On the day the Conservatives launched their planning green paper, Open Source Planning, I was involved in discussions with Caroline Spelman, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
I was interested to hear her views on the paper, which proposes a ‘radical reboot’ of the country's planning system to make it 'simple, quicker, cheaper’.
Caroline said the measures the paper outlined would address the feeling held by ordinary people that they don't matter. They would give local people decisions over local plans, so that they have the power to decide what kind of building development takes place in their area.
She also said the development of affordable new housing would be incentivised, so that it is seen as something positive.
It is hard to disagree with such overall goals, but it remains to be seen exactly how they will be achieved. There is real concern about how current housing targets will be achieved in the proposed arrangements, the ending of S106 agreements to provide affordable housing in private developments without anything in its place would be a blow, and third party appeals could cause serious delays and additional costs.
Along with our G15 colleagues, we’ll be looking at the report in more detail in coming weeks.
Read the Conservative Planning Green Paper (PDF)
