A key part of the Government’s growth mission is reform of the planning system. Two years since the Labour Party set this out in the Manifesto, we now have a major new Planning and Infrastructure Act and a complete rewrite of the National Planning Policy Framework, heralding a new approach to plan-making and a standardised approach to decision-making policies.
A System Without Plans
Over the last 15 years we have had a plan-led system in name only. We currently have less than 25% up to date local plans in England, with no certainty for developers and investors around where development should be located, or for local communities around how their areas will change over time. To fix the system the Government is bringing back a two-tier approach to plan-making with the introduction of Spatial Development Strategies (SDS), which will sit above local plans.
When Minister Matthew Pennycook introduced the new system of SDS last year, he made it clear that these must not be ‘big local plans’ and had to act as ‘spatial investment frameworks’. Framing these in a positive light, being enablers of good growth and not restrictive planning documents, is a necessary part of their implementation – but what does this mean in practice?
A Framework for Growth
Over the last 15 years, since the abolition of regional spatial strategies, all the political, financial and technical risk in planning decisions has been at the local authority level. Bringing back a two-tier plan-making system and separate governance arrangements for SDS will hopefully help fix this. Most of the heavy lifting will now be done through the SDS system. They will have to provide a long term framework for growth, setting out a spatial strategy for transforming places over a 20 to 30 year period and an investable pipeline of infrastructure. They will have to provide a spatial articulation of local growth plans and their economic priorities, allocate housing targets to each local planning authority, identify where Green Belt reviews are needed through local plans, prioritise strategic infrastructure and determine where strategic growth areas should be, which may include new towns in some areas.
Unlocking Investment
Vitally, the new strategic planning system will have to help rebuild investor confidence if we are going to deliver the infrastructure we need to support growth and the right type of housing we need to solve the housing crisis. We can no longer rely on the public sector to foot the bill and developer contributions will only go so far. We need a different investment model and that means different investors. Institutional investors have made it clear that they are willing partners in this, but they want the new system to be up and running, providing more stable conditions for them to support the delivery of development and infrastructure.
We are seeing this start to play out in areas with Mayoral Authorities and with the support of Homes England Strategic Place Partnerships. Sites that have been unviable for years are now becoming a realistic possibility. Alongside the new funding regime, we also now have the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act which brings with it significant new planning tools to support delivery of the priorities set out in SDS. For the first time in years, we will have strategic plans where there is a direct relationship between those preparing the plan and those delivering them, as a result of a much greater role in planning for Mayors. This can only be a positive boost for investor confidence in these areas.
Not all places will benefit equally, however. The more mature the devolved arrangements are, the more the Strategic Planning Authority will be able to directly influence delivery. Those areas that already have Mayoral Authorities are off and running in the race to be the first to get their SDS in place. All going well, within the next 2-3 years we will see the first SDS adopted and very soon after that, the place transformation will begin.
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