PLANNING REFORM & COMMUNITY ISSUES IN PLANNING
Geoff Dibb
Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber

PLANNING - What is it?

The control of the use of land and buildings for the public benefit

WHY PLANNING IS IMPORTANT

Planning shapes the places where people live and work and the country we live in. The Government believes that planning should do this in ways which are sustainable and which will meet the needs of future generations as well as our own. Sustainable development is the core principle underpinning planning

PLANNING - Who does What?

• Central Government
    • ODPM
• Regional Assembly
    • Regional Spatial Strategy
• County Council
    • Minerals and Waste Plans
• Local Authority
    • Local Development Framework
    • Decides planning applications
  PLANNING - The Government's Role (1)
• Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
    • Secretary of State
• Issues Planning Policy (PPGs & PPSs)
• Decides certain Major Planning Cases

ODPM

Our aim is to create prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities for the 21st century - places where people want to live - that promote opportunity and a better quality of life for all.

SUSTAINABILITY

The need for planning authorities to take an approach based on integrating the four aims of sustainable development:

economic development
social inclusion
environmental protection
prudent use of resources

PLANNING - The Government's Role (2)

GOVERNMENT OFFICE

• Brings together 9 Government Departments in the Region
• Is "Whitehall in the Region"
• Best placed to influence Government policy making from the Regional perspective
• Better integration of policies & programmes

WHY REFORM?

• Planning is complex, remote, hard to understand and difficult to access
• Communities frequently feel detached from the process
• Business finds planning delays frustrating

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS

The Local Development Framework is effectively a 'portfolio' of local development documents which collectively deliver the spatial planning strategy for the local planning authority's area.

illustration > [ reduced size from PowerPoint slides ]

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT SCHEME

• First thing to be prepared
• Submitted to SoS in 6 months
• Starting point for the Community STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
• Early document
• How Community involved
• Minimum standards in Regulations
• Public Examination

DEVELOPMENT PLAN DOCUMENT PROCESS

CORE STRATEGY

Spatial vision for an area

Conform with RSS

Other documents in conformity with it

Broad locations

SITE SPECIFICS

• Land allocations
• Full development plan document process
• Deal with delivery issues

AREA ACTION PLANS

• Areas of significant change
• Areas of significant conservation
• Full development plan document process
• Site allocations, relationships and timetable

ANNUAL MONITORING

• End of one process & start of another
• LDS milestones
• Effectiveness of policies
• Feed into new LDS

Plan Preparation Process

illustration > [ reduced size from PowerPoint slides ]

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS

• Flexible
• Community & stakeholder involvement
• Front loading
• Sustainability appraisal
• Programme management

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