GOVERNMENT’S PLANNING WHITE PAPER

CHELTENHAM CIVIC SOCIETY SHARES THOUGHTS & CONCERNS

Everyone’s lives are touched by planning. It shapes the places where we live, work and play; how we get around; what our towns, neighbourhoods and countryside look like - and much else besides. For us in Cheltenham, with our rich architectural heritage and lively cultural scene, its role is especially important.

Ever since 1947, most planning powers have been the responsibility of the elected local authority – in our case, Cheltenham Borough Council. They prepare development plans, operate development control to guide detailed changes and use enforcement powers to ensure compliance with decisions. As citizens, we can seek to influence the planning process at each stage.

The White Paper (WP) Planning for the Future (what else would you be planning for?) proposes to upend this. It would do away with a lot of development control and replace it with the promise of more involvement in the planning phase. It also proposes changes in local plans, and greater use of design guides and codes.

The Cheltenham Civic Society has closely examined the WP and produced a detailed 32 page report – see https:// cheltenhamcivicsociety.org.uk.

We think the proposals are basically wrong because: • little evidence is offered to justify such far-reaching changes. Tearing down the present system which, for all its faults, is well established and well understood, cannot be justified by the thin arguments offered in the WP. Nor are the alleged benefits convincing; they focus on housing to the near exclusion of everything else. The treatment of climate change, the crisis for nature and public health issues –which planning can help ameliorate – is dreadfully superficial; they threaten local democracy by reducing the public’s right to comment on the details of schemes, limiting citizens’ rights to be heard and weakening the hand of local authorities when dealing with pressures from developers.

There are some good things in the WP - the emphasis on good design, better Local Plans, simpler funding, stronger enforcement powers and greater use of digital technology – but the Civic Society calls for a fundamental re-think of the Government’s plans.

We believe that a better approach would be to start with a statement in law of the purposes of planning: a democratic process to facilitate necessary development, resolve conflicting interests and shape the places where people live, work and play.

Sustainability, environmental issues and public health should be at the heart of planning, making our towns and cities greener, healthier, culturally richer places. We need a new approach to housing that puts more emphasis on affordable and social housing and requires higher space standards. Local authorities should be more proactive, working with the community in preparing master plans for major

development areas, and engaging through ownership, infrastructure provision and by leading partnerships with the private sector (as indeed is happening in the West Cheltenham Cyber Central development). Plan-making, development control and enforcement must be properly staffed. And citizens should be given new, deeper and entrenched legal rights to engage in all aspects of planning. more effective. The future of planning is critically important to us all. The Civic Society urges the readers of Perspectives to look at our comments. If you share our view, please tell your MP that the proposals in the WP can

Adrian Phillips CBE MRTPI (Retd) FLI

The Cheltenham Civic Society is always looking for new members. Our web site gives contact details and explains what we do to protect our town’s heritage and ensure that new development is well designed. Please consider joining us to make our work even and must be radically changed.

https://www.cheltenhamcivicsociety.org.uk/join/membership-application-form