Category: Politics

Labour’s Green Belt Grey Areas/Sadiq Khan’s London Manifesto

For those of us living or working in London, I reckon that Sadiq Khan’s manifesto for his next term as Mayor, published on 19 April 2024, is an important read. But yesterday it was rather drowned out by the media coverage that day of Labour’s press statement on green belt policy reform.

I’ll deal first with Labour’s green belt announcement.

As a country we certainly need to resolve the negative effects of this misunderstood policy concept (Sam Stafford’s updated blog post, The Green Belt. What it is; what it isn’t; and what it should be contains all (more than?) anyone could ever want to know about the subject). And for a sense of the sheer extent of green belt and its obvious consequent throttling effect on the areas it encircles, see for example Town Legal’s planning appeals map – green belt areas marked in … green).

It is surely positive in the context of a continuing, indeed worsening, housing crisis and the lack of other options which are likely to be sufficient and deliverable, that there is talk from Labour of using some green belt land to deliver more new homes. After all, even “going there” is politically brave. But fine words butter no parsnips. And I wonder whether the proposals in some ways just add to the confusion.

These are the core proposals from the press release :

“A Labour government would take a brownfield first approach to development across England, prioritising building on previously developed land in all circumstances and taking steps to improve upon the government’s lacklustre record of brownfield build out rates. Areas with enough brownfield land should not release greenbelt.

A Labour government will implement five ‘golden rules’ for Grey Belt development:

1.⁠  ⁠Brownfield first – Within the green belt, any brownfield land must be prioritised for development. 

2.  Grey Belt second – poor-quality and ugly areas of the Green Belt should be clearly prioritised over nature-rich, environmentally valuable land in the green belt. At present, beyond the existing brownfield category the system doesn’t differentiate between them. This category will be distinct to brownfield with a wider definition.

3.⁠ ⁠ Affordable homes – plans must target at least 50% affordable housing delivery when land is released.

4.⁠ ⁠ Boost public services and infrastructure – plans must boost public services and local infrastructure, like more school and nursery places, new health centres and GP appointments.

5.⁠ ⁠ Improve genuine green spaces – Labour rules out building on genuine nature spots and requires plans to include improvements to existing green spaces, making them accessible to the public, with new woodland, parks and playing fields. Plans should meet high environmental standards.”

What can we take from this as to what Labour would actually do, if elected?

This press statement is of course not intended to be picked over by people like me or you. Its purpose is to influence potential voters and to give us all a flavour of we would be likely to see, whilst giving plenty of wriggle-room when it comes to the actual implementation. So I’m not going to carp too much, but…

  • Are these tests for plan-makers or for decision-makers? If the former (likely), will there be a transition period before the new policy kicks in for decision-makers, if there is an otherwise up to date local plan?
  • So a basic hierarchy of brownfield; non-green belt greenfield; brownfield green belt; grey belt green belt; green belt green belt? It strikes me that this gives too much emphasis on the physical characteristics of the site itself rather than its sustainability and appropriateness in spatial terms? And how is this sequential testing to be carried out? The old questions as per the retail and flood risk sequential tests: to what extent can proposals be disaggregated; what is the area of search; deliverable over what period and what about where (as is often the case) there is not really a choice between site A and site B because the level of unmet need is such that A and B are both needed, and more besides?
  • How do references to “poor-quality and ugly” and “nature-rich, environmentally valuable” match up at all to the five traditional purposes for which green belt is designated – (a) to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas; (b) to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another; (c) to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment; (d) to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns; and (e) to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. Is that what “poor-quality” means perhaps – not fulfilling those purposes?
  • If “brownfield” equates to what is currently defined as previously developed land, and treated less restrictively in green belt policy, give me an example of this untapped resource of non brownfield “grey belt”? And we’ve all gone on endlessly about the subjectivity of the concept of “beautiful” only now to be faced with a policy concept of “ugly“!
  • 50% is an eye-catching number for some areas but as a target what will actually change in practice? And define “affordable”. Will the opportunity be to introduce these requirements via national development management policies? That would be some exciting and early mission creep!
  • 4 and 5 are nothing new.
  • It’s not all about housing folks! What about logistics and other developments which need to be located in the green belt?

Now to Sadiq Khan’s manifesto, “A Fairer, Safer, Greener London” published ahead of the 2 May 2024 election. I’ll just draw out some quotes:

From his ten pledges:

3  Build 40,000 new council homes by the end of the decade

8  More support for renters – delivering new affordable ‘rent control homes’ and empowering Londoners to take on landlords through a New Deal for Renters

9  Continue world-leading action to tackle air pollution and the climate crisis – from making all buses zero-emission to providing air pollution filters to primary schools

10 Deliver a new London Growth Plan, with a target of creating more than 150,000 good jobs by 2028 and increasing living standards for Londoners

Under the heading “Tackling the housing crisis”:

“To unblock more new homes, I will take decisive action where needed to create new Land Assembly Zones and set up more Mayoral Development Corporations to boost overall housing supply and drive regeneration. These will deliver new sustainable communities with homes for first-time buyers as well as homes for social rent. I’ll work with a Labour government to strengthen planning so that the London Plan can go even further in supporting the delivery of the affordable housing our city needs, while unlocking economic growth and being the greenest ever plan for our city.”

Under the heading “Cleaning up London’s air”:

“making London the world’s first electric-vehicle ready global city by working with partners to double the amount of electric vehicle charging points installed since 2016 to more than 40,000 by 2030

continuing to oppose any expansion of airports in London”

Under the heading “Growing our economy”:

“I will build on our city’s economic recovery and set out an exciting new London Growth Plan, developed in close collaboration with councils, businesses and trade unions.

This new growth plan will set out how we can boost jobs and growth in the well-established sectors of our economy, including finance and business services; retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism; manufacturing; logistics; built environment and construction. I will also focus on and champion some of the fastest growing sectors, such as health and life sciences; digital including fintech, retail tech, cyber and AI; creative industries including film, fashion, TV, music and games; climate tech and the energy sector.”

“To help boost economic growth across our city, I will support individual boroughs to build on their strengths – from the new global culture and education powerhouse that is East Bank in Stratford, to the world-leading TV and film production cluster in West London, and the internationally influential cutting edge cancer research centre in Sutton. This also means working with councils and businesses to deliver a new vision and plan for the centre of London, ensuring that we can continue to compete with the central activity zones of other global cities like Paris and New York. London has roared back as a tourist destination since the pandemic and I’ll continue to work with partners to improve our tourism offer.”

“London is home to more than 600 high streets. We learned during the pandemic how intimately connected we are to local high streets, and their importance to our communities. That’s why I want to do more to protect, restore and improve them. If I’m re-elected, I will launch a support fund and set out a new vision for the future of London’s high streets, building on the work we have already done. I’ll also explore planning changes that can help breathe new life into our high streets, helping to ensure they remain a central feature of our economic and civic life.”

Not a word about green belt, you might note…

Simon Ricketts, 20 April 2024

Personal views, et cetera

Powering Up Britain

As a long-time collector of successive promises by politicians to reform the planning system – and the metaphors and alliteration used to that end – I was excited to see the Labour Party’s 28 March 2024 document Power and Partnership: Labour’s Plan to Power-Up Britain, published ahead of the 2 May 2024 local elections.

PUB gives the clearest set of indications yet as to what a future (possibly near future) Labour government’s priorities will be for planning, development and local government. It’s bold and you need to read it. I’ll just now give you some selective highlights. (I’ve emboldened the boldest commitments, towards the end of this post).

From the foreword by Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner:

“Growth in every corner of the country, so that every town, village and city has a role to play, and can reap the rewards of a decade of national renewal.”

From an initial section headed “the challenge we face”:

“Despite hoarding the levers of power, our centre remains passive in the face of huge national challenges…Our sclerotic planning system has left England unable to build the infrastructure and homes it needs; and endless Conservative chaos has undermined certainty and investment across the country.”

“We are currently not able to effectively integrate local, regional and national transport systems. Decisions on housing developments or commercial space chop and change at a moment’s notice. And the lack of a consistent economic strategy has undermined  business confidence  and  investment.”

From a section headed “empowering communities to power up Britain”:

“Local and sub- regional decision- makers often possess better information about their local economies, and more developed capacity for working with local businesses and institutions. By giving local leaders a greater say, we can focus policies at the scale at which people live and work and at which businesses specialise and form  economic clusters.

We also should not make policy on a scale which is so local that it does not reflect people ’s working, commuting and social patterns – people often cross administrative borders every day as they go to work or head into their town centre. OECD research indicates that administrative fragmentation at a local level holds productivity back.

By holding strategic decision- making over housing policy at a local authority level, for example, we are failing to seize the opportunity to build more homes in places where people need them  to live and work.

We believe new combined authorities or devolution settlements should be tailored to functional economic areas. This is central to the economic promise of taking back control and will be necessary for local leaders to effectively deploy skills, transport, housing and other labour market policies and unlock new long- term , integrated funding settlements. By deepening devolution to city regions, we will make sure that the towns and cities that built the foundations of modern Britain are given the tools they need to thrive in the modern service and high- value manufacturing economy.

We  will also reap  the benefits of combining  scale with local knowledge, joining up the power of an active state with the information available to local leaders. We will work to build up capacity in local and sub- regional government and we will deliver a new institutional framework for partnership working and joined- up decision- making.”

From a section entitled “an active centre to power up Britain”:

“Labour’s plan for growth includes action at a national scale to address the failures outlined in this document. This includes a plan to steam ahead in the industries of the future, with a modern UK industrial strategy supported by tailored sector strategies and, in England, Local Growth Plans; strategic public investment via our National Wealth Fund across the United Kingdom ; wholesale reform to England’s system  of planning for housing and infrastructure…

Just as our plan will require local leaders to be active players, it will require a greater level of strategy and direction from  national government. It will involve the reintroduction of mandatory local housing targets to get Britain building again…”

A section entitled “English devolution” starts with three bullet points:

  •  Turbocharge mayors with access to new powers over transport, skills, housing, planning, employment support and energy, supported by long- term integrated funding settlements.
  • Work to expand devolution further and faster, with local authorities coming together to take on new powers to boost their economies.
  • Roll out new Local Growth Plans to towns and cities take advantage of their economic potential and foster clusters of well- paid jobs.

“A Labour government will ask all councils outside of an existing or agreed combined authority or county devolution deal to begin preparatory work to join together on sensible economic geographies and take on a new suite of powers through our enhanced devolution framework to benefit their residents. We will provide them with support and guidance to do so through the leadership of the Secretary of State and the expertise of the Department.“

“We will create a statutory obligation on all combined authorities and counties with devolution deals to develop a Local Growth Plan based on those functional economic geographies which identifies economic  clusters and  sets out their plans to build on their local advantages, the key binding constraints of their local economies and how they will use the powers devolved from  central government to support local growth.”

Labour will “provide longer- term funding settlements for councils, giving them  the certainty they need to deliver better value for money”.

From a section entitled “high streets”, there is a commitment to “give communities the power to revamp empty shops, pubs and community spaces with a strong new Community Right to Buy”

A section headed “building homes” starts with three bullet points:

  • Build 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament, unleashing growth and putting more money into people’s pockets.
  • Deliver the biggest boost of social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, embedding security and stability in our economy.
  • Empower metro mayors to deliver new housing projects linked up to the jobs and infrastructure needed to support regional growth.

“Labour will build 1.5 million high quality homes in the right places, with new towns, urban extensions and smaller developments – and they will be connected to infrastructure and built strategically as part of sub-regional strategies from mayors and combined authorities. This will increase the ‘effective size’ of our major cities and high- potential towns so that they  can reap  the  benefits of scale  and agglomeration needed to develop and cement their labour market clusters and comparative strengths.

Our approach combines robust national policy frameworks, including targets for housing delivery, with measures to support local leaders delivering plans for meeting those targets and ensuring homes are built in the right place. We want to give local leaders a say over ‘how’ new homes are delivered, whilst being robust in national policy about ‘if’ areas build the homes they need.”

Labour will deliver:

“• The biggest boost in affordable homes for a generation – with social and council housing at the core of Labour’s plan for secure homes.

• A housing recovery plan, a blitz of planning reform to quickly and materially boost house building , delivered in our first weeks and months in office .

• The next generation of new towns , garden cities and large sites, new communities with beautiful homes, green spaces, reliable transport and bustling high streets

• New powers to unleash mayors including a package of devolution to mayors, handing them stronger powers over planning and departmental style settlements for housing

• ‘Planning passports ’ for urban brownfield delivery, a tough package of planning reform to fast track approvals and delivery of high density housing on urban brownfield  sites

• 300 new planning officers  across  the  country, paid for by raising the stamp duty surcharge on non- UK residents, to improve public sector capacity to expedite planning decisions.”

Fasten your seatbelts.

Simon Ricketts, 13 April 2024

Personal views, et cetera

The Only Way Is Up

I remember watching Don’t Look Up on new year’s day 2022. Not the best film ever but certainly an apt analogy when It comes to the climate crisis. I can’t believe that was two years ago. Where does the time go?

I’m going to briefly look up again. Last year was the second warmest ever in the UK and the period since July 2023 has been the wettest in 130 years.

And there’s certainly been some domestic political heat around climate issues. I’m thinking back to my 5 August 2023 blog post Does The Government Have An Environmental Strategy Or Is It More Of A Tactic?

Today’s post was simply going to point to guidance published jointly by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, the Department for Energy Security and DLUHC: Adapting historic homes for energy efficiency: a review of the barriers (3 January 2024) – and I’ll come to that.

But then news came through yesterday afternoon of Conservative MP Chris Skidmore’s resignation of the party whip (5 January 2024).

I had praised Skidmore’s independent review last year of the Government’s net zero plans in my 21 January 2023 blog post Mission Zero Needs Planning. He knows what he’s talking about on the subject.

Here is his resignation statement in full:

“Next week the government will be introducing the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill in the House of Commons.

This bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea. It is a bill that I have already stated my opposition to, by not voting in the King’s Speech debate in protest at the bill’s inclusion in the government’s legislative programme.

As the former Energy Minister who signed the UK’s net zero commitment by 2050 into law, I cannot vote for a bill that clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas. While no one is denying that there is a role for existing oil and gas in the transition to net zero, the International Energy Agency, the UNCCC and the Committee on Climate Change have all stated that there must be no new additional oil and gas production on top of what has already been committed, if we are to both reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 and keep the chance of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.

Decisions taken at COP28 last month also set in motion the global transition away from fossil fuels. As the exponential growth of renewable and clean power continues, as we seek to reduce our energy demand for fossil fuels through the adoption of better energy efficiency in buildings and industry, as the adoption of electricity replaces fossil fuels, there is no case to be made for increasing fossil fuel production at a time when investment should be made elsewhere, in the industries and businesses of the future, and not of the past.

As fossil fuels become more obsolete, expanding new oil and gas licences or opening new oil fields will only create stranded assets of the future, harming local and regional communities that should instead be supported to transition their skills and expertise to renewable and clean energy.

The Net Zero Review I published a year ago next week, Mission Zero, set out how net zero can be the economic opportunity of this decade, if not our generation, bringing with it hundreds of thousands of new jobs, new growth, new regeneration and inward investment worth hundreds of billions of pounds. To achieve this however requires long term commitment to the energy transition, and a clear and consistent message to business and industry that the UK is committed to climate action as a global leader, as it has been for the past two decades.

The bill that will be debated next week achieves nothing apart from to send a global signal that the UK is rowing ever further back from its climate commitments. We cannot expect other countries to phase out their fossil fuels when at the same time we continue to issue new licences or to open new oil fields. It is a tragedy that the UK has been allowed to lose its climate leadership, at a time when our businesses, industries, universities and civil society organisations are providing first class leadership and expertise to so many across the world, inspiring change for the better.

I cannot vote for the bill next week. The future will judge harshly those that do. At a time when we should be committing to more climate action, we simply do not have any more time to waste promoting the future production of fossil fuels that is the ultimate cause of the environmental crisis that we are facing.

But I can also no longer condone nor continue to support a government that is committed to a course of action that I know is wrong and will cause future harm. To fail to act, rather than merely speak out, is to tolerate a status quo that cannot be sustained. I am therefore resigning my party whip and instead intend to be free from any party-political allegiance.

I am deeply grateful for the privilege I have had to serve in government across several departments, including as Energy Minister attending Cabinet, and to have been appointed as the Independent Chair of the Net Zero Review. It is nearly fourteen years since I was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Kingswood, and I am especially grateful to my constituents for placing their repeated trust and faith in me. First and foremost, my duty has been to serve them, as their elected representative.

It is with that duty to them in mind as their representative that my personal decision today means, as I have long argued, that they deserve the right to elect a new Member of Parliament. I therefore will be standing down from Parliament as soon as possible.

It has been a remarkable and wonderful opportunity to serve as a Member of Parliament for nearly fourteen years, but I now intend to focus all my energy and attention on delivering net zero and the energy transition.”

A pretty devastating critique.

Against that broader background, it’s difficult to do anything with the Adapting historic homes for energy efficiency: a review of the barriers guidance document (3 January 2024) than damn it with faint praise.

As stated in the document’s introduction:

“Alongside the need to protect and conserve, historic homes have an important contribution to make in meeting our Net Zero objectives, both in terms of their contribution to the broader UK energy efficiency and low carbon heat agenda, and in the carbon which is saved through their continued use and reuse. Historic properties make up a significant proportion of the UK’s building stock, with 5.9 million buildings constructed before 1919. Historic properties can and should be part of the solution, and this report is intended to maximise their potential in supporting our progress towards Net Zero.

Through this review, we have gained a better understanding of the practical barriers that owners of listed buildings and homes in conservation areas face when they want to install energy efficiency or low-carbon heating measures in their properties.” 

The document follows a commitment in the Government’s April 2022 British Energy Security Strategy. It contains sections on the role of the planning system; issues with local authority skills, training and capacity; guidance available for homeowners and occupiers; construction industry sills, training and capacity, and affordability and financial incentives. It concludes with a summary of the 55 actions and future commitments arising. The seven under the heading “planning” are as follows:

  • Delivery of planning reform through the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act so that it supports good design and environmental outcomes better, is less complex, and easier to engage with            
  • Implementation of the newly updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including a new policy to support energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings       
  • Consult on changes to permitted development rights for heat pumps in England
  • Consultation on National Development Management Policies including specifically on improvements to historic buildings
  • Consult on the opportunities for greater use of Listed Building Consent Orders (LBCOs) to support energy efficiency improvements to listed buildings              
  • Support Local Planning Authorities that wish to develop exemplar Local Listed Building Consent Orders   (Historic England)
  • Publish a Historic England Advice Note (HEAN) on Climate Change and Historic Building Adaptation to help decision-makers deliver climate action while protecting heritage (Historic England)

The announcements as to national development management policies and also local listed building consent orders are potentially interesting. This is what the document itself says:

“First, as part of the implementation of National Development Management Policies following Royal Assent of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act, DLUHC will create new National Development Management Policies (NDMPs), including a policy specifically for improvements to historic buildings. This policy will be integrated into the wider suite of heritage National Development Management Policies which will replace current policy affecting decision making in chapter 16 of the National Planning Policy Framework. In doing so, this will help to ensure greater certainty and consistency about decisions on applications for energy efficiency improvements affecting listed buildings and buildings in conservation areas across England. The government will consult on this new policy as part of its development of National Development Management Policies.

Second, the review has demonstrated there is a significant appetite for increasing the use of Local Listed Building Consent Orders to provide upfront listed building consent for certain common energy efficiency improvements on listed buildings so owners can make these improvements without the need to apply for consent. There is not, however, a clear consensus from stakeholders about how and when Local Listed Building Consent Orders should be used to support these energy efficiency improvements. In particular, it will be important that these orders do not permit energy efficiency measures which harm the significance of listed buildings.

As a first step, DLUHC will consult on the opportunities for using Local Listed Building Consent Orders to support energy efficiency improvements on listed buildings. The consultation will specifically ask about:

  • the role for Local Listed Building Consent Orders prepared by local planning authorities; and
  • the potential for a Listed Building Consent Order made by the Secretary of State which would grant listed building consent for certain improvements across England.”

Here’s to much more of this, in particular to closer working between DLUHC and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and in particular to politicians such as Mr Skidmore actually prepared to look up.

Simon Ricketts, 6 January 2024

Personal views, et cetera

Pic by Christian Wiediger via Unspash

London 2024

The next London Mayoral election will be held on 2 May 2024.

As of 9 November 2023 Sadiq Khan held a 25 point lead over conservative candidate Susan Hall, according to a YouGov poll. Anything could of course happen between now and 2 May though, the greatest risk for Khan possibly being if Jeremy Corbyn stands as an independent candidate and splits the labour vote. The deadline for candidate nominations is 27 March so I suspect we will see increasing levels of speculation in the meantime…

To his left, Mr Corbyn. To his right, Mr Gove.

As part of the flurry of DLUHC announcements on 19 December 2023 (see my blog post that day, In DLUHC Jubilo: NPPF & Much More), the Secretary of State wrote to Mr Khan. The letter included the following passage:

“Due to the significant shortfall in housing supply and under delivery of housing in our capital, I have concluded that it may be necessary to take further action now, as a matter of urgency, to make sure London is delivering the homes our capital needs.

With this in mind, I have asked Christopher Katkowski KC to lead a panel of expert advisers comprising Cllr James Jamieson, Paul Monaghan, and Dr Wei Yang, to consider the aspects of your London Plan which could be preventing thousands of homes being brought forward, with a particular focus on brownfield sites in the heart of our capital. I have asked them to produce their report by January and will make sure that it is shared with you.

If you cannot do what is needed to deliver the homes that London needs, I will.”

The terms of reference given to the advisors were published on 22 December 2023. Lichfields have been appointed along with the advisors previously announced.

“The expert advisers will assess whether there are specific changes to London Plan policies that could facilitate urban brownfield regeneration in London for housing delivery in an appropriate manner and, if necessary, recommend changes to the London Plan accordingly.

The output of the review will be a short report, delivered by 15 January 2024, to the Secretary of State.”

The objectives of the work are as follows:

“To consider and, if appropriate, make recommendations for specific changes to the London Plan. The Secretary of State will share the recommendations with the Mayor to consider their implementation.

To work with Lichfields consultants to ensure that there is an evidence base which supports the recommendations of the expert advisers.

To complete a report on how, specifically, the London Plan could be improved to facilitate the delivery of new homes on brownfield sites.”

15 January! It will be interesting to see what emerges. I assume that aside from the implications of the detailed and prescriptive approach taken by the London Plan – a document which is instead meant to operate only at a strategic level – one potential area for investigation will be the extent to which the Mayor’s rigid approach to minimum levels of affordable housing, even in the face of agreed unviability, and/or his requirements as to review mechanisms which can cause difficulties with funders, is holding back delivery (although of course the Mayor’s response is always to point to the level of need for social housing). Will another be the Mayor’s resistance to development in the green belt? But this would only make sense in the context of Mr Gove’s letter if the focus is on previously developed land in the green belt – and even this would uncomfortably with the Government’s 19 December 2023 revision to the NPPF, absolving authorities of the need to review green belt boundaries when preparing local plans…

Are there possibly any clues in two recent Secretary of State decisions?

On 11 December 2023 the Secretary of State overturned inspector Jennifer Vyse’s recommendation and granted planning permission in relation to called-in applications for mixed use development at Homebase and Tesco Osterley, Syon Lane, Hounslow. His approach to the planning balance and overall conclusion in  his decision letter is as follows:

“64. For the reasons given above, the Secretary of State considers that the application is not in accordance with LonP policies D9 and HC1 and LP policies CC3 and CC4 of the development plan, and is not in accordance with the development plan overall. He has gone on to consider whether there are material considerations which indicate that the proposal should be determined other than in line with the development plan.

65. Weighing in favour of the proposal is the regeneration of under-utilised brownfield land which carries substantial weight. Also weighing in favour is the delivery of up to 2,150 homes which carries substantial weight, and the delivery of 750 affordable homes designed to meet the current housing need profile in Hounslow, which each carry substantial weight. Economic benefits carry significant weight whilst the provision of open space and significant biodiversity net gain both carry moderate weight.  Highway and transport improvements carry limited to moderate weight and the reprovision of an existing Tesco store and the provision of community space each carry limited weight.

66. Weighing against the proposal is less than substantial harm to a number of designated heritage assets which carries great weight. Moderate harm to the character and appearance of the area in relation to the Homebase scheme carries moderate weight. Heritage harm caused by the total loss of a non-designated heritage asset (the Homebase store) carries limited weight and the Secretary of State has considered paragraph 203 of the Framework in coming to this decision.

67. In line with the heritage balance set out at paragraph 202 of the Framework, the Secretary of State has considered whether the identified less than substantial harm to the significance of each designated heritage asset is outweighed by the public benefits of the proposal. Taking into the account the public benefits of the proposal as identified in this decision letter, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector at IR15.11 that the public benefits of the appeal scheme are more than sufficient to outweigh the identified harm, including cumulative harm, to the significance of the designated heritage assets. He considers that the balancing exercise under paragraph 202 of the Framework is therefore favourable to the proposal.

68. Overall, in applying s.38(6) of the PCPA 2004, the Secretary of State considers that despite the conflict with the development plan, the material considerations in this case indicate that permission should be granted.

69. The Secretary of State therefore concludes that planning permission should be granted.”

Note the weight placed on delivery of homes, including affordable homes, on under-utilised brownfield land, together with economic benefits, versus heritage harm.

On 4 December 2023 the Secretary of State agreed with his inspector’s recommendation and granted planning permission for the demolition of existing buildings and the comprehensive phased redevelopment of the site for a mix of uses including up to 1,049 residential units and up to 1,200 square metres of flexible commercial and community floorspace in buildings ranging from 3 to 18 storeys along with car and cycle parking, landscaping and associated works. His decision letter demonstrates a similar balancing exercise, in the additional context of Barnet Council not having a five year supply of housing land:

“35. Weighing in favour of the proposal is the delivery of market and affordable housing which each carry significant weight; the reduction in traffic, provision of open space, biodiversity improvements, regeneration benefits and employment provisions which each carry moderate weight; and improvement in healthcare facilities which carries minimal weight.

36. Weighing against the proposal is the less than substantial harm to the designated heritage asset which carries great weight.

37. In line with the heritage balance set out at paragraph 202 of the Framework, the Secretary of State has considered whether the identified less than substantial harm to the significance of the designated heritage asset is outweighed by the public benefits of the proposal. Taking into the account the public benefits of the proposal as identified in this decision letter, overall, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector at IR238 that the public benefits outweigh the identified less than substantial harm to the significance of the designated heritage asset, and that the proposal would secure the optimum viable use of the site (IR235). He therefore considers that the balancing exercise under paragraph 202 of the Framework is favourable to the proposal.”

Whatever we think of the Secretary of State’s reasoning in granting these permissions, let’s not give him credit for thereby speeding up the development process. These were both applications which had been resolved to be approved by Hounslow and Barnet respectively in 2021!

Finally, how about this for petty point scoring, in relation to the continuing political pawn which is the Mayor’s extended ULEZ scheme? The Secretary of State would like the Mayor to arrange for vehicles that are the subject of his scrappage scheme to be provided to Ukraine to help with its war effort. The Mayor’s position is that this is not within his legal powers. This is Mr Gove’s latest letter dated 21 December 2023 to the Mayor of London. I have no idea what the right answer is on this specific issue but in a year where there are too many real battle grounds around the globe, perhaps let’s try to avoid unnecessary domestic political battlegrounds? Even in an election year?

Simon Ricketts, 30 December 2023

Personal views, et cetera

PS It’s so often been the case that I’ve had some song going through my head when writing one of these posts that I thought as an end of year gift I would present to you this Spotify playlist – a track for each post this year – I’m sure you’ll be able to match them up…

See you in 2024.

From YouGov 9 November 2023 poll

2023 Unwrapped (Or The Case Of The DLUHC That Didn’t Bark?)

A pause to reflect as we wait for the latest version of the NPPF finally to be published, possibly in the coming week.

My final post of 2022, It Will Soon Be Christmas & We Really Don’t Have To Rush To Conclusions On This New NPPF Consultation Draft covered the publication on 22 December 2022 of the consultation draft. Back then the final version was to be published in Spring 2023. Never trust a DLUHC time estimate…

That timescale assumed that the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill would receive Royal Assent that Spring. Ho ho ho. The Act finally received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023, although, as set out in my 4 November 2023 blog post Act Up!, nothing substantive has yet come into force, most elements requiring secondary legislation with only limited sections being switched on from Boxing Day. (My firm has prepared a detailed summary of the planning reform aspects of the Act, running to some 41 pages. Do message or email me if you would like a copy.)

Judging from the tone of DLUHC’s 28 November 2023 response to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee’s reforms to national planning policy report, together with Mr Gove’s appearance before the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee on 6 December 2023, we assume that the final version of the NPPF will reflect quite closely the December 2022 draft, but time will tell.

Of course, barring a general election in the meantime, in 2024 we will then have consultation on further proposed revisions to the NPPF, to reflect LURA’s proposed reforms to plan-making, and consultation on much else besides.

In the meantime, 2023 has seen yet more ministerial changes with Rachel Maclean sacked in favour of an expanded role for Lee Rowley. There have been at best sporadic attempts to discourage local authorities from withdrawing emerging plans (Spelthorne and Erewash). There has been a self-styled long-term plan for housing. There have been sporadic culture wars – for example the swipe at South Cambridgeshire District Council for its four-day working week trial (anyone remember localism? I have an old book to flog).

But has anything really moved the dial in terms of encouraging housebuilding or indeed encouraging economic activity? Far from it if yesterday’s Planning Resource headline is anything to go by: Number of planning applications plummets 12% year-on-year in latest quarterly government figures (8 December 2023, behind paywall)

Spotify-style, I looked back at which simonicity posts were most widely read, last year. Perhaps this list tells its own story – one of procedural hurdles, unnecessary complexity and political climbdowns. In order:

  1. M&S Mess (21 July 2023). We wait to see what the High Court makes of Mr Gove’s 20 July 2023 decision letter.
  1. Thank You Mikael Armstrong: New Case On Scope Of Section 73 (28 January 2023). The Armstrong case has now been supplemented by R (Fiske) v Test Valley Borough Council (Morris J, 6 September 2023). The scope of section 73 remains a live issue, although the legal boundaries are now pretty clear ahead of the coming into force of section 73B which will raise new questions.
  1. The Government’s Big Move On Nutrient Neutrality – Now We Have Seen The Government’s LURB Amendment (29 August 2023). The subsequent defeat suffered by the Government on this in the House of Lords was possibly DLUHC’s most embarrassing moment of the year, when taken with the subsequent, aborted, attempt by the Government to introduce a fresh Bill.
  1. New Draft London Guidance On Affordable Housing/Viability (6 May 2023). These are critical issues, particularly in London, and we need to understand as clearly as possible the Mayor’s position. But the GLA draft guidance continues to grow like topsy. Since that post in May we have also had draft guidance on purpose-built student accommodation and on digital connectivity – and in the last week we have had draft industrial land and uses guidance.
  1. Euston We Have A Problem (8 July 2023). Subsequent to the post there was then of course the Government’s total  abandonment of proposals for HS2 north of Birmingham (see my 4 October 2023 blog post, Drive Time) and wishful thinking as to a privately funded terminus for HS2 at Euston. It will be interesting to see what happens this coming year to the idea of a new “Euston Quarter” Development Corporation.

Incidentally, thank you everyone for continuing to read this blog, now in its eighth year (with more daily views than ever before), and for occasionally saying nice things about it. Believe me, I would otherwise have given up a long time ago. I did hope that I could pass it over to chatGPT next year but from early experimentation I suspect not:

Simon Ricketts, 9 December 2023

Personal views, et cetera

Drive Time

Turbulent times as the Conservative party desperately looks to position itself for the next general election, still mindful, it seems, of its narrow, anti-ULEZ fuelled, win in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election in July 2023.

I wonder if the prime minister has recently read chapter 9 of the NPPF (“Promoting Sustainable Transport”)?

 I wonder if the prime minister recalls that since 1 June 2023 a new Government quango, Active Travel England is a statutory consultee on all large planning applications to “to help planning authorities in their work to implement good active travel design – for example, by ensuring developments include walking, wheeling and cycling connectivity to schools and local amenities. This will help improve public health, save people money and reduce harmful emissions.” ATE’s framework document may be seen as dangerously woke in this new political climate, aiming to deliver increases in active travel to 50% of all journeys in urban areas.

I wonder if the prime minister recalls his Government’s Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener with commitments such as:

  • “End the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030; from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emission at the tailpipe.” (long gone)
  • “Increase the share of journeys taken by public transport, cycling and walking.”
  • “Invest £2 billion in cycling and walking, building first hundreds, then thousands of miles of segregated cycle lane and more low-traffic neighbourhoods with the aim that half of all journeys in towns and cities will be cycled or walked by 2030. As announced in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we will create at least one zero emission transport city.”

The party’s Manchester conference saw two major policy announcements by the Government on transport (neither made first to Parliament as convention requires):

The Plan for Drivers  (2 October 2023)

Network North: Transforming British Transport (4 October 2023)

From the foreword to the Plan for Drivers, the car is king again:

“There’s nothing wrong with driving. Most of us use a car and, for many, life would not be liveable without their car. For those in rural areas, it is a lifeline. A car can hugely expand the independence of a younger person, as well as keep older people connected to key services and their families.”

There is the rather grudging nod to other modes of transport, but whatever you do, don’t vilify the private car:

“Walking, cycling and public transport are necessary in a multi-modal transport system and we support their continued growth, but they are not the right choice for everyone’s journey. Being pro-public transport does not mean being anti-car. The easy political choice is to vilify the private car even when it’s been one of the most powerful forces for personal freedom and economic growth in the last century. Used appropriately and considerately, the car was, is, and will remain a force for good.”

That first sentence is somewhat mealy mouthed in the face of what follows. The Government apparently intends to:

  • “update guidance (in England) on 20mph speed limits. While 20mph zones are an important tool in improving road safety in residential areas, over-use risks undermining public acceptance, so we are clear that 20mph zones should be considered on a road-by-road basis to ensure local consent, not as blanket measures
  • stop local authorities using so-called “15-minute cities” to police people’s lives. We will consult on measures including the removal of local authorities’ access to DVLA data to enforce such schemes by camera
  • following the LTN review, consider new guidance on LTNs with a focus on the importance of local support, and consider as part of the LTN review how to address existing LTNs that have not secured local consent”

Local authorities policing people’s lives via “15 minute cities” enforced by cameras? Bizarre.

There will be restrictions on the operation of bus lanes, measures to make parking easier, discouragement of penalty charge notices. And so it goes on.

And then today we had, to accompany the prime minister’s party conference speech, Network North – serving as the political cover for today’s decision to scrap HS2 north of Birmingham. Regardless of the noise about monies being diverted to other transport projects (many of which, worryingly for our climate change targets, are of course road projects), the cancellation decision is disturbing – not just for people and businesses who would have benefited from the longer route – but of course hugely upsetting also those whose properties have already been taken, as well of all of us whose money has been spent, irreversibly changing the environment including areas of outstanding natural beauty and ancient woodlands, on the basis of asserted public benefits that will now never be fully realised. In retrospect, today’s decision raises question marks over the initial decision by David Cameron’s government to proceed – as well as subsequent governments’ decisions to continue.

I was at least pleased to see that the Government has at re-committed to the line actually reaching Euston:

“We are going to strip back the project and deliver a station that works, and that can be open and running trains as soon as possible, and which has the leadership in place to deliver maximum value to the taxpayer. We will not provide a tunnel between Euston and Euston Square underground station or design features we do not need. Instead we will deliver a 6-platform station which can accommodate the trains we will run to Birmingham and onwards and which best supports regeneration of the local area. That is how we properly unlock the opportunities the new station offers, while radically reducing its costs.

We will appoint a development company, separate from HS2 Ltd, to manage the delivery of this project. We will also take on the lessons of success stories such as Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms, which secured £9 billion of private sector investment and thousands of homes. So we will harness the future growth that the station will unleash to support its development, to ensure we get the best possible value for the British taxpayer – and ensure that funding is underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses its development supports. At the same time, we are considerably upping the ambition of the Euston redevelopment, where we will be looking to establish a Development Corporation to create a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ – potentially offering up to 10,000 homes.”

It will be interesting to see what ensues.

Foot to the floor, election ahead….

Simon Ricketts,4 October 2023

Personal views, et cetera

Detail from one of the first records I ever owned…

Does The Government Have An Environmental Strategy Or Is It More Of A Tactic?

First, a scary graph:

(Source: BBC news piece, Ocean heat record broken, with grim implications for the planet)

The extent of the climate crisis is becoming plainer by the month. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was reported on 27 July 2023 as saying that the era of global warming had ended and that the era of “global boiling” had arrived. July 2023 was the world’s hottest month on record. I saw a retired housebuilder scoff on LinkedIn that he had never heard anything as ridiculous as “global boiling”. I found that quite triggering in the current context and so apologies that I am not writing this week about any interesting planning law cases.

Instead, not in any way as an expert, but instead as a confused citizen, I’m asking myself…

What is the government’s current strategy on climate change and the environment, in the light of, for instance, the Prime Minister’s comments in the Telegraph on 29 July 2023 about being on the side of motorists and announcing on 31 July 2023 hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licences to boost British energy independence and grow the economy?

I’m reminded of the “Be a strategist” chapter in Alastair Campbell’s book But What Can I do? Strategy = OST:

“O = Objective (what you want to achieve)

S = Strategy (‘the big how’: your definition of the overall approach)

T = Tactics (the detailed plans required to execute the strategy)“

Surely, the objective is, and should remain, to do all that we can do as a leading developed nation to encourage the world to combat the climate crisis.

I thought the Government’s strategy was well-documented, set out in its Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener (updated 5 April 2022) (reviewed earlier this year by Chris Skidmore – see my 21 January 2023 blog post Mission Zero Needs Planning) and by way of its longstanding commitments set out in the Climate Change Act 2008 , policed by the Climate Change Committee which was established for that purpose, including the objective of achieving net zero by 2050. You can question whether the strategy is ambitious enough but there it is.

The tactics to be deployed to achieve the objective are all of those individual measures set out and flowing from the strategy, including those set out in the Government’s 2023 carbon delivery plan.

However, I’m sensing that the prime minister’s OST instead may currently look like this:

O = Secure re-election or at least not too heavy a defeat

S = Win votes via populist “culture war” issues; have any sort of positive economic narrative come election time

T = Noise about eg being on the side of the motorist; prioritising economic growth over the net zero programme.

Of course, any debate on these issues gets bogged down in complexity. Argue about the stats, the projections and promised protections (carbon capture and storage etc etc), anything but just Don’t Look Up!

Perhaps let’s turn to that body that was set up by the 2008 Act. The Climate Change Committee published its 2023 Progress Report to Parliament on 28 June 2023). Reviewing the Government’s March 2023 Carbon Budget Delivery Plan  and the Government’s wider policy development, the CCC’s key messages are:

  • “A lack of urgency. While the policy framework has continued to develop over the past year, this is not happening at the required pace for future targets.
  • Stay firm on existing commitments and move to delivery. The Government has made a number of strong commitments, these must be restated and moved as swiftly as possible towards delivery.
  • Retake a clear leadership role internationally. The UK will need to regain its international climate leadership.
  • Immediate priority actions and policies. Action is needed in a range of areas to deliver on the Government’s emissions pathway.
  • Develop demand-side and land use policies. The Government’s current strategy has considerable delivery risks due to its over-reliance on specific technological solutions, some of which have not yet been deployed at scale.
  • Empower and inform households and communities to make low-carbon choices. Despite some positive steps to provide households with advice on reducing energy use in the last year, a coherent public engagement strategy on climate action is long overdue.
  • Planning policy needs radical reform to support Net Zero. The planning system must have an overarching requirement that all planning decisions must be taken giving full regard to the imperative of Net Zero.
  • Expansion of fossil fuel production is not in line with Net Zero. As well as pushing forward strongly with new low-carbon industries, Net Zero also makes it necessary to move away from high-carbon developments.
  • The need for a framework to manage airport capacity. There has been continued airport expansion in recent years, counter to our assessment that there should be no net airport expansion across the UK.”

Alongside the report the following supporting research was published:

This all pre-dated last week’s oil and gas licensing announcement. Is there any case in 2023 for further extraction of fossil fuels? The CCC’s outgoing chair Lord Deben however made his views clear in a 3 August 2023 article for New Statesman: North Sea licences tell big oil we’re not serious about net zero.

And what about this stuff about being on the side of the motorist? It’s surely all adding up to a growing, tactical, culture war around climate issues. By-elections can unexpectedly become policy inflexion points – as we saw with the Chesham and Amersham by-election result in June 2021 that effectively scuppered a previous attempt to reform the planning system. Both main parties took from the 20 July 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip result that the Conservative candidate’s achievement in narrowly holding onto the seat was down to the unpopularity of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s programme to extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone to outer London. Hence Keir Starmer’s disappointing wobble the next day but also, in spades, the Tory response. Here was an issue to rally behind, supposedly in support of those not able to afford to replace their older vehicles with ones which would be ULEZ compliant (although that fox has probably been shot by Khan’s 4 August Mayor announces massive expansion of scrappage scheme to all Londoners) but more widely an opportunity to mine a “pro-car”/anti- regulation seam – hence also the prime minister’s announced review on low traffic neighbourhoods. The Local Government Association’s view is clear: Councils best placed to make decisions with communities (30 July 2023). But this is a culture war – if local government folk (and probably people like you and me too) object, so much the better, is likely to be some political strategists’ thinking. And of course, along with all the political brouhaha come the inevitable legal challenges – on 28 July 2023 Hillingdon, Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Surrey Councils failed in their judicial review of the proposed ULEZ expansion.

Let me throw in here some commentary more rooted in planning law. I was interested to receive a comment on my recent blog post about the M&S Oxford Street decision letter. The comment was along the lines of whether there was anything to stop M&S in any event demolishing the building, unlisted, not in a conservation area, relying on the prior approval right to do that in the General Permitted Development Order. This really does illustrate the lack of joined up thinking in planning legislation. Should demolition be more closely regulated? Why, when there is current consultation on possible changes to the General Permitted Development Order, and if minimising the loss of embodied carbon is now a Government objective (no clear policy on that, we are left reading between the lines), is there still, for instance, the demolition and rebuild (with 1,000 sq m cap)  commercial to residential right, only introduced in 2020?!

Finally, to hear views and debate on the Government’s recent announcements on planning reform that were the subject of my blog post last week The Message, you can listen back to our two hour-long Clubhouse sessions on the issues – here for the discussion of Michael Gove’s 24 July statement as to his long-term plan for housing and here for detail on proposed reforms to plan-making, the GPDO and application fees. And although I’m not wedded to the idea unless there is real interest, if anyone would like to speak at a future Clubhouse session about the issues in this blog post then let me know.

And final final plug – there’s a very small but growing planning community on Threads, which is certainly improving as a more wholesome alternative to Twix (they have largely sorted out the issues which initially were so annoying for people). Feel free to join by downloading the app via Apple’s App Store or Google Play for Android – still only by mobile device, although that will change in the next few weeks. An interesting time lies ahead and I’m feeling that we are going to need to share our thinking…

Simon Ricketts, 5 August 2023

Personal views, et cetera

Image courtesy of Don’t Look Up (Netflix)

What Should We Call The Planning Version Of Trussenomics? And A Pox On The PEx PAX

Is the planning system now in a holding pattern until the general election? It certainly feels that way.

The consultation announced in December 2022 over proposed changes to the NPPF (see my 22 December 2022 blog post It Will Soon Be Christmas & We Really Don’t Have To Rush To Conclusions On This New NPPF Consultation Draft) led many authorities to delay or withdraw their local plans (see for instance Local Plan Watch: The 26 authorities that have paused or delayed their local plans since the government announced housing need changes (Planning Resource, 27 April 2023 (subscription)) and Delayed Local Plans (HBF, 27 March 2023)). The thought occurred to me this week when I was speaking with Peter Geraghty at a TCPA event (congratulations David Lock for your well-deserved Ebenezer Howard medal): if Trussenomics described the event that led to last Autumn’s economic crisis (the repercussions of which persist), what should be the word for that 22 December announcement?

Even if the policy thrust set out in the 22 December announcement was appropriate and worth some short-term process turbulence, it has already stalled. So, what really was the point (aside of course from its politically necessary signalling of capitulation to Conservative backbenchers’ concerns over the prospect of development taking place in their constituencies)? Consultation closed on 3 March 2023. The Government was to respond to the consultation and publish the revised NPPF in Spring 2023. There was then to be consultation on proposed changes to the rest of the NPPF and on more detailed policy options and proposals for National Development Management Policies (supported by environmental assessments), once the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill had passed through all its Parliamentary stages shortly thereafter. But the Bill is still in the Lords. Lords Report Stage will be on 11 and 13 July. We then have the summer recess (Commons from 20 July, Lords from 26 July) and the Bill then needs to return to the Commons – so there is no prospect of Royal Assent before Autumn 2023. I can’t see how the LURB’s plan making reforms can be implemented this side of the general election.

And yet the Government criticises local planning authorities – and indeed developers – for not getting on with things….

In the meantime, we have little flutters of activity, the latest being Michael Gove’s endorsement this week of a paper published by Policy Exchange (the Government’s de facto policy incubation hub), Better Places: A Matrix for Measuring & Delivering Placemaking Quality, which is an exercise to see whether determining the quality of place making can be reduced to a “universal tool capable of measuring how successful developments will be, (or are) at placemaking for the very first time.”

“The Placemaking Matrix contained within this paper sets out a series of questions whose answers can be used to calculate a score which then reflects the placemaking quality of any new development. Combining the two words of its title and conveniently appropriating the Latin word for peace, the score will be known as the PAX rating.”

“The matrix questions are divided into three groups, those that relate to the Physical, Socio-Economic and Psychological elements of any new development. In this alone the rating system forms a pioneering departure from conventional placemaking practice, while it is relatively easy to define physical attributes and, to a slightly lesser extent, socio-economic ones, no previous study or standard has attempted to quantify the psychological content of places and yet these are arguably the most important when assessing their human impact. The PAX system does just this.”

Aside from the substance of the paper, one thing it really calls out for is some sub-editing and proof-reading. Mark these passages on a range of 0 to 4:

“It is important to note that the Placemaking Matrix does not present itself as a definitive ‘magic formula’ that can conclusively determine design quality and character. While the Matrix sets out to be a universal tool, the localised nature of placemaking will inevitably require adaptation to local contexts and conditions. Consequently It is not our intention that the current set of questions are forever fixed in stone forever. While the paper acknowledges that there are objective, observable truths that define good placemaking, it is not so ideologically rigid as to suggest that a tool such as this must attain pure, unqualified universality. We see our paper as the earliest development of the matrix and we hope and anticipate that with time, testing and hopefully trust from the industry, the questions can be modelled, adapted and evolved to strike the best possible balance between universal best practice and the localised, contextual nuance that also helps drive placemaking success.”

“Furthermore this paper emerges as the latest addition to a Policy Exchange Building Beautiful programme that has attempted to distil the very essence of beauty into an objective standard rather than a subjective instinct, a challenge that now form a central part of the political housing debate.”

So, it’s to be a “universal tool” but (I like this phrase) not “forever fixed in stone forever”. The paper is “not so ideologically rigid as to suggest that a tool such as this must attain pure, unqualified universality”.

Reader, my head was hurting. And then I entered the Matrix: 272 questions, each to be marked on a range of 0 to 4. The percentage score of each of 12 sections is then averaged out. 70% outstanding, 60% good, 50% average, below 50% poor. The questions are quite specific but in large part call for subjective responses. Their relevance is wholly dependent on the scale and nature of the scheme and its location. Some examples:

  • Does the development incorporate cycle lanes?
  •  Does the development maintain a cycle hire scheme?
  • Does the development contain fountains?
  • To what extent do building uses integrate into existing usage patterns in the area surrounding the development site?
  • Does the programme design incorporate opportunities for impromptu street performance?
  • Does any programme apparatus incorporate audio-visual, tactile, sensory or play equipment?
  • What level of healthcare facilities have been provided on the development?
  • Has a letterbox been provided within the development?
  • Will any properties offer commonhold ownership?
  • Does the development incorporate audial stimulation? (i.e. church bells, wildlife habitats)?
  • Does the development promote a visual brand, motif or logo?

Why on earth add yet another technocratic process to the system, to be gamed by all concerned? I would say it’s tick-box but it’s worse than that!

This would all be classic “silly season” stuff. Except for Michael Gove’s endorsement by way of his foreword:

“…it is because placemaking is crucial to the country’s long-term health that Policy Exchange’s newly devised Placemaking Matrix promises to be an indispensable resource. A universal tool that can be used to score a range of elements seen in new and existing developments, it can help build confidence in the wider social value of new residential schemes during the planning process and so unlock much-needed new housing supply.”

“For too long, quality has been viewed by many as a planning impediment. The Placemaking Matrix could help transform it into an incentive. Ike Ijeh’s brilliant new paper for Policy Exchange is no less than a detailed instruction manual for how we can create the good places of the future. I hope it receives the welcome it deserves.”

I don’t disagree with the final sentence incidentally.

Simon Ricketts, 23 June 2023

Personal views, et cetera

Photo extract courtesy of Rafael Ishkhanyan via Unsplash

May Day, May Day – Labour’s Proposed Approach To Planning Reform

Brave timing, with local elections this week, but it is helpful finally to see some detail today as to Labour’s proposed approach to planning reform in today’s Times piece, Starmer’s growth plan is built on houses (The Times, 1 May 2023 – behind paywall):

“Labour will pledge to restore housebuilding targets and hand more power to local authorities; promise 70 per cent home ownership and hundreds of thousands of new council homes. Given the resistance of so many local authorities to development, that may sound like a contradiction in terms. But I’m told a Starmer government would wield both carrot and stick: councils would be made to work together to come up with plans for development at a regional level, spreading a burden few want to shoulder individually, with cash and infrastructure as the prize for new housing. (Bafflingly, they are under no obligation to work together now.) If proposed developments meet the standards set out in those local plans, they will be approved. So no longer would each town hall have to agree to what one senior Labour source calls “shitty speculative developments” to meet targets arbitrarily imposed upon them. But nor will they be allowed to opt out of building either.

Starmer’s government would also look anew at the green belt, swathes of which — including a petrol station in Tottenham Hale, north London — are neither green nor pleasant. Those sites would be liberated. Not all politics is local, however. We can also expect to hear more about national projects, driven from the centre too: intensive development on the 50-mile Oxford-Cambridge Arc and a generation of new towns are all under discussion as Starmer’s aides work up plans to be announced at Labour conference in September.”

See also:

Scrapping housebuilding targets could cost tenants £200 a year by 2030 – Labour (The Observer, 30 April 2023)

Keir Starmer: ‘I want Labour to be the party of home ownership’  (Guardian, 29 April 2023)

Obviously, more detail is needed and some policy nuances are lost in this summary – for instance:

  • We still do have targets, it’s just that they will become even more of an advisory starting point than at present.
  • We still have the duty to cooperate, indeed it seems from a Planning Resource story this week it seems that there may even be a re-think as to its replacement, in relation to housing numbers as opposed to infrastructure and nature strategies, by some vague alignment approach. 

But, really, contrast even this thumbnail sketch of Labour thinking with new housing and planning minister’s Rachel Mcclean’s rather defensive and dare I say it unimpressive appearance before Select Committee  this week. Much unsubstantiated assertion, much “we’ll come back to you on that”. NB Advice to any politician, never question Lichfields’ research – you won’t win! 

See for example:

Minister denies planning reforms will stymie homes growth (Housing Today, 25 April 2023)

A full transcript of her appearance is here.

Turn away if you feel uncomfortable about use of the B word, but… 

I was as unconvinced by her explaining away the current wave of local planning authorities which have paused local plan production as I was later in the week during her appearance on BBC’s Question Time when she became animated in response to someone who asserted that Brexit was one of the causes for this country’s current poor economic performance. 

Recognise the issues, own them!

On reflection, perhaps Labour’s unveiling of its approach to housing and planning has come at precisely the right time (although I won’t let that party off the hook on Brexit either…)

Simon Ricketts, 1 May 2023

Personal views, et cetera

Prospective Prospectus

My 6 December 2022 blog post Gove Gives: Local Housing Need Now Just “Advisory” summarised the contents of his written ministerial statement that day which promised a “National Planning Policy Framework prospectus, which will be put out for consultation by Christmas”.

I mentioned in the blog post a letter which he had written to all MPs the previous day which had gone into more detail that the statement. I hadn’t included a link to the letter. It is here. What is even more interesting is that there is another letter, of the same date, written just to Conservative MPs. The link to that one is here.

The introduction to the letter to Conservative MPs makes the intended policy direction very clear. For instance:

“Whatever we do at a national level, politics is always local and there is no area that demonstrates this more than planning. Through reforms made by Conservative-led governments since 2010, we have a locally-led planning system – for instance, by scrapping policies like top-down regional targets that built nothing but resentment – and introducing neighbourhood planning. These reforms have delivered a record of which Conservatives can be proud. I also do not need to remind you that under the last Labour government, housebuilding reached its lowest rate since the 1920s.

But there is much more to do to ensure we can build enough of the right homes in the right places with the right infrastructure, and to ensure that local representatives can decide where – and where not – to place new development. As Conservatives, we recognise both the fundamental importance of home ownership and that we can only deliver the homes we need if we bring the communities we represent with us. These are the promises on which we stood in our manifesto and ones that I and the Prime Minister are determined to deliver.

I am therefore writing to set out the further changes I will be making to the planning system, alongside the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which address many colleagues’ concerns. They will place local communities at the heart of the planning system.

As you know I share the views of many colleagues about the current system. That it does not provide the right homes in the right places, and at its worst risks imposing ever more stretching housing targets that are out of touch with reality – leading to developers taking advantage through planning by appeal and speculative development. Communities feel that they are under siege, and I am clear that this approach will never be right or sustainable if we want to build the homes that our communities want and need.”

This Government weaves around planning reform like Kylian Mbappe. First the 2020 white paper, then the u-turn after the Chesham and Amersham by-election, then the Kwarteng “growth growth growth” plan – and now placing house-building delivery firmly in the hands of “communities” – in reality, at root, existing home owners – with a weakened process for local plan examination:

“I will ensure that plans no longer have to be ‘justified’, meaning that there will be a lower bar for assessment, and authorities will no longer have to provide disproportionate amounts of evidence to argue their case.”

Is all of this just another feint, a shimmy past the Tory rebel MPs to ensure that planning reform can actually progress? Or genuine capitulation – genuflection to the election pamphlet needs of political colleagues? Zack Simons doesn’t mince his words in his 8 December 2022 blog post Notes on reform: the Government gives up – essential reading.

The matters to be consulted upon in the forthcoming prospectus are numerous. Steve Quartermain and I were counting them this week and ran out of fingers – the letters include commitments to consultation as to at least the following matters:

  • Changes to the method for calculating local housing need figures
  • Dropping the requirement for a 20% buffer to be added to housing land supply numbers for both plan making and decision taking
  • What should be within the scope of the new National Development Management Policies
  • Each new National Development Management Policy before it is brought forward
  • Detailed proposals for increases in planning fees
  • A New planning performance framework that will monitor local performance across a broader set of measures of planning service delivery, including planning enforcement
  • Further measures (i) allowing local planning authorities to refuse planning applications from developers who have built out slowly in the past and (ii) making sure that local authorities who permission land are not punished under the housing delivery test when it is developers who are not building
  • A new approach to accelerating the speed at which permissions are built out, specifically on a new financial penalty
  • How to address the issue of the planning system being “undermined by irresponsible developers and landowners who persistently ignore planning rules and fail to deliver their commitments to the community”.
  • Amending national policy to support development on small sites, particularly with respect to affordable housing
  • Further measures that would prioritise the use of brownfield land
  • Details of how a discretionary registration scheme for short term lets in England would be administered
  • Reviewing the Use Classes Order so that it “enables places such as Devon, Cornwall and the Lake District to better control changes of use to short term lets if they wish“.

There is a lot to take in here – both what is written and what is between the lines. To try to help make sense of the prospectus when it lands, there will be a special Planning Law Unplanned clubhouse discussion at 4pm on 4 January 2023 featuring various planners and planning lawyers, including myself, Zack, Steve and many more. Join the event via this link – do RSVP in the link and get it in your diaries.

Simon Ricketts, 10 December 2022

Personal views, et cetera