s drive to connect disparate parts of the City
together with clear and substantial investment (gleaned from a wide variety of
sources) in both the public realm and public buildings is fantastic. The City
should benefit for decades to come.
Bad
1.
The
abolishment of Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) by this Government has
dramatically reduced the ability of many Councils to properly assess and then
effectively respond to their “objectively assessed housing need,” as defined in
the NPPF. This has led to the delay or postponement of many Council’s Local
Plans.
2.
The
plethora of constantly changing secondary legislation, such as G.D.O. permitted
development rights and the Use Classes Order with a variety of consent regimes.
It is now so complicated that no practitioner, however switched on, is
confident of his knowledge of the whole regulatory framework.
So there you have
it: a curate’s egg!
Peter Wilkinson
