<![CDATA[Alliance Blog]]> http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/blog.jsp <![CDATA[Final Lap in Race to Abolish Regional Spatial Strategies]]> http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/blog.jsp?postID=235

All of those interested in planning matters are aware of the Government's long-standing intention to abolish Regional Strategies outside London. The Policy was part of the Coalition Agreement and many will recall that the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles sought to expedite it by making the intention to abolish a material consideration. Unfortunately, this move created an uncertain policy environment in which RSS remained part of the statutory Development Plan but was significantly undermined.  

The resulting uncertainty has continued although the extent to which the intention to abolish Regional Strategies is capable of being a material consideration and the weight to be given to it was subsequently clarified by the High Court decision in the third of the legal challenges brought by Cala Homes. The Judgment was that the circumstances in which weight could be given to the intention to abolish was limited, albeit the application of greater weight was possible as the then Localism Bill progressed.   We do now, of course, have a Localism Act and whilst this has given the Secretary of State the power to abolish Regional Strategies, Pickles has so far resisted the temptation due to the need for a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the likely significant environmental effects of abolition. 

All of the above highlights the slow and painful demise of the Regional Strategies and the continued uncertainty regarding their status. However, we now appear to be entering the end game following the publication of an updated Strategic Environmental Assessment of the decision to abolish the East of England Regional Strategy.  The SEA takes account of rulings by the European Court of Justice and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The accompanying Ministerial Statement has confirmed that updated Environmental Reports for each of the other remaining Regional Strategies outside London will be published in the coming weeks. 

So, in the same week that the Olympic Games finally opened in London, the long wait for the abolition of Regional Strategies may also be nearing an end, barring any unforeseen hurdles on the final lap and run in. On this point, interestingly the Environmental Report into the abolition of the East of England Regional Strategy suggests that the NPPF will step in to maintain and in some cases strengthen the positive environmental effects of the Strategy and boost housing supply where short to medium term delays to local plans and other local policies are anticipated under the new Duty to Co-operate. Some significant negative environmental effects are identified, such as water supply, but the Report is satisfied that these can be managed in other ways.  

For those that have a specific interest and may wish to respond to the consultation, DCLG is accepting responses and comments on the SEA by Thursday 20th September 2012.

]]> Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/blog.jsp?postID=235 <![CDATA[CALA 3 - What does it all mean now?]]> http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/blog.jsp?postID=38
“Pyrrhic – adj. (of a victory) won at too great a cost to be of use to the victor”
As Pyrrhic victories go, Eric Pickles latest encounter with Cala Homes in the High Court is a pretty good exemplar. Indeed, so keen were the DCLG to highlight their ‘victory’, they rather missed the point of the decision in their press release, as did the Planning Portal (a usually very reliable source of unbiased news) when it stated “For a second time the courts have ruled in the Government's favour following an appeal by CALA Homes that the Government's intention to abolish the strategies could not lawfully be taken into account in any way in relation to planning applications and appeals, at least until such time as the Localism Bill becomes law.”
The key phrase in here is “in any way” – whilst the High Court has ruled that you can “never say never” – that is, it would not be right to say that the intention to abolish Regional Strategies could never be a material consideration, the judgement goes on to explain that the circumstances when it could be a material consideration are pretty limited indeed – hardly a ringing endorsement of the Government's approach. The basis for reaching this conclusion, is that to disregard RSS would pre-judge the decision of Parliament in passing the necessary legislation to abolish it (the Localism Bill), and pre-judge the outcome of the SEA process needed before each RSS can be abolished.
This led Lord Justice Sullivan to conclude;
“In view of the uncertainty created by the legal obstacles referred to above, any decision-maker who does think it appropriate to give some weight to the Government’s proposal when determining an application or an appeal would be well-advised to give very clear and cogent reasons for reaching that conclusion, but that does not mean that there could be no case whatsoever in which any decision-maker might be able to give such reasons.”

The judgement clarified a couple of other important points as well. Firstly, this application of ‘material consideration’, is only for Development Control decisions, it would be unlawful to apply such flexibility to development Plan’s because they have to be in conformity with the RSS. Secondly, this judgement pertains to the period before the Localism Bill is enacted. As the Bill proceeds and it becomes clearer what its contents are likely to be – then this might increase the ‘weight’ to be attached to the prospective abolition of RSS in development Control decisions.

Please click on the below link for a copy of the judgement:

http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/cmsUploads/news/files/Cala%203%20judgement.pdf

]]> Fri, 27 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/blog.jsp?postID=38 <![CDATA[Are You Listening Mr Pickles?]]> http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/blog.jsp?postID=25

 

The 17th March saw the publication of the House of Commons: Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s report on the ‘Abolition of Regional Strategies’. Regular readers of the Alliance Newsletter will know that this has become one Planning’s most vexed issues in recent months, with CALA homes pursuing not one but two Judicial Reviews of the actions of the coalition Government in this respect.
 
The conclusions of the Select Committee, appear to reflect what an unusually unified industry has been shouting from the roof tops, since the pre election emergence of the Conservatives ‘Open Source Planning Green Paper. This seems to reinforce the concerns expressed by those practitioners who know all too well the very real stagnation that the precipitous actions and announcements of the DCLG Secretary of State Eric Pickles have caused, as one witness to the Committee stated;
 
“Having taken 30 years to build up the strategic planning system, and perhaps 3 years to prepare each Regional Plan, it has taken literally 3 months to abandon the whole process and create a situation of complete paralysis in the planning system.”
 
One might be forgiven for thinking that we have taken a system that was not working particularly well, and then really messed it up! Time of course will tell, if such a prognosis is correct.
 
The Select Committee use for more political language, but two of their key conclusions stand out;
 
“The Government predicts an increase of housing supply of between 8 and 13%. We question the likelihood of achieving this increase, given the lack of evidence of the likely efficacy of the New Homes Bonus. We also question the very principle of offering incentives for house building based solely on numbers: while most people recognise the need for more housing, what matters more is where and how well the housing is built and integrated into the community. We recommend that the New Homes Bonus be linked explicitly to the delivery of homes provided for in the local plan following
robust assessments of housing need.”
 
“The Government needs to ensure that robust and consistent evidence to support local development plans is produced and regularly updated in an effective and efficient manner. It is not acceptable for Ministers to abdicate their responsibilities in this regard by leaving all the responsibility with under-resourced and under-skilled local planning authorities. Such planning uncertainty that currently exists could have social, economic and environmental consequences lasting for many years. The Government must act quickly to ensure that those involved in the planning system have clearer objectives and an effective framework in which to operate. It needs to bring forward a persuasive solution to the problem of those planning issues that cannot be decided at a purely local level.”
 
The full report can be accessed at the following location: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmcomloc/517/51702.htm
]]> Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.alliance-plan.co.uk/blog.jsp?postID=25