Planning White Paper 2020

Here is the Problem:

We know that there are some real, long-term problems with the planning system:

• Not delivering nearly enough affordable housing;
• Allowing sub-standard homes through Permitted Development rights;
• An accumulating backlog of unbuilt planning permissions;
• Not doing enough to respond to the Climate Emergency;
• Perpetuating car-dependent developments in an era when walkable, healthy neighbourhoods are ever more needed.

So you’d think that “the biggest shake-up of the planning system since 1947” would set out to tackle these problems, wouldn’t you?

Think again.

In fact, the Planning White Paper stands to make all these problems worse, while chasing an invented notion that planning is an obstacle to progress. The proposed planning reforms set out the wrong answers to the wrong questions, and jeopardise local democracy as a result.

Eight Changes could demolish Local Democracy in Planning:

1. Central Government will impose mandatory, top-down housing numbers which local authorities will have no choice but to accept.
2. In the new ‘Growth’ and ‘Renewal’ zones, developers will automatically get outline planning permission.
3. Local Plans will no longer have development management policies, so planning applications in your area will only be judged against national policy.
4. Your only opportunity to shape this process will be a 6-week consultation window every 5 years to comment on zoning and design codes. If you miss those, you have no say. That’s a massive reduction in your ability to influence decisions affecting your neighbourhood.
5. Permitted Development rights mean many other changes will happen without the need for planning permission, and therefore without public scrutiny.
6. Changes to the developer contributions regime and a new Infrastructure Levy claim to help provide affordable housing, but the small print shows it might do the opposite.
7. The top-down housing numbers and zoning might spell the end for Neighbourhood Planning and Localism, despite some warm words.
8. Requirements for new homes to be zero-carbon will be pushed back to 2050, undermining communities’ efforts to address the Climate Emergency.

You can read our blog post about the planning white paper – just here.

We have run two Planning White Paper Support webinars, which we made free to attend and available to any community groups – West Yorkshire and beyond!

The presentation slides that accompanied these support webinars are available to download here. A summary and review of the sessions, covering some of the questions raised, will be available here soon.

If you know of a group that might like some support – please share this information with them, and spread the word on social media. Let’s work together and make sure our voices are heard!