Home << Back

Tory Policy - October 2009

More has emerged about the Conservative Party's plans for planning since the now infamous letter from Caroline Spellman to Tory controlled local councils and Party activists which presaged a new approach to the way we draw up plans.

Key to the proposals is a radical shift from prescriptive planning with targets set at national or regional level to a 'bottom up' approach in which local communities will have a much greater say in shaping their areas. To deliver this the Conservatives see the need to change the NIMBY culture to one which says YIMBY - Yes In My Back Yard.

Can such a culture, which has seemingly gained strength year on year ever since we can remember, be so easily overturned? Leading commentators at the Bar, in housebuilding and in public relations have all expressed their doubts.

There can be no stick without a carrot attached and in this case the carrot will be financial. Communities will be rewarded with money for welcoming development - which suggests an overhaul of the planning delivery grant to reward delivery of actual developments rather than the delivery of plans and timetables.  It also means the  early end to notions of the Community Infrastructure Levy and therefore presumably the strengthening rather than weakening of planning obligations - on the grounds that why should one community endure the development only to see the funds raised taken away by Government and spent on infrastructure elsewhere.  More power for local authorities to raise income streams, for example through keeping council tax income for 6 years following new development (plus receiving matched funding from Government) and similar incentives for business rates will probably appeal more to those in the Town Hall than those who elected them to be there.

As a result of this new 'localism', and with regional prescription dismissed, each District will need to work out what its own needs are and what its own capacity for growth may be. To help them do this the Conservatives say they will place greater emphasis on demography with much more up to date information available at local level.  We envisage that a 'need' case may need to be made for each and every application.  The Conservatives do not deny that there is a need for more housing so perhaps this will lead to land being allocated that is 'fit for purpose' and proven through environmental and infrastructure capacity assessment rather than, as it appears to many, simply to deliver numbers.  We have all had our doubts about whether certain locations can really deliver urban extension running into several thousand houses but whether this brave new approach will mean greater scope to bring forward incremental growth will probably depend on the YIMBY culture.  What we might see is a shift of emphasis from blaming big bad central government to a more acute scrutiny of local politicians.  After all, they will see, and perhaps come to depend, on the income stream that will follow development whilst their electorate sees only more houses and factories being built…

In the end, achieving a YIMBY culture will also be as much about how development is presented and the Conservatives expect developers to play a part in that too.   Greater emphasis on pre-application work and early discussions between developers and planners and the local community will become mandatory and there can be expected to be a requirement for a greater community input into what happens during actual construction.  We have heard siren calls for more public participation over the past 12 years so it will be interesting to see what lessons the Conservative think have been learned. 

Other changes have also been signaled.  We will have simplified Planning Policy Statements, a strengthened role for the Planning Inspectorate – but apparently less of a role in the LDF process – and a continuing commitment to a zero carbon future applicable equally to the existing housing stock (which makes one wonder if extensions will only be permitted if the rest of the house is brought up to scratch?).  One thing is clear however, planning will not become any simpler even if development control is streamlined along Killian-Pretty lines.

Further worked up proposals will be set out in 'green papers' 9 and 10 expected to be published by the end of November and the Party has already made clear the priority it attaches to its reforming agenda - legislation is promised within the first 30 weeks of taking power.  Only then will we begin to know whether our leading commentators are right to be skeptical or whether it is merely innate conservatism that causes experts, like the NIMBYs, to want to resist change in all aspects of the built environment.