Bad Planning (Bournemouth Liberal Democrats)

Bournemouth Liberal Democrats <contact.us@bournemouth-libdems.org.uk>

Bad Planning

January 17, 2012 11:28 PM
By Ken Mantock

The Government is seeking to streamline the planning process and kickstart development. Over 1300 pages of various national policies that local councils have to abide by when deciding planning applications are being reduced down to just 52 pages. Sounds good in principle perhaps, but people are up in arms because the new Draft National Planning Policy Framework proposes that there will be a presumption in favour of sustainable development and thousands of new homes must be built. The National Trust and CPRE have already come out fighting calling on their members to lobby MPs for a change to the proposals so that the environment and conservation principles are maintained and the green belt and open spaces are still protected but the response from Greg Clark MP , the Planning Minister responsible for the Draft Framework is not encouraging. He's accused critics of being guilty of "selfish nihilism". I think he's got this fundamentally wrong.

Ken checks a planning notice

I have experienced planning from various standpoints over last 20 or so years: early on as a committee member of the Southbourne Residents Association and the Bournemouth Civic Society, then as a member of Bournemouth Planning Committee from the 1995 to 2007 and since then back on the committee of Bournemouth Civic Society and as a voluntary sector member of the Council's Local Development Framework Steering Group. In all this time I can't remember being more disappointed and concerned about a Government seemingly willfully missing the opportunity to do the right thing for communities and the planning system.

For years top down national policies, requirements and edicts have been forced upon local planning committees. Lady Thatcher started it by creating a "presumption in favour of development" and abolishing, amongst other useful things, the Parker Morris standards that till then ensured properly designed homes and communities. Then Tony Blair and Gordon Brown made it worse by insisting on high density developments, removing the ability of Councils to set local parking standards, foisting unsustainable housing targets on areas and accelerating the Planning Inspectorate's ability to overturn local planning committees decisions and award hefty costs against them on the basis that "the Man from the Ministry" knows best.

Having seen members of planning committees wrestle to do the right thing for their local areas whilst effectively being totally hamstrung by national dictat, I believed the Coalition Government's Localism Bill and Big Society agenda would sweep away decades of central control and local impotence. Surely that was the manifesto promise of both parties who now govern at Westminster?

If Localism is to really be all it should be and what we expected it to be, the new Draft National Planning Policy Framework must be changed to allow local people decide whats best for their areas. This does not mean new house building, especially much needed affordable housing will be stopped, but it will be provided according to consideration of local needs. The demands of development, economic growth, conservation and the environment must be given equal regard and we simply cannot have George Osborne's "the default answer to development will be yes" suggestion enacted.

Ken Mantock is Chair of Bournemouth Civic Society . He was a member of Bournemouth Planning Committee from the 1995 to 2007, and is a voluntary sector member of the Council's Local Development Framework Steering Group