Was planning ever sexy?

The theme of the 35th Joint Planning Law Conference at New College, Oxford was Planning: Still Sexy at 60. This raises an obvious question: Was it ever sexy? Certainly the planning system seems to have been singularly unloved by developers and government alike for most, if not all, of its now sexagenarian lifespan.

Still, speakers at the conference certainly did their best to put a bit of Viagra into the subject. For those who were unable to attend the conference, here is a brief rundown of what went on. Professor Janice Morpeth delivered a paper on decision-making processes in local authorities, outlining the split, post the Local Government Act 2000, between the council (responsible for policy making); the executive (responsible for day to day decisions) and scrutiny (responsible for holding the executive to account and for licensing and regulation), and the influence this has had on planning. One conclusion Morpeth reached was that a lack of understanding of the new decision-making processes by planning officers has contributed to the recent failure of many local development frameworks (LDF) to meet the test of soundness. Morpeth’s view is that the LDF needs to be seen as a single component in an overarching strategy identifying and, crucially, giving evidence for the area’s requirements for development as part of a more joined-up approach to planning public sector investment.

Robbie Owen of Bircham Dyson Bell spoke on the appropriate assessment of plans and projects with particular reference to European nature conservation sites. Acknowledging that the assessment process can be a “significant hurdle” for promoters of major projects, Owen offered advice on tactics for promoters (get the best expert advice from the outset and follow the correct methodology) and for the public and stakeholders (maximise the number of objections).

Andrew Whitaker, of the Home Builders Federation, posed the question: can the planning system deliver 200,000 dwellings a year? His conclusion was that it could, subject to a number of provisos, not least by setting minimum, rather than maximum targets for new houses in each region and district. This, he acknowledged, would require changes in mindset, and in particular, more inclusive planning, different priorities for both private and public sectors, more collaborative working and a real desire to facilitate development rather than the all-too-common NIMBY-ism one encounters.

It fell to Ian Dove, QC, to give the planning law update. Not only did Dove’s paper provide a comprehensive round-up of the latest cases, he incorporated a quiz, inviting delegates to identify movie clips of protected species any of which could cause problems with development proposals . His talk covered public consultation cases and the weight to be attached to previous inspector’s decisions.

The past few years have seen the system undergo major surgery in form of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, with more planned in the white paper. There is likely to be no shortage of topics for discussion at the 36th conference next year.