Planning Theory, Politics and Practice: 1170358

Introduction

Theory is a fundamental part of science because it elucidates how a specific area was urbanized and changed over time. Many authors described theory in the following way, such as ‘a well-founded clarification of some characteristic of the world of nature; a cohesive structure of recognized knowledge that can be used to define a precise set of phenomena in a variation of situations. Theory can be understood as a big umbrella the basis of which is this and other interpretations, inclusive of several ideologies, theories, triggers, explanations, meanings, and values. Theories on planning have been raised by different countries over time. These theories help the planners to change the circumstances of a country. On the other hand, politics is considered to be the set of activities, which is related to a nation, state, or governance of an area. It involves decisions making, which is also applicable to several group of individuals. It refers to the attainment and implementation of governance positions — systematized control over a social community, especially a state. This paper mainly focuses on the re-regulation and rescale of planning in England from 2010-2019. This paper also sheds light on the changes which has been observed in the English Planning System introduced by the UK government since 2010 as part of a project to reform planning. While discussing the English Planning System it also elaborates National Planning Policy Framework, Regional Spatial Strategies, Neighbourhood Development Planning under the Localism Act, 2011 along with several policy changes, such as extension of Enterprise Zones tools.

Involvement of several aspects in Re-regulation and rescale of planning in England from 2010-2019

The planning system of England is known as ‘plan-led’. The meaning of ‘Plan-led’ is that planning policy both national and local is set out in proper expansion plans which provides the description of what development must and must not get permission of planning, the ways followed to protect the lands and also seeks to confirm a balance between growth and environmental protection in the interest of public.

According to GALLENT, HAMIDUDDIN and MADEDDU (2013), a political system is a framework within a given society which help to define adequate political methods. In the period of 15 years (1997–2012) England has observed a significant five waves of statutory reform.

With the election of a UK Coalition Government in 2010, England has experienced far-reaching modification in ways to regulate the spatial organization of growth. Localities are entering a novel period of incentivized growth in a background of stagnation following the elimination of mechanisms for regional planning and a difficult national goal structure. Local planning agencies therefore have to shift part of their attention from the ‘top-down’ criteria of policy, as they come to accept community scale plans more effectively ‘bottom up’. Analysing the direction of transition, especially at the boundary between planning and economic development, the discussion induces attention to the problems emerging from these critical changes in size, and discusses the capacity of sub-national control bodies — Local Enterprise Partnerships — to determine the tactical planning coordination.

After 1947, the most incredible thing about the planning system is that public interest is involved in it. This recognizes that planning decisions affect citizens, their community, and the economy, and for this reason decisions must be made by chosen representatives rather than private persons. This is considered to be a pillar of democracy. Therefore, the most influential right to take part and be heard in environmental-impact decisions is given to the people by the planning system. If someone wants to construct something, he/she need to take permission from the appropriate authority. In most of the cases, the decisions has been taken by the local council, but there are several avenues through which the Secretary of State takes the decision at the national level (BROWNILL and BRADLEY 2017).

The planning system of the UK involves several theories. In fact, in the changing environment of re-regulating and rescaling of planning (2010-2019) these theories are used in England. The theories are discussed belowL

  • System Theory and National Comprehensive: This theoretical model discusses how the decisions on several policies are taken. It identifies every potential approaches to resolve dispute and the expenses and advantages of each approach.
  • Critical Theory and Marxism: The aim of critical theory is to provide a type of explanation regarding the social and financial life which is itself liberate.
  • Neo Liberal Theory: It is a model of policy, which helps to make a connection between politics, economics and social studies. Due to this theory the control of several financial factors shifted from the public sector to private sector.
  • Pragmatism Theory: This theory is considered to be a philosophical movement and includes only those ideas which works reasonably. It also rejects the impractical propositions.
  • Advocacy Theory: The theoretical outline of this theory is vast and the aim of this theory is to help its clients, so that they achieve the power to take vital decisions for their lives.
  • Postmodern Planning Theory: The aim of this theory is to analyze numerous textual objects granting the probability of a substantial epochal modification.
  • Collaborative Planning: In this planning process different assistance techniques are used to influence consensus and support (Baum 2017).

All these theories play an active role in the planning system of the UK. Apart from these theories, some Planning Acts are present in England, such as:

  • The Town and Country Planning Act, 1990 which combined earlier laws of town and country planning and elaborates how the development is governed.
  • The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, 2004 which made modifications to progress control, compulsory buying and application of the Planning Acts to Crown land.
  • The Planning Act, 2008 which enumerates the outline for the planning procedure of infrastructure projects which have nationwide importance and provided for the public infrastructure charges.
  • The Localism Act, 2011 which provides the legal outline for the powers of neighbourhood planning and the obligation to collaborate with neighbouring authorities (Fainstein and DeFilippis 2015).

There exists some procedures which an applicant should follow before making a decision. This procedure is acknowledged as development control or construction management where related planning documents are also used. The planning system is now generally designed to support sustainable development that is consistent with the statutory development plan, unless otherwise confirmed by material reflections. This system is also objected sometimes, and the council will take complaints on board when it comes to its final decision for good reason.

Allowed development orders will be made in favor of some places. Particular systems of development are allowed by these procedures where the planning application of an individual is not needed. Nevertheless, their compliance is subject to restrictions (Mazza 2017).

Apart from that, ‘permitted construction’ are also available where planning application is not mandatory but a prior permission from the local authority is needed may need to comply with building regulations where applicable.

Planning reform (2010-2019)

Over the past few years, a major reform has been observed in the planning system of the England. Most key infrastructure schemes are presently determined by the Planning Act 2008 and are reviewed by a Planning Inspectorate unit with the concluding verdict of the Secretary of State concerned.

The Localism Act, 2011 has introduced new local plans and planning directives, and municipal policies were reversed by this Act.

The policy of national planning of England has also been entirely changed with distinct statements of planning policy replaced in 2012 by the novel National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Presently, the Planning practice guidance is accessible through online format, in which many directions were cancelled before 2010 (Pizzo 2015). In 2012, the aims of NPPF involve:

  • Building a healthy, strong economy;
  •  Ensuring city center’s sustainability;
  • Supporting a healthy rural economy;
  • Fostering sustainable transportation;
  • Supporting networks for high quality communications:
  • Providing a wide selection of high quality homes.

However, in 2019 the NPPF is of the view that, Policy and policy making will help create the conditions under which organizations can spend, grow and adapt. The necessity to support economic development and competitiveness should be given considerable weight, after taking into consideration local business needs as well as broader development prospects. The approach taken into consideration will allow every area to construct on its strengths, combat any weaknesses and deal with future challenges.

Planning procedure followed in the changing environment

On the basis of swathe documentation and records, planning officers must look at the diverse opinions as to for which reason an anticipated development should or should not proceed after making a planning application, along with all the additional information needed to determine the impacts. For example, the planning officer has to decide whether the possible impact on the environment is likely to balance the apparent economic gain that could occur. In these types f cases, the officer may recommend that the request is denied. The planning officer will make recommendations to the chosen planning committee where complaints have been raised, or where the proposed development is sufficiently large in local significance. Then the committee will either cast its vote to grant or deny planning permission.

Nowadays, after the changes have been made in the planning system of the England, the appeals refused by the planning committee are dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate. Developers can now go directly to the Planning Inspectorate if the Department of Communities and Local Government has classified their local authority as dealing with foremost applications ‘too slowly’ (Farmer 2015).

Communities and other citizens are not permitted to appeal, but a legal challenge can be brought by an individual or group of individuals to the High Court or complain can be lodged to the Ombudsman of the Local Government, only if the proper procedure has not been followed.

Eventually, in the case of projects of national importance, these complaints are usually made directly to the Planning Inspectorate, and the concluding verdict will be given by the appropriate Secretary of State.

In the Planning System of England, this following structure has been observed currently:

  • The Localism Act, 2011 has introduced Neighbourhood planning which is considered to be the lowest level of planning and will be carried out by Neighbourhood Forums or Parish Councils;
  • Community development, consisting of Strategic Planning, Minerals and Waste Plans, and Resource Management-all enforced by local planning authorities;
  • Enterprise zones, where development restrictions are relaxed and take the form of LDOs or local development orders;
  • Projects of vital infrastructure, examined by a Planning Inspectorate Unit, and decided by the appropriate Secretary of State (Thomas 2017).

Any planning decision needs to consider ‘economic factors’, means applicable policy and facts, but European law also informs the process. The below mentioned diagram is considered as a brief overview in this regard:

European directives and regulations directly affect national planning legislation, as they must be understood and enforced by all Member States. Primary and secondary laws of Parliament also include the Town and Country Planning Act (1990), the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004), the Planning Act (2008), the Localism Act (2011), the Development and Investment Act (2013), the Transport Act (2015) and the Housing and Planning Act (2016).

Such actions in turn affect the direction of national planning. It was changed significantly from planning policy statements (PPS), mineral policy statements (MPSs) to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in March 2012. At the back of the NPPF, there is a list indicating the guidance is outdated and which is still up to date. Certain recommendations have recently been replaced by a new online version of the Planning Practice Guidance, released in March 2014 but subject to regular policy changes.

National Policy Statements (NPSs) are also available for major infrastructure. They have got lawful status. It also carries weight just to complicate the already muddy waters, circulars of policy, government white papers and ministerial statements. Weight is a term that describes how important a policy or other factor is when it comes to planning matters.

Regional planning plans have been withdrawn, replaced by the obligation to collaborate with local authorities in an effort to get them to comply with the provision of more strategic housing and development without an outline of targets set by a government office. Unitary authorities and county councils (the ‘top tier’ councils) are responsible for minerals and waste.

Old-style spatial plans are gradually being replaced by ‘Local Plans’ (also known as Local Development Frameworks), consisting of statutory development plan documents and non-complementary planning documents. Both proposals in England were subject to ‘transitional arrangements’, means the plans in effect had to go through a review to check that they were in line with the new National Planning Policy Framework, and development plans had to enforce this until February 2013 (Fischer 2015).

Where no proposals are in place, the government has implemented a ‘sustainable development presumption’ in England that allows developers to bring forward speculative applications that can only be rejected by the local authority if they can show significant harm, or that the presumption is constrained by other policies within the NPPF.

Government planning policy

Local planning authorities need to take national planning policies into consideration when drawing up development plans and other documents and when deciding on applications for planning. Government policy is laid down in the new NPPF, and waste is still laid down in Planning Policy Statement 10 but has been consulted and will change in 2014. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) develops this policy. The aim of the NPPF is to state government policy. Many organizations and interest groups are developing guidance in an attempt to push for ‘best’ practice. CLG also updates all other government guidelines and circulars that the NPPF has not yet replaced–and this was released in March 2014 as the guidelines for online planning activity.

Regions replaced by duty of co-operation

In all intents and purposes, the Regional Strategies (RSs) are gone apart from London, which holds a weaker responsibility for the plan. The duty to cooperate is a new requirement under the 2011 Localism Act that requires local authorities to consult and discuss strategic approaches in preparing local plans. This cooperation must be demonstrated within the local plan. Nonetheless, this co-operation obligation will be hard to enforce and will be another layer of difficulty in addition to local business relationships. Financing may be channelled through Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), but they are voluntary and not democratically accountable and should therefore not be involved in statutory planning (CULLINGWORTH et al. 2015).

Local development framework

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) adopted Local Development Frameworks instead of the old local plans (although they have now been renamed as Local Plans once again by the government). These are files of documents that are created and applied to the system at different times once they are accepted by the local authority.

In the 2004 Act, there is a general duty that requires local authorities to carry out planning with the ‘objective of contributing to sustainable development’. Furthermore, the Planning Act (2008) places an additional obligation on plan-making authorities to ensure that their development plan documents (ALEXANDER 2005).

Local development scheme

This is a public statement outlining the documents will be generated for local development, in what order and when. The Local Development Scheme (LDS) is the point of departure for local communities to find out what local planning policies are related to your area and when they will be consulted on their formation or evaluation.

Local development documents

These are the documents, all of which are included in the framework. There are three kinds of local development document, such as:

1. Statement of Community Involvement (SCI): This clarifies how the local authority will involve with the community in preparing its documents.

2. Development plan documents: Development plan documents are considered to be legal documents and part of the ‘local plan’. These documents include:

· Core Strategy

· Proposals map

· Area Action Plans

· Development Management policies

· Site Allocation policies

3. Supplementary planning documents: These intricate on policies and offers in the development plan documents, which includes:

· Design guides

· Development briefs

· Practice advice notes.

Minerals and waste plans

Local development papers on minerals and waste are included in a minerals and waste program. The minerals and waste planning authority (county council or unitary authority) are responsible for producing them. As part of the National Waste Action Plan, the earlier planning policy statement 10 on waste was reviewed and replaced by the National Waste Planning Policy in October 2014. The document contains:

  • A summary of prevailing waste generation;
  • The part of waste planning in meeting European responsibilities;
  • Waste Hierarchy explanation;
  • Preparation of Local Plans and Sustainability Assessments for Local Plans
  • Building evidence bases, including the assessment of waste management capacity; prediction of waste; use of date for monitoring and forecasting waste needs and the identification of suitable sites and areas;

Minerals plans are also being revised to be in line with a focus on economic growth; including policies to cover unconventional oil and gas developments (CHETTIPARAMB 2006).

Community strategy

Community policies and local strategic partnerships are likely to have a significant impact on your city, influencing its future development and prioritizing the programs, initiatives and investment of institutions such as councils, police, health services and other organizations. Also added to the mix were Regional Enterprise Associations and Enterprise Zones and are central to the regional funding programs of the government. Such associations, however, are not accountable or open entities, so information on what is happening locally can be very difficult to obtain.

Local Strategic Partnerships are the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government. The Local Government Act 2000, in collaboration with the government, put a responsibility on local authorities (county and district councils and unitary authorities) to establish a Government plan.  A body called a Local Strategic Partnership, consisting of representatives from local bodies and interest groups, usually prepares Community strategies (ALLMENDINGER 2017).

Neighbourhood planning and development orders

Neighbourhood planning was implemented by the Localism Act, 2011. Parish councils may implement these programs where they occur or by new Neighbourhood Committees in other areas. Such committees must be made up of at least 21 people and should be set up for the following reason as set out in the Act:

5(a) is established specifically for the purpose of promoting or improving the social, economic and environmental well-being of an area comprising or comprising the neighbourhood in question.

People who live in, work in, and want to live in the area can become a Community Forum member. The Neighbourhood Forum or Parish Council can adopt a Neighbourhood Plan setting out community planning policies.

Communities and companies will also be able to use community planning orders to approve the construction they want to see – in full or outline – without the need for proposals to be prepared. Of course, there will be exceptions to such directives, which may relate to certain forms of growth, so it is necessary to consider each NDO on a case-by-case basis.

Neighbourhood plans and planning directives must be aligned with the Regional Planning Frameworks or Community Plans where they exist and the 2012 NPPF Framework for National Planning Policy. They are voted on to be adopted or rejected in a referendum.

Most Neighbourhood Plans have ended up as Supplemental Planning Documents and therefore need to meet the SPD adoption process as laid down in the law. These also form part of the national development plan for an area that includes the geographical remit of that plan in which construction is planned (FRIEDMANN 2011).

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that, primarily the planning system appears to be very complicated, but the after observing the steps it can be said that it is not that complicated. Many authors are of the view that it is important to talk with a planning officer of the local authority and ask question in which clarification is needed. The copies of letters must be kept for future reference. It is important to keep in mind that it is the responsibility of a local authority to guide and help an individual or group of individuals who need explanations. If any planning officer of a local authority fails or refuses to help an individual or community, then proper legal actions can be taken against that officer.

Reference

ALEXANDER, E. (2005) ‘Institutional transformation and planning: from Institutionalization theory to Institutional design’. Planning Theory, Vol. 4(3): 209-223

ALLMENDINGER, P. (2017) Planning Theory, Routledge. (3rd Ed.) Palgrave: London.

Baum, H.S., 2017. Practicing planning theory in a political world. In Explorations in planning theory (pp. 365-382). Routledge.

BROWNILL, S. & BRADLEY, Q. (Eds.) (2017) Localism and neighbourhood Planning. Policy Press, Bristol.

CHETTIPARAMB, A. (2006) ‘Metaphors in Complexity Theory and Planning’, Planning Theory. Vol. 5(1): 71-91.

CULLINGWORTH, J.  et al. (2015), Town and Country Planning in Britain, (15th Edition) Routledge: London.

Fainstein, S.S. and DeFilippis, J. eds., 2015. Readings in planning theory. John Wiley & Sons.

Farmer, D.J., 2015. Public administration in perspective: Theory and practice through multiple lenses. Routledge.

Fischer, F., 2015. From Theory to Practice. Readings in Planning Theory348.

FRIEDMANN, J. (2011) Insurgencies. Essays in planning theory. Routledge, London.

GALLENT, N., HAMIDUDDIN, I. and MADEDDU, M. (2013) ‘Localism, down-scaling and the strategic dilemmas confronting planning in England’. Town Planning Review, Vol. 84(5): 563-582.

Mazza, L., 2017. Explorations in planning theory. Routledge.

Pizzo, B., 2015. Problematizing resilience: Implications for planning theory and practice. Cities43, pp.133-140.

Thomas, H. ed., 2017. Values and planning. Routledge.