Speech to the joint ODPM/Treasury/CBI/LGA Planning and Productivity
Conference
Speech by the Deputy Prime Minister to the ODPM/Treasury/LGA/CBI Planning
and Productivity Conference, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, 15
December 2003.
Check Against Delivery
Ladies and gentlemen, I am particularly pleased to be here today with
Gordon. You have given every support to the reform of the planning system.
You have given it both the attention it deserves and the resources it
needs. I would just like to put on record my appreciation.
In the Pre-Budget Report last week the Chancellor set out our proposals for
maintaining macroeconomic stability and meeting the productivity challenge.
It is thanks to the successful management of the economy that over the last
six years we have been able to make record investments in our public
services - and good quality public services are essential to productivity.
The PBR included provisions on Local Authority Business Growth Incentives,
Real Estate Investment Trusts, Enterprise Areas and a Derelict Land Tax.
All of those will be of interest to you and they illustrate the
increasingly close co-operation between business and local authorities -
working together to deliver local prosperity.
On the back of the PBR we also received Kate Barker's interim report on
housing supply.
Kate acknowledges that the planning reforms we have put in place will help
tackle the housing shortage in the South East.
Getting supply and demand right is an essential part of the planning and
productivity agenda.
Today I want to talk to you about what we are doing to reform the planning
system to help meet the productivity challenge.
The planning system - set up in 1947 - exists to provide an acceptable -
and democratically accountable - framework for the provision of homes,
jobs, transport, social facilities and leisure facilities.
In short it is there to provide for sustainable development.
By that I mean a balance between economic development, environmental
protection and social justice.
That is achieved through the planning framework which:
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starts with the legislation;
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but provides a flexible approach through national planning policy
guidance, regional strategies and local plans.
Planning must be a positive force to achieve things - not a hundred ways to
say no.
It must be about the quality of life and creating sustainable communities.
I think on balance it has been successful.
It has allowed us to control and manage development in a measured way.
It has protected our historic buildings and town centres.
It has given us the green belt and it has protected the countryside for the
enjoyment of all.
In many ways - and rightly so - it is the envy of the world.
But it also has problems.
In recent decades we have lost our sense of pride in the planning system.
That is partly because planning has been responsible for too many soulless
housing estates, empty town centres and nondescript industrial estates.
It is partly because planners have become regulators and have lost the
sense of vision that is needed to create sustainable communities.
But it is also because the planning system has become old fashioned,
conservative and outdated - indeed some local plans are decades old.
That is unacceptable and it is changing.
We made a start in 1998 with our statement on Modernising Planning.
We have new procedures for Major Infrastructure Projects.
We have new regional spatial strategies to set regional priorities.
And by the end of next year all local authorities will have a timetable for
revising their local plans.
Building on that we published our Green Paper - "Planning a
Fundamental Change" - in 2001. And last December we introduced our
Planning Bill into Parliament.
But reforming the planning system is not just about green papers and
legislation. We need nothing less than a fundamental culture change.
Sir John Egan is working on revitalising the profession by providing the
skills necessary to deliver our planning agenda.
Our aim is a flexible planning system for the 21st century that reflects
the hopes, standards and aspirations of the local community - and by that I
mean the local business community as well as local residents.
We want to see communities with a sense of place. Communities where people
are proud to live.
I want to pause for a moment on that point because I think a sense of place
is an essential part of our planning agenda.
On the one hand a sense of place comes from the ordinary streets and
ordinary buildings that form the backdrop to our everyday lives.
Unfortunately, the planning system has not been very good at producing
attractive people-friendly streets, squares and houses.
One way to address that is through design codes.
Design codes produced the high quality urban environment we find in our
Georgian towns and cities and in our garden cities and suburbs.
They have also been used to great effect at Poundbury and they are being
used in our new Millennium Communities.
As the Chancellor said in the PBR, we want to make more use of design codes
for large scale housing developments.
Where codes are worked up in partnership with the local community they can
produce an attractive, well planned environment with people-friendly
streets and squares.
And they can do it quickly and efficiently.
Design codes can speed up the planning process and allow development to
move ahead without the problems caused by planning delays.
On the other hand a sense of place can be created by what I call the
"wow" factor.
By that I mean a building which gives the community a sense of identity and
which the community identifies with.
Last month I spoke at Prince Charles' Sustainable Communities
Conference.
I nearly provoked a constitutional crisis by announcing at the conference
that I had granted planning permission for the Shard of Glass just across
the River from the Tower of London.
Charles made a few pointed comments about the Shard of Glass - and also
about Foster's Gherkin. I thought for a moment I might end up in the
Tower.
But both buildings, I think, create the "wow" factor.
I think the Shard of Glass will give Southwark the same kind of community
identity that the London Eye has given the South Bank.
Or the same sense of identity given to Tyneside by:
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the Angel of the North,
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the Millennium Bridge, and
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the Gateshead Music Centre.
Or indeed the community identity that Terry Farrell's Submarium - the
Deep - has given to my own constituency of Hull.
Granting permission for buildings like these requires a sense of vision.
But planning is not just about impressive new buildings.
It is about the efficient functioning of a democratically accountable
system to produce an outcome that benefits us all.
Since 1997 we have achieved some real successes.
We have already exceeded our target to provide 60% of new homes on
brownfield land - despite the fact that it is more expensive to build on
brownfield than greenfield sites. But Gordon, a VAT adjustment would be
useful here.
We have used Directions to achieve a substantial increase in the density of
new housing developments. In the South East housing density has risen from
25 to 30 homes per hectare.
That means more housing on the same amount of land. A more efficient use of
land. And less building in the open countryside.
And for the first time in more than 10 years we are building more retail
floor space in town centres than in out of town shopping schemes - despite
the constant harassment we receive from big company lawyers.
The £22 billion Communities Plan - which I published in February - gave
additional resources to the planning system and injected a new sense of
urgency to our reforms.
Speed is essential to the efficient functioning of the planning system.
And - credit where it is due - local authorities have at last started to
improve. The last six months have seen the best improvements in dealing
with planning applications for a decade.
And we are using new technology to improve performance still further
through the new Planning Portal. We've set up a demonstration in the
reception area. It is well worth a look. The Portal will enable access to
planning information at the touch of a button.
It will allow you to submit planning applications online. You will know
immediately if you have failed to submit it correctly.
And soon the Portal will allow you to track progress with any case being
dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate. Over 200 local authorities have
now signed up. That is excellent, but fewer than 20 can deal fully with
electronic applications.
I am putting all local authorities on notice that I expect them to provide
a full e-planning service by the end of 2005. I will use the Planning
Delivery Grant to drive up performance.
In addition, as the Chancellor announced in his Budget Statement in the
Summer we are setting up a new Planning Advisory Service.
We will introduce a pilot scheme shortly. It will be a partnership between
local authorities, business and ourselves to make the planning process work
better.
The Planning Bill which is currently before the House will deliver further
reforms.
I know the CBI wants local plans to be more relevant to business.
We will achieve that through the local development frameworks set out in
the Bill.
You also want national and regional economic priorities to be reflected at
local level.
We will achieve that through our new national planning policy statements
and through the new regional spatial strategies.
As you know there is a substantial business input into the regional spatial
strategies through the Regional Chambers and Regional Development Agencies.
You want us to make the system of planning obligations more transparent,
more efficient and more predictable.
The Bill proposes the reform of so-called section 106 agreements. Instead
of a costly, time consuming negotiation with local authorities we are
introducing an alternative optional charge.
Developers will therefore be able to calculate when they apply for
permission exactly what contribution they will have to make to
infrastructure or other community facilities.
Finally, we both share the aim of reducing the burden of applications on
local authorities.
We are addressing that.
The Bill allows local authorities to make Local Development Orders.
These will allow those types of development agreed in the local plan to go
ahead automatically without the need for planning permission.
In addition, the Planning Bill will speed up the handling of Major
Infrastructure Projects, introduce Business Planning Zones, remove Crown
immunity from planning controls and further reform compulsory purchase.
Finally, the Planning Bill will give the planning system a new statutory
purpose to contribute to sustainable development.
That will be explained more fully in our new Planning Policy Statement 1 -
which we will call "Creating Sustainable Communities".
The important thing from your point of view is that PPS1 will include the
three pillars of sustainable development - economic development,
environmental protection and social justice.
It is not something for you to be scared of.
It means getting the balance right to create communities fit for the 21st
century.
The emphasis we place on economic development will be set out in the new
draft PPS4 - "Planning for Economic Development" - which we will
publish in the Spring.
The planning system has not planned well for economic development.
Planners have failed to review the sites they allocate.
Too many are of no interest to the market, while others are in
unsustainable locations.
I expect local authorities to have a real shake-out of their sites and
release suitable land for economic growth.
Finally, we are today issuing for consultation PPS6 - our revised guidance
for town centres and retail development.
It reaffirms our commitment to town centres and seeks to encourage the
urban renaissance we are experiencing in many of our cities.
Regional and local planning authorities will need to take a pro-active role
- working closely with the private sector to identify town centre and edge
of centre sites for new retail, leisure and mixed use developments.
In conclusion, planning is blamed for a whole raft of problems that have
nothing to do with it.
You can't blame the planning system for refusing permission for a lousy
design.
You can't blame the planning system if architects or developers ignore
requirements which are clearly set out.
You can't blame the planning system if you fail to put in a proper
environmental impact assessment.
That is not to say the planning system has no faults.
But it has an essential role to play in improving the quality of life in
this country. And we must all remember that planning is a democratic and
accountable process. We have to strike the right balance between efficiency
and democratic accountability.
Planning is essential to develop balanced communities - not just housing
but jobs, transport and community facilities.
We are modernising the planning system from the local level to the regional
and national level. This is not a job for the ODPM alone. It is our joint
responsibility with local authorities, developers, the community and the
statutory agencies.
We have a joint interest in getting this right - a joint interest in
modernising the planning system to develop sustainable communities in a
productive economy.
That will benefit us all and it is our joint responsibility to make it
happen.
Planning is important to all of us and by working together we can bring
about real improvements to the quality of life in this country.
The creation of sustainable communities - the creation of places we are
proud of with good access to jobs and decent housing is of interest to
everyone in this room and everyone in society.
Planning is a vital tool in delivering that aim.
Thank you.
Speech by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott on 15 December
2003
