18 March 2008

GET LOCAL PLANNERS FULLY ENGAGED IN SPATIAL PLANNING SAYS CSS

England’s new spatial planning system needs to be modified to bridge the serious gap between the regional and local levels of planning across many parts of the country, says CSS.

In its response to the Communities and Local Government consultation Streamlining Local Development Frameworks, CSS says that some fundamental changes are needed to PPS12 in order to achieve better coordination and cooperation between the two tiers. It says county councils should have a particular role in coordinating and supporting the production of district Development Plan Documents (DPDs), including encouraging cross-boundary working and producing joint core strategies.

Miles Butler, Chair of CSS’s Planning & Regeneration Committee, says: “In the transition to the new regional planning system envisaged in the sub-national review, it is essential that the full engagement of all local planning authorities is maintained, particularly that of principal authorities. If authorities do not feel they have a future stake in the delivery and preparation of the proposed Single Integrated Regional Strategy, its effective implementation will be severely prejudiced.”

He adds: “The spatial nature of the new planning system provides the opportunity to link regional and local development plans into the wider context of sustainable community strategies. If this is not done, there will be a dislocation between ‘top down’ national and regional policies and ‘bottom up’ aspirations of local communities.”

As the main vehicle for implementation of Regional Spatial Strategies at both sub-regional and local level, CSS says individual Development Plan Documents should be tailored to local circumstances. It therefore supports the additional flexibility that the proposed changes would give to local authorities and suggests that contentious waste and minerals DPDs should be specifically referred to in the revised guidance, because of their particular needs.

CSS says that formal representations on the preferred strategy for a DPD should be made before submission to the Secretary of State so that they can be dealt with by the local planning authority, so simplifying the public examination process. It welcomes the opportunity to make changes to DPDs post-submission to the Minister.

The ability to elaborate Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) policies, particularly at sub regional level, through the medium of Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) would, says the CSS submission, be a useful additional tool for RSS implementation by principal authorities, especially in relation to education and health. CSS strongly recommends that only bodies with statutory planning powers should be able to produce SPDs.

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Media contact  

Barrie Hedges, Daybreak Communications office 0845 644 3845; mobile 07899 923756; barrie.hedges@daybreakcomm.co.uk

Notes to editors

• CSS represents local authority chief officers who manage some of the most pressing issues facing the UK today. Membership is drawn from all four corners of the United Kingdom with members responsible for three-quarters of the road network, two thirds of the land area and just under half of the population of England and Wales. Operating at the strategic tier of local government, they are closely involved in crucial transport, waste management, environment, planning, energy and economic development issues.