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Planning, building and the environment

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Summary

1. The Planning Policy Statement, Sustainable communities: Delivering through planning, published on 18 July, sets out the Government's plans for reform of the planning system. This is in the light of responses received to the Green Paper Planning: delivering a fundamental change, published in December 2001, including the recommendations of the Transport, Local Government and Regions Select Committee.

2. That statement includes a summary of the key changes to the proposals for reform of the plan making system at regional and local levels. This paper provides some additional detail on those proposals. Many of the proposed changes will require primary legislation. We will be seeking the earliest opportunity to legislate, but the timing of such legislation cannot be anticipated.

3. We propose to create a new structure for plan making, based on two tiers: a tier of strategic plan making, which will be at the regional level; and a tier of local decision making, at the district and unitary council level. This will reduce complexity, ensure greater consistency from the strategic through to the local level, make plan preparation and adoption more understandable and accessible to the community and enable plans to be put in place in a more flexible and timely way. However, in the light of the responses received in the consultation period, we have revised some of the proposed features of these new arrangements.

4. We intend to proceed with the Green Paper proposals to abolish county structure plans. Counties will still be responsible for waste and minerals plans and for Local Transport Plans. Many of those who commented on the Green Paper did not object to the abolition of structure plans as a separate tier of plan making. However, there was concern that the counties should continue to play a role in planning at both the regional and local levels.

5. Our intention is that County Councils should continue to have important strategic planning responsibilities in assisting Regional Planning Bodies with the preparation and review of the new Regional Spatial Strategies and in providing advice and information to districts in preparing the new Local Development Frameworks. Where it is agreed locally, they will also be able to participate as partners in the production of joint Local Development Framework documents.

Regional Spatial Strategies

6. Regional Planning Guidance will be replaced by statutory Regional Spatial Strategies. The main purpose of the RSS will be to provide a spatial framework within which Local Development Frameworks and Local Transport Plans can be prepared. There should be a two-way relationship with the RSS informing as well as taking account of other strategies, including the RDA's regional economic strategies and those on air quality, energy and climate change. The same should be true of the investment and operational plans of relevant infrastructure and public service providers. The RSS will provide a spatial framework for the region over a fifteen to twenty year period. The aim should be an integrated, strategic approach with regional and sub-regional priorities for housing being formulated together with priorities for environmental protection and improvement, transport, other infrastructure, economic development, agriculture, minerals and waste treatment and disposal.

7. The relationship between the RSS and the RDA's regional strategy, and indeed other strategies, has been a focus of concern including comments by the Select Committee. We made clear in the Green Paper that the RSS should provide the longer term planning framework for the Regional Development Agencies' strategies. It is only through partnership working and co-operation that complementarity between these different types of regional strategies can be achieved.

8. Regional Spatial Strategies will be given statutory status for the purposes of s54A of the Town and Country Planning Act. This is consistent with the enhanced role to be played by the Regional Spatial Strategy and will address a problem with the current arrangements in that in determining a planning application an out-of-date development plan can be given more weight, because of its s54A status, than an up-to-date Regional Planning Guidance. Where there is any conflict between the Regional Spatial Strategy and a Local Development Framework document the most recent will carry the greater weight.

9. Regional Spatial Strategies will be more regionally specific than Regional Planning Guidance and should reflect regional diversity. There will be greater flexibility for RSS to depart from national policy where that is justified by regional circumstances. The RSS will also have more fully developed sub-regional elements as part of the overall regional strategy. A concern expressed by many who commented on the Green Paper, including the Select Committee, was that there needed to be a bridge between the regionally strategic level and the more detailed, local, planning level.

10. In some areas there may be a need for separate sub-regional strategies such as the one for Thames Gateway which cuts across three regions. But in general we see sub-regional issues, including the distribution of housing provision figures down to district level, being dealt with in sub-regional sections of the RSS. In this way it will be possible to deal with issues such as the broad spatial balance between the provision of new housing and economic development as part of a sub-region that makes sense rather than related to historic county boundaries. This sub-regional detail will provide the bridge between the more general regional policies and the Local Development Frameworks. It is in the preparation of the sub-regional elements of the RSS that we see a continuing need for input from the county councils (see below).

Preparing the Regional Spatial Strategy

11. On commencement of the new arrangements following legislation all existing RPGs will be treated as Regional Spatial Strategies. Thereafter, draft reviews of the RSS will be prepared by the Regional Planning Body (RPB). As indicated in the White Paper: Your Region, Your Choice this will be the Regional Chamber providing certain criteria to be specified in regulations are met. The RPB will need to be representative; consult widely and work closely with all groups to ensure delivery of the RSS; and be able to take a strategic regional view addressing, where necessary, difficult regional choices.

12. The Regional Chambers will receive direct funding by the Secretary of State. In due time, if regions decide in a referendum to set up an elected Regional Assembly, that body will assume the responsibilities of the Regional Planning Body.

13. The RPB will be expected to consult widely on preparing the revised RSS. It will be expected to have regard to:

• the purpose of planning (see Planning Policy Statement);
• current national policies and guidance;
• current Regional Spatial Strategies for adjoining regions or the Spatial Development Strategy for London if appropriate;
• the resources likely to be available for implementing the Regional Spatial Strategy;
• and any other matters which may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.

The RPB will be required to carry out a sustainability appraisal as an integral part of the process of reviewing and updating the RSS.

14. In providing the new sub-regional detail in the RSS, the RPBs will look to the county and unitary authorities to take the lead in convening the necessary sub-regional working groups with the districts and other stakeholders. RPBs will be able to appoint counties to act as agents in helping them to discharge in whole or in part one or more of their functions. We anticipate that in most regions the Regional Planning Bodies will want to do this in relation to:

• providing technical expertise to assist with the review of the Regional Spatial Strategy, including in the district distribution of housing figures where a county may lead the relevant sub-regional working group;
• taking the lead in the preparation of certain sub-regional strategies specified by the Regional Planning Body;
• assisting the Regional Planning Body on general conformity issues; and
• monitoring and advising district authorities on Local Development Frameworks and planning applications where regional or sub-regional considerations are raised.

15. The testing arrangements for Regional Spatial Strategies will be very similar to that followed for Regional Planning Guidance, which have proved to work well. The Secretary of State may appoint a Panel to hold a Public Examination in to the draft Strategy. As is currently the case, the Panel will select matters and participants for the Examination. The Secretary of State will then consult on changes to the draft in the light of the Panel's recommendations and issue the final version.

16. In addition to their monitoring and review functions, Regional Planning Bodies will advise relevant bodies on the preparation/revision of policies etc relevant to the implementation of the Regional Spatial Strategy and object to the draft policies/programmes of other bodies if they are not in general conformity with the Regional Spatial Strategy.

17. The form and content of the RSS and monitoring reports, and the detailed procedures for preparation, consultation and public examination will be set out in secondary legislation.

18. Much of the advice currently included in PPG11 in relation to the form, content and procedures for the preparation and review of Regional Planning Guidance will continue to be applicable to Regional Spatial Strategies. PPG11 will be revised once legislation to introduce RSSs is enacted.

Local Development Frameworks

19. The Planning Green Paper described the various problems that exist with the operation of the current development plans system. We have a complex and confusing hierarchy of plans. Plans take too long to prepare and rarely conform in hierarchical terms. They are often far too detailed and fail to effectively engage the community in their preparation or to integrate with other local strategies and plans. We therefore remain committed to the main principles set out in the Planning Green Paper for reform of the development plans system. However, we have made several important changes to our proposals in the light of the comments received.

20. We will be seeking an early opportunity to legislate to introduce a single tier of Local Development Frameworks. These will replace local plans and unitary development plans and, along with the RSS, replace structure plans. Responsibility for preparing those plans will lie with the Unitary or District local planning authority. However, where districts wish to combine together to produce a joint LDF (for good planning reasons or to pool resources) and/or to produce their LDF jointly with the county council concerned, they will be able to do so. County Councils will retain responsibility for minerals and waste planning, and will prepare Minerals and Waste Development Frameworks for their areas, but, again, with the ability to agree to prepare these jointly with other authorities.

Nature of the Local Development Frameworks

21. Central to our reforms are the principles that we need positive plans which effectively promote, guide and control development and which reflect the needs of the whole community (including business). We also need plans that provide certainty, but which are also responsive to changing circumstances.

22. There was a wide welcome for the proposals in the Green Paper to forge a stronger link between the development plan and the broader Community Strategy for the authority. The Community Strategy (prepared under the Local Government Act 2000) will set out the broad vision for the future of a local authority's area, and proposals for delivering that vision. The Local Development Framework should be a key component of that delivery plan, setting out the spatial aspects of the local authority's policies. Together with the LGA it is proposed to commission research into the relationship between the Community Strategy and the LDF to provide the basis for future guidance.

23. To facilitate this we will broaden the scope of the development plans system to enable policies to be included which reflect that broader spatial approach. Ultimately the policies and proposals in a spatial plan must be linked to the achievement of social, economic and environmental objectives concerning the use and development of land. However, the policies may not all be entirely or directly expressed in land use terms. Research has been commissioned (being carried out by ROOM) into the spatial planning approach which will inform future guidance on the operation of the LDF system.

24. The Local Development Framework will comprise a folder of documents for delivering the spatial strategy for the area consistent with the community strategy and in general conformity with the RSS. Some of these documents will be subject to statutory requirements as to consultation and formal testing through an independent procedure. The policies in such documents will be given primacy when decisions are taken on planning applications (ie Section 54a will apply). However, there will also be scope for the preparation of less formal non-statutory documents similar to the existing supplementary planning guidance. These should also go into the Local Development Framework folder. These might be generic design statement for a particular topic (ie plan area wide) or less formal area action plans, site development briefs etc for a small local area or large development site. These non-statutory documents will be adopted by shorter, simpler procedures, but will be afforded less weight in the consideration of particular proposals for development (they will be capable of being a material consideration). It will be for the local planning authority to satisfy itself that these documents are in conformity with the statutory parts of the LDF, and with the Regional Spatial Strategy (or Spatial Development Strategy in London).

25. There will be a statutory requirement for the LDF to have a contents page setting out the different documents which comprise the LDF and their status. Certain elements of the Local Development Framework will be required to achieve s54A status and we will specify these in regulations.

26. It would be open to a local authority to integrate the various elements of the LDF into one document prepared at one time if it wishes, though this may reduce some of the flexibility we are seeking to create. The main components of the LDF will be:

(i) the core strategy

This will be a written statement of the core policies for delivering the spatial strategy and vision for the area, supported by a reasoned justification, and including a statement of community involvement (see below). The policies should be location specific rather than site specific and for this reason may be more appropriately illustrated by a key diagram although authorities may choose to illustrate them on the Ordnance Survey based proposals map referred to below. Some of them may need to be expressed as criteria based policies. As the key Local Development Framework document this would be a statutory document and will go through an independent testing process.

(ii) a proposals section, with a proposals map

We propose that this section should set out details of any site-specific policies outside of the area action plans (below). We recognise that a key concern of respondents to the consultation exercise, including the Select Committee, was that the Green Paper proposals for "topic action plans" would have resulted in an unacceptable fragmentation of the plan into different components, with no comprehensive map-based element showing the main policies and proposals for the area of the plan as a whole. We propose that there should be, as now, a proposals map which would show existing and revised designations of areas of land such as conservation areas and green belt. It would also define the sites for particular future land uses or developments and the areas to which specific policies applied. The map should also show the locations of any proposed or actual area action plans. These might need to be defined in more detail on separate inset maps which would show all the proposals for the area covered by the inset. The map should be on an Ordinance Survey base and should be a statutory part of the Local Development Framework. This part of the LDF would also be subject to independent testing.

(iii) area action plans for key areas of change or conservation

However, we still consider it desirable to produce more detailed action area plans, in particular for areas where there is a concentration of proposals for change. Such area action planning, whether in part of an otherwise extensive urban area, a town centre plan, or a plan for a small town or village where change is anticipated, presents an important opportunity for community engagement through "planning for real" and other community based planning techniques. It also presents scope for greater integration and joining-up with other economic, social and environmental initiatives. All site-specific area action plans which are designed to carry weight in taking decisions in the planning system (ie to which s54a applies) should be statutory and be subject to independent testing. However, as indicated above, there will also be scope for less formal non-statutory plans to be produced.

27. Local planning authorities will be required to carry out a sustainability appraisal as an intrinsic part of preparing any statutory Local Development Framework document.

The Local Development Framework Scheme

28. We intend to require, in advance of preparing the initial set of Local Development Framework documents, that the local planning authority should prepare a three-year project plan or Local Development Framework Scheme. This scheme should thereafter be kept under review and up-dated as necessary. It would set out:

• what LDF documents the local planning authority proposes to prepare and what they will cover;
• which of these the local planning authority proposes should be subject to statutory procedures and which not;
• in the transitional period, which sections of the old Local Plan or Unitary Development Plan these documents will replace;
• whether any of these documents are to be prepared on a joint basis with another planning authority or authorities; and
• the planned timetable for preparing these documents.

Adherence to the scheme will form part of the Best Value assessment indicators against which the performance of the local planning authority will be measured. We also intend to provide that the Secretary of State will be able to direct changes to the scheme and could use the performance indicators revealed in the annual report as a measure for determining grant.

29. Local planning authorities will be required to have an LDF in place within 3 years of commencement of the new legislation. They will be required to produce an annual report on progress in preparing LDF documents against performance in the Local Development Framework Scheme and submit it to the Secretary of State.

The Statement of Community Involvement

30. It is a fundamental principle of our proposals that effective public engagement should be at the heart of development plans. Our proposals for community involvement set out in the Green Paper were widely welcomed. Effective public engagement must be at the heart of development plans. We want to empower local people to feel that they can participate in a system that is really interested in their views. We want to change the culture of planning from one of objecting, to one of constructive participation.

31. We propose that LDFs must include a Statement of Community Involvement, either as part of the statement of core policies or accompanying it, clearly setting out:

• the arrangements, and standards to be achieved, in involving the community in the continuing review of all parts of the LDF and in significant development control decisions;
• the standards for good practice in engaging those with an interest in proposed development;
• simple and clear guidelines that will enable the community to know with confidence when and how it will be consulted, by the developer at pre-application stage and the LPA in relation to planning applications; and
• a benchmark for applicants for planning permission about what is expected of them.

We are currently engaged in research (being carried out be Llewelyn-Davies) to determine the benchmarks for community participation which we will prescribe in regulations.

Preparing Local Development Frameworks

32. In preparing Local Development Framework documents, local planning authorities will be expected to have regard to the community strategy and will be under a statutory duty to also have regard to:

• the purpose of planning as defined in the Act;
• current national policies and guidance issued by the Secretary of State;
• the immediate, and where relevant, adjoining Regional Spatial Strategy or Strategies (or Spatial Development Strategy) as appropriate;
• the resources likely to be available for implementing the strategy, policies and proposals of the Local Development Framework;
• the Local Development Framework Scheme, outlined below; and
• other matters which may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.

33. Much of the advice in Making Plans - a practical guide published by ODPM on 9 July will be useful in preparing Local Development Frameworks. The guide contains advice and examples about how to make plans that can be in place sooner and do their job better. There are no examples in the guide of policy wording, but guidance on deciding what should be in the plan, where to get help and co-operation on what to do and say, and how to go about programming the work and writing the plan. The main parts of the guide are on managing the project of making the plan, and on practical ways to get the most from the process that making a plan involves. For advice on framing LDF policies ODPM will produce a joint guide with the Planning Officers Society which will be published in due course. This is an update of the Planning Officers Society guide on 'Better Local Plans' published in October 1997.

Testing Local Development Frameworks

34. In the consultation on the Planning Green Paper, there was strong criticism of the option put forward to proceed straight from consultation to adoption without any independent testing. We now propose that all statutory LDF documents should be subject to such testing. However, we propose to change the focus of the Inspector's or Panel's examination of the plan to the soundness of the plan as a whole and not restricting it to those matters that have been objected to, as is the case currently.

35. Many of the responses to the Green Paper and the Select Committee were also critical of the option put forward that where testing is retained the right to be heard in person by the Inspector might be curtailed. We have concluded that there should continue to be a right to appear before an Inspector or Panel in connection with objections to a statutory Local Development Framework document.

36. However, we do need to find more effective ways of conducting the testing process into the Local Development Framework. Better engagement at earlier stages in the process will help reduce objections at later stages. But we also intend to abolish the "two-stage" deposit process and promote mediation over objections to plans.

37. Where objections are maintained it is expected, as now, that the majority of objections will be considered through written representations. This is perfectly adequate for the majority of objections and representations on plans. Even where more complex issues are involved, we do not believe that the traditional adversarial Inquiry format is necessarily the most effective method for assessing them. Over recent years local inquiries into development plans have made much greater use of informal hearings and round table sessions, where there are no lawyers or formal cross examination. These have proved both popular with objectors and effective for testing the evidence.

38. Where the continuing right to be heard is exercised, it is intended that it should normally be the case that this will be through an examination or an informal hearing. The hearing would be non-adversarial and inquisitorial with no right of formal advocacy and cross-examination unless the Inspector or Panel decides it is necessary. Exceptionally, where the Inspector or Panel consider that the issues or objections warrant it, a formal inquiry format may be used. The latter is likely to be where there are particularly contentious matters, where the objector's and Council's evidence is entirely at odds with each other or where there are major legal issues raised. The precise procedure to be followed will be determined by the inspector on a case-by-case basis.

39. We will introduce arrangements for the inspector to be able to timetable the inquiry process.

Adopting Local Development Frameworks

40. There can be little justification for all the parties going to the time and expense of examining the adequacy of the draft Local Development Framework, only for the recommendations arising out of that process not to be taken forward. Therefore, we propose to implement the proposal in the Green Paper that Inspector's or Panel's reports will be binding on local planning authorities subject to a power for the Secretary of State to direct otherwise. Also, a local planning authority will not be permitted to withdraw a Local Development Framework document once the independent testing process has started. The only exceptions to this are if the inspector's recommendation is that the LDF should be withdrawn or if the Secretary of State subsequently directs withdrawal.

41. We intend to provide in primary legislation that the Secretary of State will have the power to call-in a Local Development Framework document for his approval.

Monitoring and review of Local Development Frameworks

42. Local planning authorities will be required to submit an annual monitoring report on the implementation of the Local Development Framework policies and proposals to the Secretary of State, and come forward with revised proposals and an adjusted LDF scheme as appropriate. In the light of the criticisms made the new arrangements are based on alterations being made to the LDF as when and necessary rather than a fixed cycle that throws everything open every few years. The Secretary of State will be able to direct that reviews should happen if necessary.

Minerals and Waste Development Frameworks

43. Minerals and waste local plans will be replaced by Minerals and Waste Development Frameworks. These will operate in those non-metropolitan areas where there are county councils and National Park authorities who will prepare these frameworks. They will follow the same procedures as outlined for LDFs above. In all other cases relevant minerals and waste policies will be contained in the LDF.

Transitional arrangements

44. It is vitally important that development plan preparation, including structure plans, should continue between now and commencement of the new legislation which we hope to introduce. Many of the principles that will underpin LDF can be acted upon under the current system. These include taking greater account of the vision set out in the local authority's Community Strategy, clear expression of a core strategy, more use of criteria based policies as a framework of development control and succinctness. Similarly in the case of the RSSs the key principles are already set out in PPG11 and should be reflected in RPG reviews.

45. We will be issuing guidance in the autumn on how LPAs can incorporate LDF principles in their draft plans prior to the commencement of any new legislation. We will also be issuing guidance on how regional planning bodies can prepare for the introduction of RSSs and what this means for reviews of RPG in the meantime. In addition we will put in place transitional arrangements that will allow for plan policies and proposals prepared in light of the new principles, but under the existing arrangements, to be incorporated into LDFs and RSSs as appropriate. Therefore, work undertaken now will not be wasted. Detailed guidance on such matters as saved plans on commencement of any new legislation will also be issued.

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