The Planner November 2017

NOVEMBER 2017 ARE OUR CITIES FAILING US? // p.16 • HE SAID, SHE SAID: YOUNG PLANNERS LOOK TO THE FUTURE // p.20 • INTERNATIONAL BRIGHT YOUNG PLANNERS // p.24 • THE VEHICLE AS WEAPON: A PUBLIC REALM TRIAL // p.34 •

THE YOUNG PLANNERS

T H E B U S I N ES S M O N T H LY FO R P L A N N I N G P R O F ES S IO N A LS

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HEALTHY HAPPY PEOPLE “ESSENTIAL VOICES FOR A BETTER WORLD” The Planner Magazine

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Current Issues in Planning 2017 7 December 2017 | London

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PLANNER 08 16

CONTENTS

THE

NO VEMBER

20 17 “I DON’T THINK WE SHOULD BE A PROFESSION WHERE PEOPLE FALL INTO IT. WE SHOULD BE A PROFESSION THAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT AND WANT TO PURSUE”

NEWS

4 Party lines drawn on planning 5 RTPI holds events at Tory and Labour party conferences 6 RTPI Scotland’s conference considers planning’s lead role north of the border

7 Welsh Budget backs affordable homes push

OPINION

12 Chris Shepley: Why letters to the editor are not always written in green crayon

8 RTPI Northern Ireland: A culture of collaboration

14 Ian Ford: I, planner

9 Irish planning agency faces rising workload

14 Jonathan Harper: Planning must keep up with town centre change

10 Ireland’s urban ‘sprawl’ has to stop, says Eoghan Murphy

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15 Kimberley Airey: Must Brexit be bad for rural Britain?

15 Sangeetha Banner: Why we need to adapt our view of garden cities

18 This year’s RTPI Young Planners’ conference, held in Manchester from 3-4 November, is themed ‘Healthy, Happy Places and People: Planning for Well-being’. In this issue young planners from the UK and abroad discuss routes into planning, how our cities are failing us and where planning should be taking us, and ask how planners can reach the ‘silent majority’ 36 Nations & Regions: South West

QUOTE UNQUOTE

“THERE IS NO REASON WHY A NUMBER OF FACTORS ORDINARILY IN THEMSELVES CANNOT COMBINED TO CREATE SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL” INSPECTOR DAVID CLIFF DISCUSSING HORSE INSEMINATION FACILITIES IN GREEN BELT

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INSIGHT

FEATURES

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34 Tech landscape: Defensive architecture – the vehicle as a weapon is the new challenge for public realm planning 40 Decisions in focus: Development decisions, round-up and analysis

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44 Legal landscape: Opinions, blogs and news from the legal side of planning 46 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 50 Plan B: Can you help little Alok find his way through the maze of government policy?

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NEWS

Report { PARTY CONFERENCES

Party lines drawn on planning

By Laura Edgar The recent Labour and Conservative Party conferences saw a number of key challenges highlighted, including infrastructure, and social and affordable housing. Here, The Planner takes a look at what you need to know.

LABOUR • Social housing review In his speech, leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party would review social housing policy. A decent home “is a right for everyone”, irrespective of income or background, and houses “should be homes for the many, not speculative investments for a few”.

Labour’s review of social housing policy would examine its building, planning, regulation and management – and “propose a radical programme of action” at next year’s conference.

• Control rents Corbyn said his government would control rents, stating it is unsustainable when the younger generation’s housing costs are three times more than their grandparents’ were.

• Regeneration “for the many, not the few” For Corbyn, regeneration is a “much-

abused” word. He explained that when councils come forward with proposals for regeneration, a Labour government would set down two markers based on the principle that regeneration would be for the “benefit of the local people, not private developers, not property speculators”.

People living on the estates recommended for regeneration would get a home on the same site on the same terms as before, and, he added that councils would “have to win a ballot of existing tenants and leaseholders before any redevelopment scheme can take place”.

• Land tax Corbyn said that undeveloped land held by developers needs taxing. He warned that former leader Ed Miliband’s “use it or lose it” mantra would be enforced.

Polly Neate, CEO at Shelter, said: “There is a growing debate about the crisis facing those who rent, with families facing rising bills and insecure lets.

“Shelter supports controls that lengthen tenancies and protect families from unfair rent rises but not old-fashioned rent-setting, which we think could end up harming the very people on low incomes they’re meant to help, if and when landlords sell their properties.”

CONSERVATIVES • Affordable housing An additional £2 billion is to go towards affordable housing, taking the government’s total affordable housing budget to £9 billion.

The government, said Prime Minister Theresa May, would encourage councils as well as housing associations to bid for the money to provide certainty over future rent levels.

“And in those parts of the country where the need is greatest, allow homes to be built for social rent, well below market level… A new generation of council houses to help fix our broken housing market.”

Following May’s speech, the government released a statement on the additional money, saying it could supply around 25,000 more homes at rents affordable for local people.

• Help to Buy The government has committed an extra £10 billion to the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme.

The new funding means, according to the government, that the Help to Buy Equity Loan could help about 135,000 more people to buy homes by 2021.

• The road to a Northern Powerhouse Prime Minister Theresa May said more homes would be built for social rent where the need is greatest

In his speech, chancellor Philip Hammond announced that £400 million would be spent on transport improvements across the Northern Powerhouse. The government, he insisted, is committed to the Northern Powerhouse and the funding would go towards “ensuring HS2 infrastructure can link up with future Northern Powerhouse and Midlands rail projects – helping the towns and cities of the North reach their full potential”. These plans included: • £100 million for local road schemes proposed by local leaders: 13 schemes in the North West, 10 in Yorkshire and

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PLAN UPFRONT Jeremy Corbyn promised “a radical programme of action”

RTPI HOLDS EVENTS AT TORY AND LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCES

Labour

the Humber, and 10 across the North-East.

• £300 million towards government plans to improve rail links across the Northern Powerhouse and provide more frequent and faster services, specifically ensuring that HS2 infrastructure can accommodate future Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Connect services.

Stephen Wilkinson MRTPI, president of the RTPI, welcomed the additional money, but cautioned that the government “must commit to other solutions for more investment to address the housing crisis”.

“The RTPI has set out a number of solutions in our position paper, Better Planning for Affordable Housing, including freeing up local authorities to invest in building affordable housing that includes social housing on secure tenure.

“Further, we are pleased that the government acknowledges that there is a need to better resource planning authorities to improve the speed of delivery of high-quality affordable housing which the country needs. The RTPI, with UCL, is currently researching into how local authority planners can facilitate more investment in housing.”

Paul Butterworth, partner and head of the social housing team at law firm TLT, said there are some “cautiously optimistic signs” in the announcement on housing policy.

“A subsidy of £80,000 is mooted to supply 25,000 new homes, so in theory at least the increased funding should take that to 100,000 new homes. This is still a long way short of the supply need. The funding is to be targeted to areas of acute affordability pressure and where working families are struggling with costs of rent and some are at risk of homelessness. The question is what the criteria will be for targeting this spending geographically.”

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The RTPI and Planning Portal Labour Party Conference fringe event saw politicians agree that planning has a role to play in “levelling the housing field”.

Clive Betts MP, chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee, cautioned that fiddling around the edges of the planning system does not address such a challenge.

He believes a range of measures are needed to deliver more housing, including helping smaller developers to enter the housing market.

Julie Cattell MRTPI (retired), chair of the planning committee, Brighton & Hove City Council, and Liz Hobden MRTPI, head of planning (city development and regeneration), Brighton & Hove City Council, identified a number of other causes of low housing delivery numbers – the supply of land, small social housing sector, duty to cooperate challenges, and local politics.

But the speakers seemed optimistic that through strategic planning – allowing councils to proactively plan and better approaches to viability – the UK could better address the housing crisis.

Sarah Chilcott, managing director of Planning Portal, said consistent policymaking is needed, and suggested incentivising affordable housing by fast-tracking applications that comply with affordable housing policies rather than challenging them.

Conservatives The event, hosted by the RTPI and Planning Portal, saw RTPI president Stephen Wilkinson tell the audience he thought politicians were often caught up in the game of seeing who could build the most houses. He wants to see the focus on building homes in the right places, pointing out that 25 per cent of brownfield sites are undeveloped.

The president called for a fiscal regime that benefits the private rented sector as well as encourages local authorities to build.

Chilcott said planning should be used to help deliver housing instead of seeking to streamline it. Many developments, she continued, have been undertaken with consideration of local infrastructure requirements or section 106 payments, because they had not gone through the proper planning process.

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said she believes that planning should be seen as an enabler, not a series of roadblocks, while Janet Clowes said planning required both strategic coordination and a local effort from councillors. She also noted the importance of neighbourhood plans in delivering local planning.

The RTPI was present at a number of other fringe events at the Conservative Party Conference.

Trudi Elliott, chief executive, said: “While our message about planning’s role in delivery is being heard and understood, there is more to be done.

“We need to ensure the skills and resources for local authorities are available, especially during Brexit. Most now agree that planning has the potential to deliver the economically sustainable and high-quality places we need, but we need resources to do it.”

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NEWS

Analysis { ANNUAL RTPI SCOTLAND CONFERENCE

Conference considers lead role for planning north of the border xxxxx

By Martin Read With a substantial review leading to a planning bill that’s set to be published before the year-end, 2017 always seemed destined for lively annual RTPI Scotland conference. What we got was certainly progressive in thought, as befits the event’s three grand themes – planning for inclusive growth, social justice and environmental sustainability.

Professor Cliff Hague’s opening address saw him take the “I agree with Nick” role in proceedings, with many who followed him on the lectern harking back to his conference kickstarting call for planning to “rediscover the moral compass that was once the reason for the profession”.

The UN’s new urban agenda meant that “planning is back” said an ebullient Hague, who believed planning was key to Scotland achieving its strategic development goal obligations.

Indeed, this was a conference focused very much on the future and imbued with a distinct sense of optimism that the profession, with the UN’s New Urban Agenda and the dramatic urbanisation of the planet set to

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happen within our lifetimes, was about return to the status it maintained until the 1970s before it became characterised as the cumbersome impediment to economic growth that the stereotype insists it is.

The head of enterprise and cities at the Scottish Government, Oonagh Gil, was bullish about how planning would be key to the government’s inclusive growth agenda. How might planning divest itself of its reputation as a slow moving beast and impediment to development? Longer-term thinking is key, said Gil, as is a clearer alignment with the government’s inclusive growth agenda through innovations such as local place plans being prioritised to reflect improved growth priority areas.

Spatial vision for Scotland Speaking on the subject of environmental sustainability, Anne McCall MRTPI, director of RSPB Scotland, argued that perhaps “Scotland’s economic plan should in fact be the equal of the economic expression of the national planning framework, which in turn expresses our

spatial vision for Scotland and the future?” The country’s economic policies needed to be recognised as a means to an end, not an end in themselves, said McCall.

“For planning to really achieve environmental sustainability, we have to free ourselves from the statutory straitjacket of land use planning.”

Kevin Stewart MSP, Minister for Government and Housing closed conference with a strident call to action. ”I want to see a planning system that is collaborative, not conflicted; one that performs at a high standard, and that requires everyone to perform to those same high standards.

Stewart spoke of planning being more “visionary”. Current development plans were far too complex and instead needed to “show a clear picture of where development is needed and when and how it will happen”.

“I want planners to adopt a can-do attitude, bringing people together and empowering them. Making things happen is absolutely vital.”

Stewart called for planners not merely to facilitate development, but to enable

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PLAN UPFRONT Drakeford says he is considering new levies, including taxes on vacant land and tourism

KEVIN STEWART MSP, MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING:

“The planning bill will empower people in our communities to be more involved and to have a really and positive involvement in the future development of their places.

“It will simplify and strengthen the planning system, reduce complexity and improve trust, with a focus more on place than process.”

“I really hope the high level of interest and engagement we’ve seen continues as we shape the new planning system.

LESLEY MARTIN, LEAD MEMBER, RSA BUILDING INCLUSIVE GROWTH NETWORK IN SCOTLAND:

“As Cliff Hague reminds us, planning has its roots in social inclusivity. If we planners are not going to embrace the agenda, who will?”

it, helping to identify any impediments preventing new development from proceeding.

Talk was of urgency, of ‘making things happen’ and planning being ‘absolutely vital’. And a particular word kept on cropping up during the day – of planning as a sector and planners as individuals being effective leaders.

In his peroration, Stewart honed in on this point: “To do all this we need strong and effective leadership – and that’s about each and every one of you.”

Leadership in this context seems to be used as shorthand for assertiveness, a can-do mentality, and a focus on ‘outcomes instead of process’. With lofty ambitions and bullish approach under-pinning this conference, there’s a lot for the profession to live up to. But in Scotland, there seems no shortage of people keen to run with the idea.

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Welsh Budget backs affordable homes push Finance secretary Mark Drakeford has unveiled a draft budget for Wales covering the period 2018-19, which confirms the release of £340 million to support the building of 20,000 affordable homes.

It also includes £50 million to develop a new rail station and parkand-ride facility at Llanwern, Swansea.

Further detailed spending plans were also due to have been published by the end of October.

As part of the Budget announcement, the minister revealed that he was considering a shortlist of four new Welsh tax ideas, including a levy on vacant land and a tourism tax. Each of these will be developed further over

the course of this year and one new tax idea will be proposed to the UK Government in 2018 to test the Wales Act powers.

The Budget is a significant milestone in Wales’s devolution as from next April, Wales becomes responsible for raising a proportion of its own revenue from two new taxes – land transaction tax and landfill disposals tax – to spend on public services.

The figures include £7.5 million for targeted flood prevention measures around Newport, £140 million for flood and coastal management, and an additional £14.9 million for regeneration projects, chiefly in the shape of community facilities and hubs.

£10m refurbishment plans for Belfast’s Odyssey Pavilion

The Odyssey Pavilion is set for a facelift

The new owner of Belfast’s Odyssey Pavilion, a key element of the Titanic Quarter, has unveiled further details of the venue’s £10 million transformation.

Isle of Man-based Matagorda 2, which bought the facility last year, has already won planning permission for the first phase of redevelopment, including a new main entrance and a reconfiguration of existing units. The complex is currently home to a cinema, bowling alley, restaurants and bars.

The consortium has applied for permission for phase two of the redevelopment, which will see further significant improvements to the pavilion including improved visitor access to all levels and the greater use of the central open space.

Guy Hollis, from Matagorda 2, said: “The scheme will help in the ongoing and successful regeneration of the Titanic Quarter and drive additional footfall to this part of the city.”

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NEWS

Analysis { RTPI NORTHERN IRELAND CONFERENCE

A culture of collaboration

By Laura Edgar Sustainability was the key focus of the RTPI Northern Ireland Conference.

Sustainable growth, sustainable inclusive planning, sustainable housing, and sustainable energy.

Peter May, permanent secretary at the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), discussed how placemaking could contribute to this and the part planning plays in achieving these goals. Despite there not being an Executive, he assured the audience that all parties broadly agree with the country’s Programme for Government, and the DfI was moving forward with it.

“One of the fundamental themes for the programme is the government can’t deliver on the outcomes alone. The collaborative working across government sectors is key.”

The core argument, May continued, is that the DfI can have all the plans and strategies it likes, “but if we don’t change the culture of how we work, we won’t deliver against the ambitions we have”.

He said the DfI recognises the importance of locality-based process and is “contributing fully to it”.

Peter May said the DfI was looking at “culture change”

• Understand the barriers to delivery and take a comprehensive approach to reviewing all planning permissions and allocations so bespoke solutions can be designed.

In the spirit of collaboration, May and his senior colleagues are meeting council chief executives and other leaders to discuss how the DfI’s work can best be brought together with each council’s ambition.

Transport plans will be led by the department working with and delivered in parallel to local development plans.

“We are committed to aligning the timelines of both and we are currently putting in place the necessary skills and expertise that we need to take the work forward that we need to lead on.”

The DfI is focusing on active travel and public transport to reduce congestion and improve air quality. It is also working on an infrastructure plan to 2050 to put before a minister – a plan that takes into account demographic, economic and technological changes that will affect the country over that period.

“The approach of the Programme for Government, the actions being taken by councils to develop local development plans and the emerging prospects for an emerging infrastructure plan for the region all offer opportunities. If we can synthesise those and find a way of working together in a different way to maximise the opportunities for the benefits of citizens, we could really make huge progress.”

An audience member asked May how he saw interaction with Ireland post-Brexit

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Paul Barnard MRTPI, assistant director for strategic planning & infrastructure at Plymouth City Council, gave the audience an overview of the council’s strategy to deliver homes, including a few of his top tips.

• A guiding philosophy is needed to secure the necessary cross-party and cross-departmental input to establish the required political support with constant dialogue during the process.

On Brexit

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DE LI V E RI N G H OM E S W I TH L O C AL PL ANS

• A clear delivery plan with multiple initiatives is needed. Inevitably risks will be taken, which inevitably means that some initiatives won’t work.

• Demonstrate professional leadership and show that through a creative planning approach, a real difference in the delivery of homes can be made. * Plymouth’s ‘Plan for Homes’ won the RTPI’s Silver Jubilee Cup at the institute’s 2016 Awards for Planning Excellence.

in terms of environmental legislation and how Northern Ireland’s plans are going to intermesh on cross-border issues.

May noted how the legislation will be written into UK law first, but said there are two debates to be had.

“One is what does Brexit actually mean in terms of how the world will work afterwards, but there is a second key debate, which is, those powers that return to the UK – do they rest in London, or Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff? And that is a debate that really hasn’t started yet because there isn’t enough clarity about the first. So we can all see the challenges that there are ahead, but I don’t think at this stage we can provide answers.”

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PLAN UPFRONT

Irish planning agency faces rising workload During 2016, An Bord Pleanála reported a small but continued increase in case intake of 9 per cent that has been maintained in the first part of 2017, with case intake up 11 per cent for the first five months of the year.

This is highlighted in the planning agency’s annual report for last year, which notes that 79 per cent of all planning cases were decided within target.

Chairperson Dr Mary Kelly said: “The average number of weeks it took to decide all planning cases in 2016 was 17 weeks, down from 20 in 2014. Looking at planning appeals only, 82 per cent of cases were disposed of within 18 weeks in 2016, with an average time for decisions reported at 16 weeks.”

The report recorded a rise in legal challenges.

“In 2016, 48 new legal challenges to decisions of the board were

brought before the courts, the highest number in recent years with wind farm decisions and quarry-related decisions accounting for a significant percentage of cases.”

Expenditure on legal costs remains very significant given the number of legal cases on hands, totalling €3.78 million in 2016, compared with €2.3 million in 2015, €2.2 million in 2014 and €1.4 million in 2013.

Significantly, a number of legal cases have resulted in questions being put by the Superior Courts to the European Courts of Justice for interpretation of complex issues of EU law.

By the end of this year An Bord Pleanála is set to change from using a largely paper-based application and assessment system to an ICT-enabled system with the ability for applicants and third parties to make appeals, payments and applications online.

Heritage’s role in economy revealed England’s heritage directly contributes nearly £12 billion to the national economy.

Figures from Historic England show heritage contributes £11.9 billion in gross value added, equivalent to 2 per cent of the national figure.

The sector employs about 278,00 people, while heritage tourism generates £16.4 billion in spending by domestic and international visitors.

Repair and maintenance of historic buildings directly generated £9.6 billion in construction sector output.

Investing in historic places also generates returns for the area; on average £1 of public sector expenditure on heritage-led regeneration generating £1.60 in additional economic activity within 10 years. One in five visitors spends more in an area after investment in historic buildings.

Scottish Government says no to fracking The Scottish Government has announced that it does not support fracking – meaning that there is an “effective ban” on the practice in Scotland.

Paul Wheelhouse, minister for business innovation and energy, told MSPs that the decision followed “extensive” evidence gathering and a four-month consultation on unconventional oil and gas.

More than 60,000 responses were submitted to the consultation, said the Scottish Government.

Of these, it said, 99 per cent expressed opposition to fracking and less than 1 per cent were in favour.

According to the responses, people were concerned about the potential significant, long-lasting negative impacts on communities, health, the environment and the climate.

Scepticism was expressed about the ability to regulate to mitigate negative impacts and some were unconvinced about the economic benefit of the unconventional oil and gas’s contribution to Scotland’s energy mix.

The decision comes into effect immediately; the Scottish Government has written to all local authorities saying the directions issuing the moratorium remain in place.

“It is clear,” said Wheelhouse, “that people across Scotland remain firmly opposed to fracking – this government has listened and taken decisive action.

“Scotland’s chemicals industry has conveyed strong views on the potential impact of shale on the sector. I want to be clear that regardless of our position on unconventional oil and gas, our support for Scotland’s industrial base and manufacturing is unwavering.”

The next steps will see a vote in the Scottish Parliament soon and a Strategic Environmental Assessment will be undertaken.

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NEWS

News { Energy company submits fracking plans for Cheshire

Oil and gas exploration company IGas has submitted a scoping request to Cheshire West and Chester Council to begin preparing a planning application for a temporary well site on land in Elton.

A statement on the IGas website says the location is on an existing IGas site covered by Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) 190, off Grinsome Road.

Analysis of the 3D seismic data and existing well logs was undertaken, and as the site is in an industrial area close to businesses using “high volumes of gas”, the firm chose to take this site forward.

“We want to further test the various rock formations, including shale, for detailed information and to establish the quantity and quality of natural gas within the rocks,” it adds.

IGas has proposed one new well that would first be drilled vertically and then horizontally. It also wants to hydraulically fracture and flow test the target formation to assess the well’s flow potential.

The company said it would undertake community consultation before submitting a full application and participate in a community liaison group alongside local parish councils.

John Blaymires, COO at IGas, said: “This area of Cheshire has a proud industrial heritage, with excellent utility infrastructure and transport networks in place. There are also a number of significant employers in the area whose businesses rely on gas, which is something that we could potentially supply in the future, directly from the area.

“Eight out of 10 homes use gas for heating, 61 per cent for cooking and up to 50 per cent of our electricity is derived from gas… The UK needs a secure supply of gas as a bridging fuel until renewable sources can provide sufficient quantum and stability of energy for society’s needs.”

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Ireland’s urban ‘sprawl’ has to stop, says Eoghan Murphy Irish housing and planning minister Eoghan Murphy has said the country has some “ridiculous restrictions on the effective and efficient use of scarce and expensive building land”, and states that the sprawl has to stop.

Speaking at the Irish Planning Institute’s autumn conference, Murphy said there are restrictions where there are lower building heights set out for residential development than commercial – even when the buildings are on the same street. “This makes no sense in normal times, never mind when we’re in the midst of a housing crisis.”

He said revised statutory guidelines on the process for development plans would be published before the end of this year to set out a new evidence-based policy methodology for setting building height policy objectives in statutory development plans. “I intend to lift the numerical height caps in our city cores and along key public transport corridors.”

Murphy criticised ‘ridiculous‘ planning rules

This would not be a “free-for-all” for tall buildings, he said, but would enable viable, high-density residential development “where it makes sense”.

He also asked why much of the housing being built is in the suburbs and why the mix is not more diverse. “With fewer than 1,000 properties available for rent in Dublin and similar low levels in all our other cities, there is not just undersupply, but a gaping hole in the supply of affordable accommodation in the heart of our cities.”

Government figures reveal drop in Right to Buy purchases The number of homes sold by local authorities through Right to Buy fell by 23 per cent between April and June this year compared with the same period in 2016, according to statistics released by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

An estimated 2,601 homes were sold during the first quarter of this year in England, while 3,382 were sold in the same quarter in 2016-17.

In London, councils sold 503 homes in April to June 2017-18, down 45 per cent from the 921 sold in Q1 in 2016-17. London boroughs accounted for 19 per cent of the sales in Q1 of this year, a decrease of 8 per cent from 27 per cent a year earlier.

In the first quarter of 2017-18 local authorities received about £219.5 million

from Right to Buy sales, down by 23 per cent from £285 million, in comparison with the same period a year earlier.

The average receipt per home was £84,000, which was the same for the corresponding quarter in 2016-17.

To replace stock, councils started building 903 dwellings in Q1, 26 per cent more than the number for 2016-17.

Local authorities, the Homes and Communities Agency and the Greater London Authority have started building 13,623 homes since former Prime Minister David Cameron championed the Right to Buy policy in April 2012. n Right to Buy Sales in England: April to June 2017-18 can be found on the DCLG website (pdf): bit.ly/planner1117-right

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LEADER COMMENT

Opinionn This year’s RTPI Young Planners’ conference, being held in Manchester on 3 and 4 November, has the theme ‘Healthy, Happy Places and People: Planning for Well-being’. Kim Cooper, chair of the RTPI North West Young Planners, explains why she and her colleagues adopted these themes for the event – and for this issue of The Planner

– When I discovered during a school geography lesson that the life expectancy of residents within two wards of my home town Liverpool differed by as much as 10 years, I was shocked.

I wanted to understand why this was happening and was determined to fix it.

Being idealistic, I thought this would be straightforward.

Now, I have a better sense of the gravity of such a task, the complexity and difficulty of changing things that are so entrenched.

But still there’s that voice in my head, nagging at me:

State of the nation surely fostering communities that enable people to live healthy, happy lives is what all of us should be trying to achieve as planners?

In an environment of budget cuts and policy change, with limited resources and workplace stress, it’s not as easy as it perhaps should be for us to place well-being at the centre of our work. How exactly do we prioritise it?

How do we design healthy, happy places? How do

we instil a sense of calm and contentment among diverse communities with an enormous variety of aspirations and needs?

There is no quick fix.

Just starting to make an impression requires crossdiscipline working, support from public and private sectors, local champions and, of course, the involvement of the citizens in the areas that we’re trying to improve.

Over the past 12 months, my colleagues on the North West Young Planners Committee, together with Hannah and Helen from the RTPI, have worked tirelessly to deliver the 2017 RTPI Young Planners Conference.

We’ll hear from a host of speakers about how we can plan for well-being. We think

it’s an important topic – and apparently so do you: the conference sold out almost immediately.

This issue of The Planner, which I’m grateful to have guest edited, features the thoughts of young planners from the UK and around the world about how we can bring health and happiness to the fore in our work.

Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and think again about what planning and planners are for. We’re here to make the world a better place for people, right?

So let’s do that.

Kim Cooper is a town planner in the planning, policy and economics team at Arup in Liverpool. She is also an elected member on the RTPI General Assembly for 2017-18 and junior vice-chair of the North West Regional Management Board

From left, RTPI NW Young Planners Committee: Ian Ford, Sangeetha Banner, Matthew Dixon, Jonathan Harper, Carly Hinde, Kim Cooper; together with RTPI Young Planner of the Year Luke Coffey.

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£120 – UK £175 – Overseas Average net circulation 18,373 (January-December 2016) (A further 5,700 members receive the magazine in digital form) © The Planner is published on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) by Redactive Publishing Ltd (RPL), 17 Britton St, London EC1M 5TP. This magazine aims to include a broad range of opinion about planning issues and articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the RTPI nor should such opinions be relied upon as statements of fact.

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CHRIS SHEPLEY

O Opinion Why letters to the editor are not always written in green crayon I used to argue, persuasively but misguidedly, that councillors and planners should be banned from reading the letters pages of local newspapers.

This was on the basis that those who wrote were a self-selecting bunch, dominated by the retired and the eccentric, who could not be relied upon to represent the views of the population as a whole. Small numbers of self-important commentators wrote weekly, and expected the council to bow instantly to their wishes, on the basis that the letters page was a democratic forum that should determine policy and strategy.

It became obvious that many of these writers had more time on their hands than was healthy when, not so long ago, people found the time and the inclination to write to the editor about changes to the queuing system in the local post office. Armageddon was clearly nigh.

When I was a Chief Officer I was encouraged to write in response to some of the more extreme and ill-informed comments. I declined to do so. First, I thought that only a small number of people took any notice of the letters. And second, that any response would lead to an even more extreme and illinformed continuation of the correspondence; this is now compounded by the frenetic excesses of Twitter, and by below-the-line comments.

I was wrong, of course.

First, because some of the letters are sensible and well informed, and second, because we should as

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“PEOPLE THINK, PROBABLY MORE THAN EVER, THAT THE PLANNING SYSTEM IS SKEWED IN FAVOUR OF DEVELOPERS” planners take seriously the views of everyone, even the idiotic, and weigh them in the balance. And as a result of gazing at many of the recent contributions to our local rag I have noticed a few things.

One is that people do not like the operation of the free market. Another is that people think, probably more than ever, that the planning system is skewed in favour of developers. And a third is that people want the government to be far more interventionist and active. These common themes seem to contradict the

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prevailing orthodoxy of our current rulers.

An example where I live is student housing. This is the flavour of the month in university towns. Of course, the bubble will eventually burst and we will be left with finding other ways of using the buildings concerned (already some of it is allegedly being used for Airbnb lettings). Letter writers want a stop to this, and for the sites concerned to be used for affordable housing – and it’s pretty hard to disagree with this. But it’s equally hard to see how in a deregulated marketled system that could be brought about without major government intervention.

Similarly a very grand listed building has recently come on the market and been sold to a developer whose intentions are unknown and may well be laudable. Letter writers assume

not, and call for various arts facilities, museums and other public benefits.

Again, that would be nice, but it’s hard to see the owner eschewing the opportunity for more lucrative uses.

And there is much concern about the loss of independent shops in the town centre – again a real problem but one that needs to be seen in a wider context where subsidising rents is unlikely in the austere financial climate. The market has been responding predictably to outof-town shopping and the use of the internet.

But there is real anger about issues like this, and we should be concerned, for it spreads well beyond the letter-writing community. I’m a bit surprised that this is not more obvious – yet. I perceive that people are more angry than ever that they think their views are unheard, that ordinary people don’t matter any more, and that whatever a developer wants to do will be waved through by a council denuded of experienced planners.

I might write to the local paper about it.

Chris Shepley is the principal of Chris Shepley Planning and former Chief Planning Inspector I L L U S T R AT I O N | O I V I N D H O V L A N D

23/10/2017 10:47

Quote unquote FROM THE RTPI AND THE WEB

“A gaping hole in the supply of affordable accommodation” IRISH HOUSING MINISTER EOGHAN MURPHY ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE COUNTRY’S CITIES

“As we speak, universal credit is being discussed at the Tory conference; a post-austerity mindset is kicking in”

“There “Th ere is no reason why a number of factors ordinarily in themselves cannot combined to create something very special” INSPECTOR DAVID CLIFF DISCUSSING "HORSE INSEMINATION FACILITIES" IN GREEN BELT

JANICE MORPHET, SPEAKING AT THE RTPI SCOTLAND CONFERENCE ON ITS THEME OF SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

“70% of the oxygen we breathe as humans is produced by healthy functioning marine systems” JAMES GREEN, SENIOR POLICY OFFICER AT ORKNEY ISLANDS COUNCIL, ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MARINE PLANNING

“Net zero carbon emissions by 2030?

That’s just thirteen years away; within most of your working life times, you’ll be part of the fix” ANNE MCCALL, DIRECTOR OF RSPB SCOTLAND, ON TURNING ONE HELL OF A CHALLENGE INTO ONE HELL OF AN OPPORTUNITY I M AG E S | I STO C K / G E T T Y / S H U T T E RSTO C K

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“If everyone lived the way they wanted to live, we’d need three planets” ANDY VALENTI OF THE SCOTTISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SEPA PUTS THE DEMANDS OF FIRST WORLD LIVING INTO STARK PERSPECTIVE AT LAST MONTH'S RTPI SCOTLAND CONFERENCE

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Y O U N G P L A N N E R S S H A R E T H EI R V I E W S

SOAPBOX

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Ian Ford MRTPI is a senior town planner for Arup in Liverpool

I, planner

Jonathan Harper MRTPI is a senior associate at Rapleys LLP

Planning must keep up with town centre change

“So wha what is it that you actually do?” is a question that I often get asked at events. My role may seem obvious in planning circles but it’s understandable that people outside this group may not realise the benefits planners can bring to projects. The question leads me to simply state: “I help clients obtain consent for developments”; this often leaves me feeling despondent, as I know there’s more to the job than that.

Some people may think obtaining consents is straightforward and for some small developments it can be. However, when it comes to more complex projects, a good planner can help resolve a range of issues ranging from interpreting policy to section 106 negotiations.

Having a planner on board can enable a more robust and flexible consent, which is normally obtained more efficiently, saving time and money.

Planners can also act as micro project managers; we are often the glue that holds schemes together during the planning process. With my projects, I ensure that everyone is working to programme and team members are all on the same page. I make sure I have a general understanding and knowledge of other disciplines such as flood risk, ecology and heritage. This means keeping track of local and national policy changes and new legislation coming in (take the recent EIA amendments, for example).

Planners make certain that

applications are managed well and issues that may affect the process are picked up and resolved quickly.

I recently obtained consent for three neighbouring residential developments along Liverpool’s waterfront.

Three different developers, architects and design teams were involved; we were the only consistent consultant.

My role involved ensuring that all projects took account of one another to guarantee there were no major negative cumulative impacts and that a previously outline consent was not void due to these schemes. I had to constantly speak to the design team, which included a r c h a e o l o g i s t s, transport planners, wind modellers and architects. Having this overall understanding improved the planning process and quality of all the projects.

Planners provide valuable and realistic solutions to help projects move along. We understand planning procedure and anticipate the future, which allows us to be better prepared today. After all, anticipation is more effective than reacting to problems that arise due to poor planning.

So when next asked what I do, I won’t give my standard response.

Planners provide a wider service than that and are an important cog in the machine. We input into schemes where our skills can lead to more appropriate, more enhanced developments and therefore better places.

“WE ARE OFTEN THE GLUE THAT HOLDS SCHEMES TOGETHER DURING THE PLANNING PROCESS”

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ca Significant growth in online retailin has had a fundamental retailing impact upon the way consumers shop. Planning needs to keep pace with this seismic change.

In June, according to Internet World Stats, internet use in the UK reached 62 million users – almost 95 per cent of the population. The Office for National Statistics said online sales reached 16.2 per cent of all retail spend in the same month.

We are all spending more time on the internet, on computers, tablets, or smartphones. This has led to a scenario where the webpages or apps of retailers can be accessed instantly, products can be purchased and delivered on the same day they are ordered, and at a cheaper price than from a bricks-andmortar retailer.

Online shopping is forecast to continued growing for at least the next 10 years. In addition to the core retail sectors, online retailing has also expanded rapidly into services – banking, estate agency, travel agency and takeaway food delivery.

The ramifications for the property sector are already being seen, with less retail floor space being required in town centres and additional distribution space being needed to service the delivery of goods bought online.

Town centres have to diversify to attract consumers. We’re seeing a clear trend towards improving

customer experience through more food and leisure uses. These uses will ultimately attract people to town centres and make them want to spend time and money in these locations.

This shift ties in with the general aspirations of millennials, who appear to value experiences over owning things and place greater value on health and wellbeing. Thus we see more town centre gyms and yoga studios. We are also seeing a trend towards re-urbanisation – More people want to live in city centres to be near to these facilities and services.

This shift in the role of the town centre needs to be recognised through planning policy to ensure that it is suitably flexible to allow this wider range of uses to come forward.

There is no longer a place for restrictive policies that seek to prohibit any non-A1 retail use from coming forward. Indeed, there are some A1 retail uses that are better located outside of town centres.

There must also be recognition, particularly with regard to medium to low-order settlements, that many town centres are simply too big, with too much retail floor space, which is no longer required to serve the need it once met. These areas must not be protected for retail use in perpetuity and options should be pursued to release such sites for alternative uses.

“THERE IS NO LONGER A PLACE FOR RESTRICTIVE POLICIES WHICH PROHIBIT ANY NON­A1 RETAIL USE FROM COMING FORWARD”

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Have your say Would you like to see yourself in these pages?

Get in touch by email – editorial@theplanner.co.uk Topical, inspirational, angry or amusing – we consider all relevant comment

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Kimberley Airey is an environmental and planning student at the University of Liverpool

Must Brexit be bad for rural Britain?

So Brexit. Some of us rejoiced, some of us ha had a little cry, some of us stamped our feet in political tantrums. That’s democracy. For good or for bad, it’s happening, and at the end of it all we are still one Britain – one island nation heading into the great unknown, post-Brexit Britain.

The first steps in delivering Brexit to a divided nation have begun and the threat of change is lingering over rural affairs. Rural economies face an uncertain future without European subsidies and project funding.

Rural people have already undergone an economic shift with the need to diversify traditional activities to ensure an income they can live on.

E nv i r o n m e n t a l charity People Need Nature has reported that the consumer demand for lowcost produce has forced some farmers to accept only 9 per cent of their produce value, prompting the transformation of farms into B&Bs. This consumption-driven shift in land use from production to leisure has been exacerbated by our reliance on cheaper imports.

But with this, we ignore the contribution that rural economies can make to local and national sustainability and self-sufficiency.

In the village of Borth in midWales people have relied heavily on EU project funding. Tensions between farmers interested in draining Cors Fochno peat bog to preserve agricultural land and

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Sangeetha Banner is a planner and urban designer at URBED

Why we need to adapt our view of garden cities

conservationists insisting on protecting the ecological integrity of the UNESCO peat bog dominate discussion about the landscape.

It is EU-funded intervention that has defused these tensions. A water management project to mediate the effect of the peat bog on agricultural land has been commissioned with EU funding.

Without this, the farmers’ productivity and income would suffer. And, as a water mitigation strategy, farmers plant trees in the uplands; again, EU funding supports this land management and provides a sustainable income source.

Brexit could see changes to our rural landscape. But it is not just the economy and landscape that are threatened. Loss of funding for tree planting increases the flood threat.

About 75 per cent of Britain’s land is used for agriculture, which has a big role to play in underpinning sustainable rural communities. Yet we import 60 per cent of our produce. With the removal of EU policy and funding, it is once again up to the British government to support British rural affairs.

Brexit provides us with the chance to re-evaluate our agricultural system and start looking at the ability of our land to provide for the nation in a way that would sustain rural communities, and give our farmers a fair income in competitive local and national markets. Britain.

“BREXIT COULD SEE CHANGES TO OUR RURAL LANDSCAPE. BUT IT IS NOT JUST THE ECONOMY AND LANDSCAPE THAT ARE THREATENED”

Ebenezer Howard lived in a different world when he devel developed and advocated the principles for garden city living.

He sought an alternative housing solution to city centre slums, pollution and overcrowding and proposed his model, with the aim, I believe, of providing a more affordable and equitable means of development.

Garden cities are referenced in the government’s January 2017 announcement to support 14 new garden villages and three ‘newish’ garden towns.

But the extent to which development on these sites will align with the original garden city principles is questionable, mainly because the DCLG does not stipulate which principles must legally be met.

I believe that the original garden city principles can provide solutions to many current planning issues we are discussing at this year’s Young Planners’ Conference: sedentary lifestyles, climate change, and the decline in wellbeing, to name a few.

We therefore need to be mindful that we are promoting the original garden city values – providing public transport infrastructure, capturing land values, and providing mixedtenure communities etc, to implement healthier, more resilient new settlements.

We should not confuse this with the many car-oriented, low-

density garden suburb-type developments that I believe skew consumer views on what garden cities are about and create an unsustainable sense of entitlement surrounding new development.

I would urge my fellow planners to stand up for the original garden city principles and question clients, surveyors, engineers and colleagues who think more about the ‘garden’ part and less about the delivery and management of these new settlements.

Yes, we may get a few more of the homes we desperately need to curb house prices, but how happy, healthy and resilient will these communities be?

Big houses with multiple garages and long manicured lawns will not provide the compact, walkable neighbourhoods and densities necessary for viable public transport solutions and we all know where we should look for inspiration (case studies from the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany) and we also need to get better at promoting higher density and apartment living.

Research shows that accessible, walkable, mixed-use and socially active communities equal happier, healthier people, so be sure to advocate for the right type of garden city (in the right location) and call out those who are merely using the garden city agenda to rebrand unsustainable sprawl.

“WALKABLE, MIXED­USE AND SOCIALLY ACTIVE COMMUNITIES EQUAL HAPPIER, HEALTHIER PEOPLE”

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PLANNING FOR AN AGEING POPULATION

ILLUS

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hy do we planners do what we do?

For many of us, it’s to create healthier, happier communities.

Yet, after 70 years of statutory planning, we find many of our towns and cities clogged with cars and fogged with pollution, and with homes unaffordable for all but the few. They can be stressful places, poor for both our mental and physical health.

At their best, cities offer us with an astonishing variety of atmospheres and experiences; they reflect the many different ways we choose to live, juxtaposed and blended into a liberating whole. They are places of endless possibility.

Yet for every great public space, for every handsome street, for every surprising pocket park or example of great civic architecture, it seems, there’s a squalid corner, a poorly built

estate disconnected from its environment, a gleaming tower that, in the words of Will Self, is little more than a “parking garage for capital”.

Of course, a measure of imperfection and inequality can often be what gives a city its energy; but it’s hard to escape the idea that the discrepancies that increasingly characterise our cities are a kind of failure. Surely they can be better than they are?

At the Young Planners’ Conference, we’ll be asking ‘How are our cities failing us?’ Ahead of the discussion, we invited four young planners to share a few thoughts on some of the well-being challenges facing planners, and how we might address them.

A CENTURY AGO, WE HAD TEEMING SLUMS, OPEN SEWERS AND FILTHY AIR. MODERN CITIES HAVE THEIR OWN ISSUES. THIS YEAR’S YOUNG

PLANNERS’ CONFERENCE ASKS: ‘HOW ARE OUR CITIES FAILING US?’

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e se of th are tho yers ed here s lo s p e r m p e x heir ions e d not t The opin ners an al plan u id iv d in

CARS VS PEOPLE In 2016, the Department for Transport reported that there were 30.9 million cars registered in the UK. Car ownership had increased every year since the Second World War, with the exception of 1991.

Car dominance has emerged because of convenience and cost when set alongside a lack of investment in, and inefficiency of, sustainable transport. Our cities, new and old, have become car-centric.

The costs are numerous, but there are four areas in particular where this is a significant problem: Human health, via pollution and reduced exercise Climate change, via emissions Social and economic inequality, via ‘transport poverty’ – a limited ability to reach workplaces and lost productivity through time spent in congestion Urban design, via the impact that our road network has on how we feel about place, and our ability to move freely.

At present, there seem to be two solutions to these problems: embrace technology or invest heavily in physical infrastructure while tightening regulations.

Each is flawed. The development of the driverless car, for example, may improve efficiency and access. But will it also reinforce the idea that the car is the primary form of mobility in urban spaces?

Investment in infrastructure and regulation in favour of sustainable transport may make alternatives more efficient and cheaper. But this may be draconian and just not radical enough to change the culture.

There’s a third route that cuts through the congestion of ideas and allows for choice without over-regulation. We need to induce a shift in culture that begins with change to the way we plan and design places. We need a focus on sustainability, particularly in transport, to lead us away from our suburban model of development towards compact, self-sufficient places where people live and work within smaller areas.

“OUR CITIES, NEW AND OLD, HAVE BECOME CAR-CENTRIC!”

TOM GILBERT IS A SENIOR PLANNER IN PLANNING POLICY AT MEDWAY COUNCIL

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HOMES FOR ALL The number of people sleeping rough in England alone rose by 134 per cent between 2010 and 2016, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government. ernment.

It’s likely that’s an underestimate.

These are just the visible homeless. The charity Crisis reports that in 2016, 59,090 households were accepted as homeless in England; in Scotland, 28,247 applications were assessed as homeless; and in Wales, 7,128 households were threatened with homelessness.

The housing charity Shelter argues that, all told, there are more than 250,000 people homeless in England, with concentrations in cities such as London, Brighton and Birmingham.

Homelessness is a city problem. It’s also complex. Housing problems can in part be a planning issue (availability and affordability); rough sleeping is primarily a social welfare matter, exacerbated by reduced funding to care services that provide a safety net for people at risk.

Not all approaches to dealing with homelessness have been sympathetic. So-called ‘defensive urban architecture’ – specifically ‘anti-homelessness’ spikes to deter rough sleepers – has drawn heavy criticism.

On the other hand, ex-footballer Gary Neville was praised for allowing homeless people to stay in Manchester’s Stock Exchange building during renovation. Also in Manchester, Mayor Andy Burnham has pledged to end rough sleeping by 2020 with £1.8 million a year to build additional accommodation.

The planning system can offer longer-term solutions – most notably by increasing the supply and quality of housing, and ensuring that more people can access affordable homes.

But it’s not the job of any one sector to solve this crisis. We need a comprehensive approach to tackling homelessness that links national and local policies and agencies to address both the causes and the consequences of homelessness.

It’s only by focusing on both that we can genuinely help people to escape from poverty and begin to reach their potential.

“WE NEED A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO TACKLING HOMELESSNESS!”

CARLY HINDE MRTPI IS A SENIOR PLANNER AT TURLEY

23/10/2017 12:05

A TOUCH OF GREEN The percentage of people in the UK living in urban areas is anticipated to rise to 92.2 per cent by 2030, according to the World Resources Institute. We need to ensure they have sufficient access to the natural environment.

Evidence suggests that a large proportion of people do not regularly use green spaces because of a sense of vulnerability, insufficient connectivity, fear of crime, poorly maintained facilities, and in particular, poor lighting.

Yet we know there are powerful economic, as well as social, arguments for investing in green spaces. Successful open space can reduce crime and the cost of crime. It promotes well-being, improves health outcomes and reduces reliance on health services.

Green space causes people to value their neighbourhoods. It absorbs carbon dioxide, reduces flood risk, promotes biodiversity and reduces the costs of combating climate change.

Many of the most

“GREEN SPACE PROMOTES WELLBEING AND IMPROVES HEALTH OUTCOMES!”

CITY STRATEGY The planning system has increasingly sought mechanisms to improve health through a strategic approach to built development. The NPPF itself provides a national policy position through ‘Promoting Healthy Communities’, which encourages engagement with all parts of the community in local/neighbourhood plans.

But how does planning for well-being work at the scale of cities and city regions? The introduction of metro mayors is an opportunity to consider healthy places on a regional scale.

Taking a cross-boundary view, such as in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, k, enables housing sites under consideration to incorporate capacities of hospitals and GPs that may fall outside of the local plan area. Provision can be better allocated to ensure quality areas are retained while bringing sites forward for development. A strategic approach is also enabling a review of green spaces alongside community facilities. Considering their value as part of a spatial framework

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successful developments are those where high quality green infrastructure is integrated as a core design principle from the start. Why don’t we do it as a matter of routine?

There are planning challenges to address if we are to enjoy the benefits – notably proximity and linkages to green spaces.

Insufficient public footpaths and a lack of well thought-out cycle lanes, as well as the presence of wide and busy roads, deter use of green spaces.

Lack of local authority funding has affected their ongoing delivery and maintenance. This has led to developers and landowners needing to find new models for delivery and adoption.

We need to strike the right balance between the built environment and green space in our towns and cities. The government’s housing agenda is welcomed; but it could be linked more strongly to the provision of green open space.

As planners, we should make the case for making green open spaces an integral part of the development process in order to create balanced and healthy communities.

MARCIN KOSZYCZAREK MRTPI IS A SENIOR PLANNER AT RAPLEYS LLP

“IMPROVED DIGITAL CAPABILITIES CAN STRENGTHEN STRATEGIC PLAN-MAKING”

increases the likelihood that both are located to the greatest benefit to communities.

Improved digital capabilities can strengthen strategic plan-making.

In Manchester, the university’s health informatics division is working with local authorities to compile health data that informs the spatial plan, in a way that is responsive healt to demographic change. But the politicised nature of the mayoral approach to strategic planning can create challenges. Incoming a mayors will want to put their own stamp on plans and emerging plans, which can delay adoption of frameworks. This can leave local authorities unable to progress their own policy development as their own local plans and policies will need to align with the agreed spatial framework.

Timing of delivery will be the limiting factor to the aspiration for and success of new mechanisms to enhance placemaking to deliver healthy and happy people and places.

MATTHEW DIXON IS A PLANNING ASSISTANT WITH ZERUM PLANNING

23/10/2017 12:05

Y O U N G P L A N N E R S I N C O N V E R S AT I O N

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uke Coffey is the current RTPI Young Planner of the Year; Kim Cooper is chair of RTPI North West Young Planners. Both have strong opinions about planning in the 21st century.

What would happen, we wondered, if we put them in a room together, turned on the voice recorder and asked them to pick conversation topics out of a hat?

Kim and Luke’s views here are their own and not necessarily those of their employers.

“I don’t think we should be a profession where people fall into it ”

Topic 1. Future planners

and good students on that course went into different areas and development sectors, and they haven’t come back. We have to find better ways to encourage them back into the profession and be flexible.

I sort of fell into planning as a career. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t think we should be a profession where people fall into it. We should be a profession that people know about and want to pursue.

Kim: I definitely agree. People don’t know who we are or what we do, or just think we deal with conservatories or house extensions. I should have always wanted to be a planner but I didn’t know it existed as a profession. It was only once I completed my undergraduate degree in geography that I found out about it and I find that really sad, especially as I used to love to draw maps and plan imaginary cities as a child.

Luke: I’m keen to promote planning to younger age groups, particularly young students with an interest in geography and the social sciences, showing them that it’s a profession that is available to them and covers a broad range of sectors and disciplines. It’s not just plan-making and consents. You can be involved in socioeconomics, community engagement, urban design, environment appraisal, to name a few.

Kim: Do you think there’s a problem with people not coming through?

Luke: To a certain extent. There’s a lot of RTPIaccredited courses, with fantastic students coming through. I think where there may be a problem is when people finish their degree, they perhaps go into a different profession.

Keeping good people remains a challenge.

When I left university the market was down

HE SAID WE PUT TWO YOUNG PLANNERS IN A ROOM TOGETHER AND ENCOURAGED THEM TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT PLANNING. HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED. P H O T O G R A P H Y | PA L H A N S E N

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Luke Coffey MRTPI is a senior planning consultant at Mott McDonald in Birmingham and the RTPI Young Planner of the Year for 2017-18.

Kim Cooper is a town planner with Arup in Liverpool and chair of the RTPI North West Young Planners.

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Luke: I don’t see why there can’t be something on the high school geography syllabus related to planning. The teachers might not be aware of it themselves but there is a massive gap where we could bring it in.

Topic 2: Engaging with communities Luke: Now we've got social media it’s easier for us to showcase the profession using those tools, and also it’s easier to engage in local communities. So I think perhaps we need to explore how to utilise that to our best advantage.

Kim: I think we need to completely shake up the way we undertake community engagement as we’re really outdated in our approach. If we put a letter on a lamppost, how many people does that reach? If we’re not reaching everybody then we’re not getting broad views or taking everyone’s opinions on board. We need to use modern methods of reaching out and engaging with people to ensure that we’re reaching everyone, including the seldom heard.

Luke: I think to an extent it’s still tokenistic as well. It still seems to be a public exhibition, in certain cases

“If we put a letter on a lamppost, how many people does that reach?”

rather than engagement; getting people invested in a scheme from its initial concept as opposed to saying this is what we’re doing, what minor tweaks would you like.

Kim: I really think that some planners are arrogant when they see consultations as a tick box. How can they genuinely think that they know what is best for people without consulting those that are going to be directly affected?

Luke: It’s quite common for certain schemes to have already evolved prior to engagement. We should as a profession look to address this where necessary for certain schemes and areas. On the other hand though, you do get schemes that are completely community focused and the end results are brilliant to see.

Kim: Planning law needs to be better understood by planners as it has implications on the way we carry out consultations. I just think the process needs to be stronger and we need to train people in how to consult properly.

Topic 3: Planning for the 21st century Luke: I went to the Oxford Joint Planning Conference, and there was a lecturer there from Oxford University called Kay Rayworth, and she’s written a book on 21st century economics (Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist). She questioned why we’re still teaching students now about economic theories from the 1900s that are based on theories from the 1800s. She questioned the relevance of these economic theories to 21st century society.

I thought it was really interesting and I began to question planning theory and concepts that I was taught at university and whether nowadays we as a profession are innovating and putting forward our own concepts and ideas.

Have we become a sterile profession where we just operate in a system based on historic concepts? Should we be challenging and coming up with new ideas for the 21st century planning system? Those planners were seen as the solution – they solved problems relevant to era that they were in. Don’t we owe it to those pioneers to do that to our issues? This goes back to my point of getting people into our industry with business and industry experience.

Kim: I think that we can blame them in part for the public image that we have now.

The 1960’s slum clearance policies which I M A G E S | PA L H A N S E N

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demolished homes and built 30-storey tower blocks were hailed as a solution to poor quality housing and now we know that these ‘modern’ tower blocks were so damaging in many ways.

What we’re left with is a legacy of crime, pockets of poverty, destroyed communities, people getting poorly because they’re living in ‘sick buildings’.

We do have the emerging ‘smart cities’ agenda.

We can put sensors in buildings to monitor a whole range of activities, but that’s not something people would notice walking down the street. We need to innovate, but we need to be visual and vocal. And we shouldn’t forget that it’s all about what the individual really needs.

Luke: Our planning system needs to be able to pivot and adapt quite quickly to change, because while we’re in a plan-led system we’re making plans covering lengthy periods but the issues are not going to be the same over this period.

Kim: I wonder if part of that is empowering local authority planners to make decisions without having to rely too heavily on a plan. Don’t get me wrong, plans are important, but where a plan isn’t up to date we should look to the planner to decide the way forward.

Topic 4: The big issues Kim: A big challenge that’s coming forward is terrorism and as planners we need to create public realm and spaces that are safe without feeling like we’re living in hostile environments. As we’ve been saying, we don’t have a system that is flexible enough. Could we have predicted in 2012 with the new NPPF that terrorists would use vehicle attacks? We don’t want to have large concrete blocks down the sides of streets, which instantly make you feel uneasy, so how do we create resilient public realm?

Perhaps we could work closer with the police to understand emerging risks. Open source data sharing would be really key.

But who pays for ‘blast resistant’ technology on streets that we can withstand being hit by a lorry? Is that a local authority that should pay for that? How? Luke: I think housing is the challenge facing us now, and I don’t see it being resolved anytime soon. My concern is we’re going to let the need for supply to outstrip delivery in the right place and of the right quality. What we don’t need to be doing is delivering housing that isn’t going to be fit for purpose in 20 to 40 years’ time. I’ve recently bought a house, and went around relatively new built estates and some of them weren’t places that you would want to live long-term – they were already having issues.

Kim: The thing with housing that makes me really quite sad is that we have so much empty housing stock that we could be bringing forward. It’s all about reusing old housing stock to create a more sustainable solution for our communities. The Liverpool £1 Home Scheme is a great example of this.

Luke: I voted remain on Brexit, and a lot of the media is about how bad it is going to be for us, which I accept and it is a worry.

So many projects were – and are – EU-funded and there is a worry there will be a funding gap for key schemes. As it stands we’re leaving the European Union and as a profession I think

“A big challenge is terrorism – how do we create resilient public realm?” we should be looking at how we can mitigate the impact of the problem and drive the solution to any negative impact.

Topic 5: I like being a planner because…

Kim: It’s a really exciting time to be a planner.

What do you love about your job?

Luke:I love walking to work in the morning and seeing schemes that I’ve worked on. I’ve got to the point now that the schemes that I’ve worked on and completed are operational and I see people interacting with those spaces, and I know that it’s going to sound a bit of a cliché, but it is genuinely fantastic to see.

Kim: I want to leave this world better than the way it was when I joined it. I want to see projects get brought forward then schemes get delivered, and write strategy and policy to protect green space and support the delivery of sustainable communities. I absolutely love my job. It’s varied and challenging.

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I N T E R V I E W : C O M M U N I T Y B U I LD I N G

A WORLD IN MOTION IT’S NOT JUST IN THE UK THAT YOUNG PLANNERS ARE WRESTLING WITH THE CHALLENGE OF CREATING HEALTHY, HAPPY CITIES. FRANCESCA PERRY ASKED SEVEN EARLY CAREER PLANNERS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD HOW THEY’RE PLANNING FOR WELL­BEING IN THEIR TOWNS AND CITIES

H

ow does the experience of being a young planner differ in countries around the world?

How can early-career planning experts and enthusiasts contribute to the future of wellbeing in their cities?

As the RTPI young planners grapple with the challenges and opportunities of supporting healthier and happier places in the UK, we look farther afield and find out what can be learned from young planners in a variety of different contexts: Australasia, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

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“Planning for health and happiness is about creating places that are vibrant and inclusive” NICOLE BENNETTS is a senior planning adviser with City of Gold Coast, Australia The more you plan for making a city a happy place, the happier people get and the better your city becomes; it’s a circular thing. But in addition to planning for mental well-being, we equally have to consider physical well-being: does your city make walking and cycling desirable or do your citizens drive a car and not go outdoors?

Physical well-being is a culture, just like public transport use – but design makes it possible and desirable.

For me, planning for health and happiness is about creating places that are vibrant and inclusive.

Compact and connected urban villages are a great way y to achieve this – Gold Coast has a series of current planning focus is on these and our curre communities. The city has huge supporting diverse c potential and I hope we continue to achieve great design outcomes. a changing climate, and With digital disruption, disru elds, the future is one of constant innovation in all fie change. So it is our role r as urban planners to ensure results in improvements to our that hat this change resu environments urban environmen environment and communities. For me, it’s incremental improvements to about making incre embrace innovations and new in technologies that lead to effective and technolo technolog successful change. succe succes

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“Well-being is a core part of the sustainability advice we provide for our clients” HUDA SHAKA is associate director with Arup in Dubai, UAE Promoting well-being has long been one of the primary aims of planning. I believe planning is key to achieving happiness in cities – from facilitating physical activity in healthy environments to creating spaces that foster social interaction and community cohesion.

Dubai’s historic centre was walkable and allowed social interaction across diverse communities. But as the city expanded and developed, particularly during the 1990s and 2000s, it is clear the focus was speed of construction. However, over the past decade, there has been a return first to environmental priorities and now to the broader well-being and happiness agendas. This is supported by government initiatives.

My work involves advising authorities, developers, and designers on goals and strategies for more sustainable urban development. Wellbeing is a core part of the sustainability advice we provide for our clients, and it is addressed through the design strategies developed by our wider planning, infrastructure, and building teams.

My hope for urban planning in Dubai and the region is for it to be influenced by an open dynamic between the government, private sector and wider public. I am also looking forward to urban planning practices being more informed by locally relevant research and culture.

“I hope urban planning in Nairobi will be better understood as a tool for improving quality of life” MARK OJAL is partnership coordinator for Nairobi Urban Risk Partnership, Nairobi, Kenya Urban planning and design is the backbone of a happy city, which is not only important, but also necessary and urgent in fast-growing cities like Nairobi. Planning helps to ensure economic vitality, social cohesion, environmental quality, spatial justice, equality, health, well-being and quality of life in general.

Urban planning in Nairobi is largely seen to limit well-being, however, having been reduced to a tool for land distribution and speculation. But there are good od practices pra prac ractices actices happening ha that th need to be supported. My work includes: nclud nclu cludes: ludes: mob mobilising obilising bilising people p to understand various urban challenges nges and the th he he central role of planning, design, and cross crosssssector collaboration in solving them; em; reclaiming public spaces and advocating vocating for walkability and bikeability through gh placemaking; and making a health, th, economic, and environmental case se for public green spaces and urban design esign in general.

I hope that urban planning and d design in Nairobi will be better understood ood by policymakers, practitioners, the private sector, and the general public as a vital tool for improving quality of life, promoting health and well-being, g, strengthening local economies and building urban resilience.

At a personal level, I aspire to be a thought leader for sustainable ble urban development in Sub-Saharan ra ran Africa.

I L L U S T R AT I O N S | S H U T T E R S T O C K

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23/10/2017 14:19

“Our city has experi“O en enced a paradigm shift in the past five years” EDUARDO POMPEO MARTINS is Brazil lead for ED The Global Designing Cities Initiative, São Paulo, Brazil

“We are fortunate to have a very strong network of community advocates in LA” ANNA PECCIANTI is an urban planner and consultant in Los Angeles, USA “Well-being” in cities means having access to environments and resources that support the health and safety of your family and community – and I think this concern should be paramount to all planners. Planners can work with community residents (the experts of a place) to better understand the needs of the neighbourhood, including its most vulnerable populations.

We have a unique ability to address problems through an intersectional and interdisciplinary lens and I believe that when we do this with a goal of improving social, racial and environmental justice, we can increase health and safety and improve the quality of life for all residents. To me, the most inclusive spaces are the most successful.

We are fortunate to have a very strong network of community advocates in LA championing safer, healthier, more accessible neighbourhoods.

My hope is that LA begins to be better known for the vibrant, multicultural, unique place that it is, instead of for its challenges – and that the most underserved of LA’s neighbourhoods are given more resources and opportunities.

We should continue to focus on environmental justice as well as investing in transportation infrastructure. I want to support policies, programmes and initiatives that create safer, more accessible cities for our most vulnerable populations.

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In many cases in São Paulo, city-making is driven by developers’ interest only, improving quality of life exclusively for the affluent and deepening inequality, which is especially harmful in a country as unequal as Brazil.

However, our city has experienced a paradigm shift in the past five years. Our revised masterplan included a robust online and offline participatory process. The introduction of new cycling infrastructure, bus corridors and a reduction of speed limits has transformed the way people get around, moving towards a safer, more efficient, sustainable and democratic city.

There have been multiple initiatives aimed at reclaiming public space for people [with which I was involved when I worked in the ci city city ity government 2013-16]. Avenida Paulista, Pauliissta, sta, in the traditional financial centre, open ntre, is now op o pen fo pen for people (and closed to cars) Sunday. rs) every Sun Su unday. More unday. than 200 parking spotss were ere repl replaced rep replac by mini repla public spaces in one off the largest parklets programmes in the world. rld. The Centro Aberto erto rto project reclaimed more square e than 3,000 squa uare metres of neglected or privatised public publ pub ublic space in the city centre. e.

It is critical that planners nne find ways nners yss to transform cities from within, instead inste inst nstead of starting whole new developments. velopm elopm lopm opments.

I believe that by reshaping h in ourr streets, haping s rebalancing and ensuring ing a fair air distribution of space for or all sstreet users, cities can be profoundly ly transformed into healthier, safer, more sustainable ustainable and equitable places.

“MY HOPE IS THAT LA BEGINS TO BE BETTER KNOWN FOR THE VIBRANT, MULTICULTURAL, UNIQUE PLACE THAT IT IS, INSTEAD OF FOR ITS CHALLENGES”

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“It’s important for urban planners to set development limits and guidelines from the beginning” NATALIE LEUNG is a planner with Arup in Hong Kong

“City centre and infrastructure improvements have given citizens a place to celebrate and gather” IVA TAVANXHIU is an urban planner with the General Department of Planning and Territorial Development, Municipality of Tirana, Albania I chose the planning profession as I was captivated by the idea that a planner was able to improve cities and the well-being of their citizens. Planning stands as an overarching profession: it considers the scope a of multiple disciplines while making the best o decisions for citizens. In my work, I see how d planning can tangibly contribute to well-being. p Our planning department advocates cities for citizens and supports sustainability: from promoting c public transport and walkability to transforming p street parking into public space. Achieving this s vision might cause issues in the short term, but there v are a greater benefits in the long run.

Our latest local plan imagines Tirana in 2030 as a polyphonic, accessible, biodiverse and creative city, p showing how planning can contribute to quality of s life l and business prosperity. Various strategic projects are being proposed, including the p MetroBosco, a green belt around the city providing M major green space while preventing urban sprawl. m Recent city centre and infrastructure improvements R have given citizens a place to celebrate and gather, h and a improved the way they live and move in Tirana.

I hope that planning can become more accessible and a participatory, and that the vision for Tirana will remain intact regardless of political interest. I hope r we w will become a role model for a liveable, resilient European city. I would love to travel to study E international cities so that I can better contribute to i planning in my city, country, and even the world. p

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Hong Kong is pretty unique: with a small land area, it contains highly dense development that houses more than 7.3 million people. Because most of the land is already developed, new development tends to mean the removal or relocation of existing uses or residents, which leads to conflicts of interest or even confrontation.

Therefore the impacts of planning here can sometimes limit the well-being of some people.

To minimise this, it’s important for urban planners to set development limits and guidelines from the beginning and define important assets that need to be retained.

I’ve been increasingly involved in public participation in the planning process. Public engagement and citizen feedback is now necessary in every HK masterplanning project.

I think it’s very meaningful to listen to the needs of the people we plan for. Apart from typical masterplanning projec projects, j cts, ts, II’ve ve also wor worked rked on ‘soft’ rked sso soft oft projects enhancing well-being, ng gu urban well-being ng, such ass community building ding and placemaking placema mak making aking initiatives.

The social side e of planning ing ng is still at its early stage age here, her here ere, though. It’s hoped ed d that tth the public will learn more about bout planning – citizens ens ns n not only involved in the process rocess when impacted by it, but ut contributing con ideas to plannerss to better shape communities together. gether. I would love to take part in this empowerment process, and plan for a bright ight future for Hong Kong – the city where I grew up and am really y proud o of.

23/10/2017 11:56

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18/10/2017 14:55

“HOW DO WE IDENTIFY AND TRACK DOWN SUCH A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE, WHO ARE BY NATURE ‘SILENT’?”

THE SOUND OF

SILENCE E

very weekend, at least three TV shows invite viewers to vote for their favourite would-be pop star/ celebrity dancer/vaguely famous person in the jungle. Millions take up the offer.

We’re also more than ready to dish out our opinions on Twitter and Facebook. We’ll even pitch up at polling booths for general elections in decent enough numbers.

We’re a democracy. The public voice is embedded in our culture. So why do we not bother to turn out for local elections or, say, planning consultations that will have a direct impact on our immediate environment?

As planners, we’re accustomed to seeing the same faces walking through the door. It’s great that people get involved; it’s not great that a committed few end up having a disproportionately loud voice. What about everyone else, the silent majority?

“How do we identify and track down such a large group of people, who are by nature ‘silent’?” asks recent Manchester University graduate planner Fola Kalesanwo. “How can we determine the reasons for people remaining silent? Could it be due to a reluctance to speak up, or a lack of opportunity? Moreover, do different groups remain silent for different reasons?”

I M AG E | S U PE RSTO C K

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INCLUSIVITY IS AN ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESSFUL PLANNING, SAYS KIM COOPER. BUT THERE’S A PROBLEM – PLANNERS DON’T HAVE A GREAT TRACK RECORD IN REACHING THE ‘SILENT MAJORITY’ Planning, in a democracy, ought to be ‘inclusive’, to record the views of a variety of people. As Simin Davoudi, Newcastle University planning professor (interviewed overleaf), notes: “Inclusivity, like democracy and justice, is one of the underpinning principles of planning.”

The success of TV shows like The X-Factor reveals two lessons for planners: 1. We need to make it much easier for people to participate.

2. We need to make more effort to promote participation by making meaningful connections with those whose voices aren’t being heard.

After all, if we don’t understand the needs of large pockets of our populations, how can we even begin to plan for them?

“Listening to the silent voices requires more proactive and imaginative ways of engaging with people,” insists Davoudi. “These are often undermined by the formal procedures of NOOVEMB CTO B E R 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

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I N C LU S I V E P L A N N I N G

planning, the emphasis on speed, and the disregard for the value of people’s everyday life experiences.”

The barriers we face to meaningful engagement are within the planning system itself and within us as a body of planners.

Possibly the biggest systemic barrier is access to accurate, up-to-date data. Given that you’re probably relying on a six-year-old census, how much do you actually know about the population in your area? Facebook has better data about the opinions of the population you serve than you do.

There’s much to be learned from social media, but also from the way businesses compile customer data, and even grassroots activism. How are the members of these groups connecting with and motivating each other?

To start with, we probably need to do away with the idea of majorities. We are not homogenous. Every community is actually composed of a web of larger or smaller minorities, with many points of intersection.

“Small children, students, young professionals, immigrants, the elderly… it is very unlikely that these groups would all respond well to the same approach,” says Kalesanwo.

So what will they respond to? One suggestion is that we build community engagement within school subjects like PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) or civics. We might learn also from the Norwegian Barnetråkk (‘Kids’ Tracks’) project that uses interactive digital maps to explore children’s understanding of their environments.

Technology is our friend. 3D printing has been used in Thamesmead in London to create an easy-to-visualise model of planned development. There’s virtual reality, too. By making something abstract as tangible as possible, we can engage people more concretely.

Mastery of social media is a necessity. So, too, is sheer graft. For the Thames Tideway Tunnel, planners consulted with some 900 community groups. Doing it properly brings its own rewards, by creating schemes that sit well within their communities.

Kalesanwo also points out another area that needs addressing urgently. “Planners should strive for greater diversity within the planning profession itself,” she says. “With greater diversity comes a wider representation of the different groups of society who may be better placed to advocate for their less-heard counterparts.”

The RTPI and major employers have a huge part to play in attracting a wider range of

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Q&A: What difference does it make?

Simin Davoudi FRTPI (SD) is professor of environment policy and planning and director of Global Urban Research Unit (GURU) at Newcastle University.

She will be speaking about planning for the silent majority at the Young Planners’ Conference in Manchester on 3 November.

Does planning need to become more ‘inclusive’?

SD: An inclusive process aims to take into account the concerns of all people who are affected by planning decisions. This should include what Arthur Skeffington (whose 1969 People and Planning report led to the establishment of formal consultation in planning) called ‘joiners’ and ‘nonjoiners’, referring to members of organised groups who are capable of making their voices heard and those who are systematically excluded from the planning processes.

We don’t use these terms anymore, but the principle is as relevant today as ever. Listening to the silent voices requires more proactive and imaginative ways of engaging with people. These are often undermined by the formal procedures of planning, the emphasis on speed, and the disregard for the value of people’s everyday life experiences.

What does an ‘inclusive’ outcome look like?

SD: An inclusive outcome is a fair outcome that benefits many, rather than a few. Its aim is to achieve a more equitable distribution of benefits and burdens. Planning cannot claim inclusivity if its cumulative outcomes are making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Some of the injustices that are happening in many parts of the country and especially in London should be of great concern to planners as well as other welfare-oriented professions.

Why should we go to the effort of accommodating the requirements of minority groups?

SD: The functioning of a democracy is often judged by how it celebrates diversity, how it accommodates legitimate concerns of minorities, and how it cares for vulnerable groups in the society.

Assuming we do carry out ‘inclusive’ planning, what difference does it actually make?

SD: There are inescapable interdependencies between inclusive processes and inclusive outcomes. One cannot be achieved without the other.

Inclusive planning processes improve social capital and engender alternative outcomes, while inclusive planning outcomes create better places and make participation meaningful.

“LISTENING TO THE SILENT VOICES REQUIRES MORE PROACTIVE AND IMAGINATIVE WAYS OF ENGAGING WITH PEOPLE”

people into the profession. Unless we as planners represent the numerous constituencies we plan for, there’s little chance we can engage with them in ways that are meaningful.

Inclusivity isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a real thing that makes a tangible difference to the places we live, work and play. And what we often find is that the more we extend ourselves into our ‘silent majority’, the better the places we create for everyone.

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23/10/2017 11:52

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raditionally, there have been two clear directions for planners entering the job market: public sector or private sector. Each has pros and cons, and the common view is that planners in each require a different skill set to excel.

Graduates and young planners I talk to generally agree that public sector planning offers better work-life balance and job security; private sector planning, they say, offers greater prestige and a higher salary.

But the market is changing, and there are abundant opportunities across both sectors for young planners with up-to-date knowledge, perhaps some experience, and willingness to work hard and learn. What we’re seeing is greater flow between the two sectors than in the past, and a desire among employers to see young planners with skills traditionally associated with the ‘other’ sector. For example, local authorities are seeking young planners with commercial acumen; consultancies like candidates with development management skills.

Traditional boundaries are dissolving. For young planners, this means there’s an abundance of opportunity to build a strong and diverse portfolio of work and skills. But how best do you take advantage of that?

We’re also seeing more young planners taking up contract work as a career choice. Traditionally, it was retired professionals who went down this route, but the fast pace, flexible hours and competitive rates are a real draw for those starting out in a changing job market.

What are the benefits? Contracting can be an attractive halfway house between permanent employment and self-employment that offers independence, freedom of movement and strong sense of ownership over work.

With agencies such as Oyster Partnership taking on administration and accounting, the pressure of owning and running one’s own practice is eased.

Contracting also enables planners to mix private and public sector work more freely and build the diversity that modern employers like to see. Young planners can also build good networks through contracting and, critically, develop a valuable adaptability – to new situations, people, systems, geographical areas and planning sectors.

Whether for the short term or the long, contract working can give planners the skills to be a valuable asset to either a local authority or a private consultancy. If you’re undecided about the direction you’d like your career to go in, it’s definitely worth considering.

Oyster Partnership is a headline ne sponsor of the Young Planners’ Conference ence 2017 www.oysterpartnership.com/ com/

www.rosconngroup.com KATIE AYRE is a senior consultant nt with Oyster Partnership Rosconn HPV.indd 1

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23/10/2017 10:52

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32

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We’re looking for talented and ambitious planners to strengthen our Planning and Development department.

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We are seeking passionate individuals, from new graduates to people who hold a built environment qualification but are not currently engaged in this field. We will give you paid leave to complete your studies if you wish to gain a professional qualification, as long as you do not already hold an accredited master’s degree.

Paradise Birmingham is one of the city’s biggest current schemes, creating a vibrant mixed use development with office, hotel, civic, leisure and retail space

TALK TO US “HAVING BEEN PROMOTED TO PRINCIPAL PLANNING OFFICER AT THE LARGEST LOCAL AUTHORITY IN THE COUNTRY, I FEEL EXCITED ABOUT WORKING ON A CHALLENGING AND VARIED CASELOAD. BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK ON HIGH PROFILE PROJECTS, IN THE CITY CENTRE AND ACROSS SUBURBAN AREAS, MANY UNDERGOING SIGNIFICANT TRANSFORMATION.” JOANNE MCCALLION, PRINCIPAL PLANNING OFFICER

IF YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT DELIVERING CHANGE AND SECURING THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF DEVELOPMENT, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. FOR INFORMAL ENQUIRIES ABOUT ANY OF THE ROLES PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF OUR FOLLOWING TEAM MEMBERS: Principal Planning Officer positions – Peter Barton Email: peter.barton@birmingham.gov.uk Tel: 0121 464 7789 Senior Planning Officer positions – Doug Lee; Email: doug.lee@birmingham.gov.uk Tel: 0121 464 9858 Graduate Officer positions – Joy Anibaba Email: joy.anibaba@birmingham.gov.uk or Tel: 0121 303 7881 The closing date for applications is 17th November 2017

“Documentation confirming your right to work in the UK will be fully checked for all applicants. All non UK and non EU applicants are required to apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship from Birmingham City Council and must be approved by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) before any employment offer can be confirmed.”

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Tech { L A N D S C A P E

THE VEHICLE AS WEAPON – A NEW CHALLENGE FOR PUBLIC REALM PLANNING THE LAST YEAR HAS SEEN VEHICLES USED AS A WEAPON IN SEVERAL ATTACKS ACROSS EUROPE. ARUP’S TOM PARTINGTON, RYAN JUDGE, AND RICHARD BOND OUTLINE THE TECH ABLE TO PROVIDE PROTECTION IN THE PUBLIC REALM Terrorist attacks in recent years have shone a spotlight on the safety and security of urban public realm. Some of the most devastating of these attacks have featured the use of vehicles as a weapon (VAW), with attackers deliberately driving into crowded areas, aiming to inflict as many casualties as possible. In Western Europe alone there have been 10 attacks in the past year, with the most severe resulting in 86 fatalities and more than 450 injuries in Nice in 2016.

The effectiveness of these attacks, combined with the ease of obtaining a

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vehicle, means this attack method is likely to remain a threat for the foreseeable future.

Protecting the public while also providing high-quality liveable spaces presents a significant challenge to the planners, architects and designers of the urban realm.

A load of bollards Venture into any city centre and you will see pedestrianised areas protected by lines of fixed bollards. These systems are the mainstay of Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) provision, and provide an excellent

level of protection that can easily be incorporated into most schemes at a reasonable cost. But although affordable and effective, these systems can have negative effects on pedestrian traffic flow, aesthetics, and the flexibility of use they allow.

As designers, we should look to mitigate or overcome these impacts wherever possible. Both recent and near-future technological advancements are providing an ever-expanding toolkit to achieve this, offering opportunities to conceal physical HVM systems or remove them altogether.

The future is digital Modern HVM systems can often be disguised as street furniture, such as planters, benches and public artwork.

Landscaping can also be used, raising pedestrian areas above surrounding roadways to prevent vehicle incursion. Such options reduce the visual impact of HVM, however, the larger size of these systems compared with traditional bollards increases their impact on pedestrian traffic flows and limits their use to larger open spaces. These systems also don’t address the increasing flexibility of use being demanded of inner city areas that aim to be smarter.

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LANDSCAPE P34 TECH P36 REGIONAL P40 DECISIONS P50 PLAN B P51 ACTIVITY The solution to these challenges may lie in digital technology, using the increased connectivity of modern vehicles and the rise of self-driving technologies to prevent vehicles being used as weapons; or using automation to overcome the constraints of fixed physical HVM systems.

As vehicle connectivity increases, opportunities for geo-fencing are becoming available, where data networks are used to prevent vehicles from passing a digital perimeter. Looking further ahead, the permeation of self-driving vehicle technology in the marketplace offers further opportunities. Onboard computer systems could override driver inputs to stop vehicles speeding in urban areas, reducing the possible impact of an attack, or they could force vehicles to stop if they leave the roadway. As this technology develops, vehicle control may be taken out of human hands completely, potentially removing any need for physical HVM systems.

Alternatively, some of the key drawbacks associated with fixed HVM systems could be mitigated through automation. Networks of HVM drone systems could allow barriers to be adjusted at will, quickly and easily changing the size of pedestrianised areas as required. Such systems would allow large areas to be rapidly closed off to protect events, or could allow road networks to be adjusted through opening and closing vehicle routes to adapt to traffic flows.

These are just some of the advancements being considered by experts in the field – it remains to be seen what the future holds. n The authors work in the Resilience, Security and Risk practice at Arup. If you’d like to learn more, contact the authors via ryan.judge@arup.com

UBER MOVEMENT: ENTICING PLANNERS WITH TRAFFIC DATA Over the past five years there has been a growing trend in tech companies contributing to the rise of the sharing economy. Go-to examples Uber and Airbnb provide low-cost alternatives to established taxi and hotel models subject to local regulations.

Just as it becomes embroiled in a legal battle with Transport for London over passenger safety concerns and driver checks, Uber has released a new tool for the analysis of traffic data. Aimed to assist city planners and policy-makers, ‘Uber Movement’ collates route and traffic data from every journey over the past six-and-a-half years, presenting it in an interactive mapping service.

The service highlights traffic movements in a city, including speeds,

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bottlenecks, capacity and preferred paths during peak times. Data allows the user to spot potential areas of congestion, for example, during major events or problems with public transport. The data could also be used to identify areas of over-reliance on the car, informing studies on effective locations for park-and-ride schemes, new transport interchanges, and rental bike stations.

The service is currently only available in a handful of US cities, however, the company intends to roll out the data for most cities they operate in.

Andrew Jalali MRTPI is a planning consultant at Mosaic Town Planning.

For more information: bit.ly/planner1117-cities

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H O W C A N T E C H N O L O G Y I M P R O V E P U B L I C C O N S U LT A T I O N ?

Attending a public consultation event in a community hall is an all-too-familiar sight. So how can technology provide a more inclusive and digitally driven planning process?

City Swipe is a public consultation app, under development in America, which allows residents to provide instant feedback on development scenarios.

The app shows residents an image and a question relating to a different element in the city, with a simple Yes or No

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answer option (swipe right for yes, left for no. Sound familiar?) The feedback is then incorporated into the City of Santa Monica’s Downtown Community Plan, which guides the future of the city for the next 15 years.

Closer to home, Greater Manchester’s Open Data Information Map provides a suite of publicly planning information.

It collects a range of information on the transport and utility network, property prices, brownfield register sites, heritage

assets and planned investment. A separate map shows the proposed site allocations within Greater Manchester, together with those sites that were promoted by residents and developers.

This database provides the public with a transparent and accessible database, usually only available to council planners with the software.

Robin Jones is an assistant planner at CBRE

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LANDSCAPE

Nations & Regions focus { THE SOUTH WEST

Joining the dots At 23,800 sq km, the South West is the largest of the nine English regions.

Bigger than Wales, it stretches from Gloucestershire to the Channel Islands.

Although it has seen urban growth in recent years, half of the region’s 5.5 million residents live in towns and villages of fewer than 20,000 people.

Much of the rest of the population is concentrated in larger urban areas that include Greater Bristol, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch – growing, dynamic and youthful cities with economies based on modern industries.

To some extent, this reflects a transition from agriculture, mining and other traditional industries to urban economies, where science, tech and higher education dominate.

Nevertheless, the region as a whole retains a low-density rural character.

With its mild climate, two national under way but in other areas, such as parks and dramatic coastline – some of broadband connectivity, there’s is work it World Heritage Status – it attracts 25 to do. million visitors a year, and In terms of energy tourism is essential to the provision, however, the “THE AREA regional economy. region is building a strong ATTRACTS One consequence is foundation. It has long 25M VISITORS that part-time seasonal been a leader in renewable A YEAR, AND work is common and the energy and now the £20 TOURISM IS South West is economically billion Hinkley Point ESSENTIAL TO polarised.

C scheme, a project of THE ECONOMY” Areas of affluence mask international importance, is average incomes below the finally under way. national mean. Average The foremost issue for house prices are 7-10 times planners in the South West the average income, more is how to join the dots and in places. The South West is one of the balance the development necessary least affordable places in the UK. to create thriving economies without Transport connections, historically harming the aspects that make the South patchy, are improving. Mainline railway West special – its renowned natural electrification and the £2 billion South environments.

West roads investment strategy are now It’s no easy challenge.

MAJOR PROJECTS 1. Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station This is the largest single construction project ever in the region, with an estimated build period of 10 years. Though controversial – not least because of costs – the development is expected to create up to 25,000 jobs during construction and 900 jobs over its 60-year life span. n bit.ly/planner1117-hinkley

2. A30/A303/A358 trunk road improvements Improvements to some of the region’s main traffic arteries were unlocked by the government in 2014 through a £2bn investment strategy. The plan includes

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a highly contentious tunnel near Stonehenge approved this year. n bit.ly/planner1117-roads

3. Great Western Railway Electrification Although subject to delays and recently scaled down, the scheme will see new ‘dual-mode’ electric/diesel Hitachi trains running on the main line out from Paddington and quicker journeys from London to Bristol and South Wales.

1.

2.

4. Exeter/East Devon Growth Point A long-term strategic development partnership catering for housing and employment growth within and to the east of Exeter. n bit.ly/planner1117-exeter

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4.

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The South West Insight: The infrastructure challenge Andrew Goodchild MRTPI is assistant director for place and energy infrastructure of Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council.

It is all systems go in this part of the South West. The Hinkley Point C (HPC) project has been live for over a year, with 2,000 workers on site each day and key infrastructure taking shape. Worker accommodation, office buildings, road improvements and a temporary aggregate jetty are all under way.

But the HPC project itself is not the only game in town, with National Grid’s Hinkley C Connection DCO consent about to begin, garden town

with partners to bring forward development is now all part of dayto-day activity. Leading the council’s input to the Hinkley Point C project has led me to appreciate a number of things that are readily transferable to daily planning life: 1. When dealing with a large project, it’s important to retain control – whether during an examination, the promotion of a scheme or an application/appeal. Technical advice and legal input matter, but the planner needs to make the final call.

2. The process itself will not deliver the right result; the spatial and community awareness that

Valuable skills

status being awarded to a major urban extension of Taunton, and Highways England promoting a third Somerset NSIP (Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project) to upgrade the A358. All have the potential to make a lasting difference to our communities.

As a planner, life is not simply about assessing the relative merits of schemes. It is now much more about spotting the opportunities of joined-up thinking and funding. Influencing the shape of bids to government, shuffling budgets to maximise limited but essential ‘match funding’ and working

planners can bring to a discussion is significant. Our role should make a real difference to any situation, through maximising positives, minimising negatives and building meaningful relationships.

The success of big projects is down to the strength of partnerships.

The fact that our partnerships in the South West are so strong and lasting will hopefully mean we can secure the investment required to deliver both nationally significant infrastructure and the legacy for the local area.

Planning skills required in the South West are extensive and varied, as are public and private sector employment opportunities. Big energy and transport infrastructure will require specialist expertise over many years; large-scale residential planning skills are necessary to support growth in towns and cities, not to mention the ability to plan for employment and economic development.

The South West’s 43 planning authorities continue to require young planners to tackle the range of rural and urban challenges. Although opportunities within central government agencies are now limited, there are others within green organisations based in the region, such as the Soil Association and SUSTRANS. The private sector is flourishing, with more than 80 independent consultants operating in the region and larger firms including WYG, Peter Brett Associates and Savills/Smiths Gore operating nationally as well. The region’s two university planning schools, UWE Bristol and Plymouth, continue to attract and develop research and consultancy expertise. There is much to do for a planner who relishes a challenge.

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LANDSCAPE

The South West

The Old Railway Quarter, Swindon

RECENT SUCCESSES The Old Railway Quarter, Swindon The joint winner of the RTPI South West’s Excellence in Planning Delivery award 2017 is a high-density, 201-home scheme on the last major land parcel of the Railway Works Conservation Area. The once-contaminated site has been revitalised through restoration and reuse as apartments of an historic listed building, alongside sensitive new-build housing. The project is a partnership between specialist housebuilder Thomas Homes Ltd and Swindon’s conservation and planning officers.

e, Army Basing Programm

Salisbury Plain

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Army Basing Programme – Creating Sustainable Communities on Salisbury Plain The region’s Excellence in Planning Decision winner is a £1.2bn project to deliver new facilities at five locations within the Salisbury Plain training area for 4,300 troops and their families returning from Germany by 2020. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation is overseeing the project, together with partners that include Wiltshire Council.

Water Space Project, Bath The overall winner of the South West’s 2017 planning awards is an unusual spatial planning project that addresses issues and identifies improvement projects along a neglected 16-mile River Avon and Kennet & Avon Canal corridor.

The project is the result of extensive partnership working co-ordinated by Bath & North East Somerset planners.

Signposts RTPI South West is represented by a seven-strong Regional Management Board (RMB) chaired by David Lowin of Lowin Associates. The RMB is supported by a 24-member Regional Activity Committee. Both committees are supported by six working groups that prioritise activities such as environmental education, CPD, policy and research and Planning Aid. n RTPI South West web pages: www.rtpi.org.uk/southwest n RTPI South West newsletters: Branchout, published four times a year. The 2014 centenary issue offers an overview of 100 years of planning in the area: www.rtpi.org.uk/swnewsletters n 2017 South West briefing note: www.rtpi.org.uk/southwest n RTPI South West CPD programme. At least 12 events a year across the region: www.rtpi.org.uk/southwestevents n Annual dinner: www.rtpi.org.uk/swannualdinner n Young planners: The region has a growing young planner representation with groups in the West of England, Devon and Cornwall and the newly formed Dorset Young Planners Group: www.rtpi.org.uk/swyp n Email: southwest@rtpi.org.uk n Tel: 0207 929 8190 n Twitter: @RTPISouthWest n Find your RTPI region: www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you

Next month:

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23/10/2017 14:21

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NO VE MB ER 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

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DiF { D

DECISIONS IN FOCUS

Decisions in Focus is where we put the spotlight on some of the more significant planning appeals and court cases of the last month – alongside your comments. If you’d like to contribute your insights and analyses to future issues of The Planner, email DiF at editorial@theplanner.co.uk HOUSING

Council pays for refusing 285 homes ( SUMMARY An inspector has ordered Northumberland County Council to pay costs for causing an unnecessary appeal by withholding permission for 285 homes, calling its approach to National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) paragraph 14 “wrong and unreasonable”. ( CASE DETAILS The appeal relates to land close to New Hartley, a village near Newcastle.

Inspector Kenneth Stone noted documents showing that the council had not vetoed housing development on the site in the past, and “had indeed supported it”.

Notwithstanding this, the council maintained its refusal.

The council described the site as a valued “wild and tranquil” landscape, but under cross-examination conceded that it has “urbanising features” of no special interest.

Stone decided the site should not be considered a valued landscape, and that any harm to a nearby conservation area and nondesignated heritage asset would be insubstantial.

The council raised concerns that a population increase would overwhelm village facilities. Stone disagreed, noting that the site has regular buses and was accessible by bicycle.

On housing supply, the council stated that it could show a supply of housing sites that would be “sufficient to more than meet likely housing

requirements over five years”, despite having failed to calculate an objectively assessed need (OAN). Stone found that without an OAN, there was no way the council could prove its supply. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The council said the tilted balance in NPPF paragraph 14 should not be engaged despite these findings, because other NPPF policies should take precedence, citing paragraphs 134 and 109 – on heritage assets and valued landscapes. Engaging the tilted balance, Stone ruled that the scheme’s benefits outweighed its harm. He said the council must pay full costs to the appellant for causing an unnecessary appeal, “delaying development which should clearly have been permitted”.

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E Appeal Ref: APP/ P2935/W/16/3164573

HOUSING

National park home refused Northumberland County Council has been criticised for causing an ‘unnecessary’ appeal

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( SUMMARY Plans for an isolated home in the South Downs National Park (SDNP)

have been blocked after an inspector said it would be inappropriate development despite its “highly commendable” design. ( CASE DETAILS The appellants sought permission to build a large, single-storey “lifetime home” on a paddock near Oxenbourne, a hamlet in the SDNP. The application was produced by Hughes Planning LLP, a specialist in ‘paragraph 55’ houses – homes allowed in rural locations because of their “truly outstanding and innovative design” in line with NPPF paragraph 55.

The design was supported

by Design South East (DSE), an independent panel of experts providing “impartial design advice” on built development in the region.

It called the scheme “an exceptional proposal worthy of approval within the definition of paragraph 55”.

According to the South Downs National Park Authority’s core strategy, the countryside should be protected from development “for its own sake”, and new buildings should only be permitted in light of a “genuine and proven need for a countryside location”.

The appellants said protecting the countryside

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An inspector has halved affordable housing provision for a scheme in Skipton to 20 per cent to make it viable

for its own sake is inconsistent with the NPPF, and so paragraph 55 should be weighed against it as a material consideration.

Inspector Grahame Gould rejected this argument, noting that although the local development plan preceded the NPPF, it had since been “found sound”. Observing the nearby “rolling farmland” landscape, he considered that new development of even high-quality design would diminish Oxenbourne’s “loose pattern of development”.

building had satisfied the requirements of Paragraph 55, has been ignored. This could set a dangerous precedent. This Design Review Panel is composed of well-renowned design experts (including the internationally acclaimed Graham Morrison of Allies and Morrison, and Kim Willkie, landscape architect and academic).”

WENDY PERRING Is the director of PAD Studio

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E Appeal Ref: APP/

( CONCLUSION REACHED Gould said although there was “much to commend about the innovative nature of the house’s design”, he could not allow it to be built in the sensitive location.

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(4 ANALYSIS

( SUMMARY A 103-home scheme in Skipton, North Yorkshire, approved subject to 40 per cent affordable housing provision, can be built with half that amount, says an inspector. It follows the developer’s successful challenge to the council’s affordable housing policy at the High Court.

[1] WENDY PERRING Wendy Perring, DSE board member and director of PAD Studio, the architecture firm behind the building’s design, told The Planner that the inspector’s rejection of the paragraph 55 argument could set a “dangerous precedent”.

“The inspector has adopted the attitude that the act of building can only ever be a destructive, not a constructive, act. As a practice, we believe that if a building is completely rooted to its landscape and setting, and that these qualities are reflected in the highest standards of architecture, that such a building can enhance a landscape, entering into intellectual dialogue with the place and revealing beauty.

“We do not believe that beauty in architecture is subjective – it is objective and quantifiable. The view of the Design Review Panel, who deemed that this

HOUSING

High Court halves affordable homes element

( CASE DETAILS Full permission for the scheme was awarded to Skipton Properties in 2013 subject to a section 106 agreement to provide 41 affordable units, reflecting a condition of the outline approval that required 40 per cent affordable housing.

After building 10 houses, the developer was allowed to change the type of the remaining 93 homes and then sought to remove a condition in that permission requiring 40 per cent to be affordable.

When this was refused,

another application to reduce the requirement to 20 per cent followed; this was also refused, leading to the appeal.

Craven District Council opposed it on the grounds that the authority aims to provide affordable homes, however, it was unable to cite a specific policy because no saved policies from its 1999 local plan refer to affordable housing, and the emerging local plan, which seeks a defined rate of 40 per cent, was still at an early stage of preparation.

The council sought to reinforce its affordable housing position in August 2016 by producing a supplementary planning guidance document (SPD), which stated a requirement of 40 per cent.

But the developer took its case to the High Court, where the SPD was quashed and the council was told to pay costs of up to £40,000.

At the appeal inquiry three months later, the developer said that in the absence of the SPD and any saved policies on affordable housing, the 40 per cent requirement could not be justified, and would in any case render the scheme unviable. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Assessing the development’s viability, inspector A Jordan considered that as a “worst-

case scenario”, which provides a contingency of 3 per cent, Skipton Properties could deliver an affordable housing rate of 40 per cent at a profit level of 18-19 per cent. She said in an area with a need for affordable housing there was no reason why 40 per cent provision would threaten the plan’s viability.

Based on the district’s identified need and the “impetus for its provision” in the NPPF, she said failure to provide any would have a “significantly harmful effect”. But as there was no policy to secure it, it would be “unreasonable in this case” to seek a 40 per cent provision and 20 per cent would be acceptable. The developer agreed, and the appeal was allowed.

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E Appeal Ref: APP/ C2708/W/16/3150511

TRAVELLER SITES

Traveller pitches approved in Kent ( SUMMARY An inspector has allowed eight traveller pitches near Canterbury because of “personal and general need”, despite the government’s technical adjustment to the

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DiF { D NPPF preventing travellers from using housing supply shortfalls to engage NPPF paragraph 14’s tilted balance. ( CASE DETAILS Permission was sought for eight gypsy traveller pitches in Fordwich, in addition to four existing pitches approved by Canterbury City Council in 2008 and 2015. Although the district local plan includes policies on what kinds of area are suitable for gypsy pitches, no specific sites have been allocated. In the absence of deliverable sites, the council and the appellant differed in their interpretations of paragraph 49.

The appellant, citing a 2015 High Court judgment, said the reference to housing in paragraph 49 “applies equally” to the provision of gypsy sites.

As there is no five-year supply of these, he said, the council’s housing policies should be considered out of date and the tilted balance in paragraph 14 should be engaged (a presumption in favour of sustainable development).

But the council said paragraph 49 refers to the

DECISIONS IN FOCUS overall supply of housing, of which gypsy sites are one component, and because it can show a five-year supply if all components are taken together, the tilted balance should not be applied.

In light of the High Court’s judgment, however, the government made a “technical adjustment” in 2015 to the opposite effect, stating that travellers cannot rely on housing supply shortfalls to show that local housing policies are out of date and that paragraph 14 should be triggered. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Inspector Richard Clegg sided with the council, ruling that the tilted balance did not apply, but he still considered the benefits of the scheme to outweigh potential harm. He found a “clear existing need” for sites, noting that although the current pitches are subject to conditions limiting the number of caravans to six, there were 21 there during his inspection.

The lack of other sites in the area added further weight.

An inspector found a “clear existing need” for eight more gypsy traveller pitches on a site in Fordwich, Kent

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Noting that it would be “broadly consistent” with the sustainability criteria of the planning policy for traveller sites document, he allowed the appeal.

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E Appeal Ref: APP/ J2210/W/16/3157586

HOUSING

Javid blocks ‘deficient’ 705home plan ( SUMMARY Sajid Javid has refused permission for a mixed-use scheme including 705 homes in south-west London, as deficiencies in the unilateral undertaking (UU) would put the delivery of essential planning obligations at risk. ( CASE DETAILS The appeal relates to 4.4 hectares of vacant land once occupied by government offices in Tolworth, Kingstonupon-Thames. Originally submitted in 2015, the application was recovered by the communities secretary in October 2016, and inspector Philip J Asquith conducted an inquiry earlier this year.

The scheme sought permission for a mainly residential scheme, with most of the homes set around a central spine road.

At the north-east of the site the proposed buildings would be taller and denser, with various community and commercial uses including a convenience store, restaurants, a doctor’s surgery, and gym and childcare facilities.

Kingston-upon-Thames Borough Council opposed the scheme because the site would accommodate

an even greater level of development in its sustainable location. Asquith disagreed, describing the site as “more readily characterised by its urban surroundings” than its proximity to suburban housing, and the proposed quantum of housing would be acceptable.

He acknowledged that the development would increase traffic at the congested Tolworth Interchange, but he considered that the appellant’s proposed mitigation measures would be likely to “improve, rather than exacerbate” conditions.

Asquith noted the “delicate balance” between encouraging the “modal shift” away from car use towards more sustainable transport, and ensuring that there are enough parking spaces to meet current needs. He said the proposed level of parking would not be an “unacceptable drawback”.

The appellant’s UU contained various planning obligations on affordable housing, contributions to strategic roundabout works, and other matters. But Asquith found “a number of deficiencies” and missing details in the document, which he considered could put the deliverability of the obligations at risk. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Javid agreed with Asquith’s findings, ruling that the planning obligations contained in the UU were necessary to make the scheme acceptable.

He said the scheme would not be sanctioned until the obligations had been properly secured. and said the matter should now be solved through a fresh application. The appeal was dismissed.

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A Wallsend fast-food takeway has been refused in line with the NPPF, which seeks to promote healthy communities

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E Appeal Ref: APP/APP/ Z5630/W/16/3159298

COMMERCIAL

Child obesity fear tanks takeaway ( SUMMARY An inspector ruled that controlling the proliferation of fast-food outlets has a role to play in addressing childhood obesity in Wallsend, North Tyneside, where at least 25 per cent of year-six pupils are considered ‘very overweight’. ( CASE DETAILS The proposal sought permission to convert a butcher’s shop on Wallsend High Street into a hot-food takeaway. Inspector Graeme Robbie referred to the North Tyneside Local Plan, which seeks to improve community health by controlling access to unhealthy food outlets.

Policy DM3.7 disallows takeaways in wards where more than 15 per cent of year-six children or 10 per cent of reception pupils are “very overweight”, as well as preventing the clustering of such outlets.

Robbie noted that according to data set out in support of the local plan, between 25 and 29 per cent of year-six pupils in Wallsend are classed as “very overweight”. The town centre has 13.7 per cent of the entire borough’s takeaways, and its high street is “dominated by A5 (hot food takeaway) uses”.

The appellants argued that Policy DM3.7 is “too blunt a tool” to address health.

But Robbie defended the policy, pointing out that it was in accord with the NPPF, which seeks to promote healthy communities. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Robbie dismissed the appeal, saying the proposal would “further extend the availability of unhealthy food” in a ward where a high number of children are overweight.

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E Appeal Ref: APP/ 4515/W/17/3178059

months before other uses can be considered. The appellant showed proof that he began marketing the property in 2014, and received no offers.

Inspector C Cresswell said this was a “reasonable effort”.

Noting that the pub had been a popular live music venue, Cresswell decided that a condition would be needed to stop live performances to protect the amenity of future occupants.

The local development plan prohibits the loss of facilities that hold “particular community value”, but Cresswell said that although banning live music would change the pub’s character, it could still serve a “valued community role”. ( CONCLUSION REACHED The appeal was allowed, subject to conditions.

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E

HOUSING Appeal Ref: APP/ N5660/W/17/3168247

Music events give way to flats ( SUMMARY An inspector has approved plans to convert a Lambeth pub’s upper floors to flats, subject to a condition preventing the continuation of popular live music nights. ( CASE DETAILS The appeal relates to the 19th century Grosvenor Arms, a designated asset of community value in Stockwell, south-west London. The proposal sought to convert the building’s upper floors into four flats, retaining the ground floor and basement as a pub.

Lambeth’s local plan says if a pub is no longer economically viable, it must be marketed for at least 12

GREEN BELT

Insemination of horses ‘not sport’ ( SUMMARY Plans for an equine reproduction and rehabilitation centre in Hertfordshire green belt have been rejected. ( CASE DETAILS The proposal sought permission for facilities to aid “the reproduction of horses, including semen collection and insemination”, and “specialist recuperation facilities following injury or surgery”. The appellant referred to the NPPF, which says outdoor sport facilities are exempt from green belt restrictions as long as openness is preserved,

arguing that the facilities could be considered “in support” of equestrian activities. He cited two recent appeals where an inspector decided that stud farming facilities were ancillary to sport and recreation.

Inspector David Cliff was not convinced, noting that plans for changing rooms, for example, could be considered ancillary to a sporting activity. But in the present appeal there would be no sports taking place on site except some exercising of horses, which, he said, would be ancillary to the main medical use.

Cliff, observing the “considerable footprint” of the proposed buildings, said that despite not being prominently visible from beyond the site, they would “spatially and physically” harm the area’s openness.

The appellant referred to policy 81 of Dacorum Council’s local plan, which says “small-scale” equestrian facilities will be allowed in some circumstances. Cliff ruled that although the proposal was not included in the specific examples of “large-scale” facilities included in the policy’s supporting text, such as racecourses, he did not consider it of small scale. ( CONCLUSION REACHED Cliff noted support for the plan from Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and acknowledged its contribution to the rural economy. Despite this, he said no special circumstances existed, and dismissed the appeal.

V I E W O N LI N E FO R F R E E Appeal Ref: APP/ 910/W/17/3174542

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INSIGHT

LLegal landscape WHAT’S THE POINT OF ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALUE? Assets of Community Value offer little value to communities, landowners or developers, argues Hayley Gore. Without a right of first refusal, landowners can simply ignore local groups’ bids Five years on from the introduction of the Assets of Community Value regime, it is apparent that the designation fails to provide any real community benefit. In fact, it only delays and annoys developers.

In balancing the rights of landowners against the aim of achieving “significant community benefit”, the coalition government admitted that the right being created for local groups was merely to “identify” assets of importance to their community, and give them time to bid on assets if they are on the market.

A 2015 DCLG committee report stated that from 122 instances when the moratorium period was triggered, community groups had bought only 11 assets.

Nevertheless, ACVs are popular – 4,000 have been listed.

To be listed, the property must be nominated by a local group. It must have been in recent use for a purpose that furthers community wellbeing, with a realistic prospect of such a use continuing.

By setting the bar for listing

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Hayley Gore so low, the process often gives local groups the illusion that they can impact on the future of an asset.

Unlike equivalent Scottish provisions, the English process creates no right of first refusal if the asset comes up for sale. In fact, a listing does not provide a means for the local group to force the landowner to negotiate with them, or even to consider their offer.

Even if the moratorium gives the local group time to raise funds to bid, owners of an ACV are often looking to sell for development, rather than current use, value. In such circumstances local groups often cannot make a competitive offer. There is no restriction on to whom the asset may be sold after the moratorium period expires, or at what price. The only real

impact of the ACV regime, therefore, is to temporarily frustrate developers by causing delay, without providing any obvious benefits for local communities.

Cold comfort for residents A listing does not even have to be taken into account as a material consideration by a local planning authority when determining a planning application. Even if a property is listed, permission can be granted for a change of use.

Some bite was given to the status of ACVs when permitted development rights for change of use or demolition of pubs were limited in 2015, but permission can still be granted by a LPA for such changes of use. Further, any local group can bid during the moratorium period – cold comfort to a

“IT IS LARGELY TOOTHLESS IN TERMS OF GIVING REAL RIGHTS TO LOCAL GROUPS AND RESULTS ONLY IN DELAYS FOR LANDOWNERS SEEKING THE BEST DEAL”

local group that has expended a great deal of time and energy – and probably money – in applying to the LPA to make the listing.

With a few notable exceptions, listing an asset as an ACV does not provide the community with any real control over the property’s use, sale, or price. It is largely toothless in terms of giving real rights to local groups – as it must be to avoid taking too many rights from landowners – and results only in delays for landowners seeking to get the best deal for their land.

All the ACV regime provides is for local groups is an extra six months to raise funds and convince a landowner to sell to them. Unless the six months are business-critical to the seller, or the local group raises enough money to make a truly competitive offer in that time, the group is in no better position than it would be without the ACV listing.

It is a right to bid, not a right to be considered and they have always had that right if property comes to market.

If the concern of a local group is to avoid certain sites being redeveloped for residential or other uses, they may find their time better spent influencing the drafting of neighbourhood plans which, unlike an ACV listing must be given weight when considering planning decisions.

Hayley Gore is an associate in the UK planning team of DLA Piper UK LLP

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NPPF COULD BE USER­ FRIENDLIER Excessive legalism or poor drafting: Does the NPPF constitute a barrier to planning?

In April 2011, Eric Pickles, as the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, announced that the intention with the planning system was that “you should be able to work out planning issues without needing to seek advice from leading counsel” and thus, planning silks would “have to think twice about that third week in Tuscany or whether to buy the Lamborghini after all”.

The following year the government introduced the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Pickles’ sentiment is echoed among the judiciary. Indeed, in East Staffordshire v SSCLG 1, Lord Justice Lindblom similarly said, “I would, however, stress the need for the court to adopt, if it can, a simple approach in cases such as this. Excessive legalism has no place in the planning system”.

This demonstrates a clear mandate from the court that planning matters ought to be approached in a straightforward manner. While that is an admirable ambition, in reality the NPPF makes this difficult. A perfect example of this is illustrated with the “presumption in favour of sustainable development”.

Since the introduction of the NPPF, the presumption has been considered and applied within countless officers’ reports and appeal

Killian Garvey “TWO EXAMPLES OF RECENT CASE LAW ILLUSTRATE THE POINT THAT THE NPPF IS DRAFTED IN SUCH A WAY THAT ITS INTERPRETATION REMAINS UNCLEAR” decisions. However, what the presumption actually means has remained unclear.

The presumption is described as a golden thread running throughout the NPPF. Indeed, there are a number of references to it throughout the NPPF. Consequently, in Wychavon DC v SSCLG 2, Justice Cranston found that the presumption applied throughout the framework. A number of judgments followed this in 2016/2017, culminating in the Court of Appeal’s judgment in East Staffordshire.

The Court of Appeal rejected Justice Coulson’s interpretation of the presumption and found that it only applied within the limited context of paragraph 14 of the NPPF. Accordingly, the presumption is only engaged where a development proposal either: (1) accords with the development plan;

or (2) the development plan is absent, silent or relevant policies are out of date and the adverse impacts do not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.

There is no free-standing presumption in favour of sustainable development beyond these two situations.

A hindrance or a help?

Consequently, the law is currently settled as to what the presumption means.

But the fact that the courts have reached inconsistent conclusions as to what the presumption is demonstrates that the NPPF gives rise to uncertainties. This is compounded by the fact that, despite the importance of the presumption, its interpretation has only just been settled – five years since the NPPF was introduced.

Similarly, the interrelationship between paragraphs 14 and 49 of the NPPF has plagued the Planning Court, owing to their meaning being unclear.

Indeed, contrary to Pickles’ ambition, undoubtedly a fleet of Lamborghinis could have been purchased through the legal costs associated with the litigation on this matter, which culminated in the Supreme Court’s judgment in Suffolk Coastal DC v Hopkins Homes [2016] EWCA Civ 168. There, the Supreme Court held that, put simply, where a local planning authority is unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, the tilted balance within NPPF 14 is engaged. The Supreme Court’s judgment was reached contrary to the decisions of various judges previously.

These two examples of recent case law illustrate the point that the NPPF is drafted in such a way that its interpretation remains unclear.

So while it is easy to criticise lawyers for indulging in strained interpretations of policy (which certainly occurs), consideration must be given as to whether the source material is part of the problem.

The NPPF was drafted to be accessible to the public, but the plethora of cases dealing with fundamental points about its interpretation suggests that specificity of statute was sacrificed to make the NPPF accessible.

Regrettably, it would seem that as a result the NPPF can often act as a hindrance within the planning system, owing to its application remaining uncertain on so many points.

1 [2017] EWCA Civ 893 2 [2016] EWHC 592 (Admin)

Killian Garvey is a barrister with Kings Chambers and specialises in planning and environmental law

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NEWS

RTPI {

RTPI news pages are edited

by Josh Rule at the RTPI, 41 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DL

The value of awards PAUL BARNARD, MRTPI, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING & INFRASTRUCTURE, PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL

Plymouth City Council’s planning team – Local Authority Planning Team of the Year 2016

Plymouth has won several planning awards over the past 20 years, including the RTPI Silver Jubilee Cup twice, the only authority to achieve this so far. We list our awards on our website because we are proud of what we have achieved.

Winning, or even being shortlisted, for the Awards for Planning Excellence has

a number of benefits. There is no doubt that your local councillors will be able to bask in the glory of your authority being nationally recognised for its planning work – and that can only be positive during difficult budget debates.

In recent years we have instigated a tradition of awards being presented

RTPI AWARDS FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE 2018

The entry deadline of 8 December is approaching. These awards are free to enter and the RTPI will be recognising outstanding projects, teams and people in the following categories: People Associate Member Excellence Award Young Planner of the Year Teams Small Planning Consultancy of the Year Planning Consultancy of the Year Local Authority Planning Team of the Year In-house Planning Team of the Year

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Projects Excellence in Plan Making Practice Excellence in Planning for Heritage and Culture Excellence in Planning for the Natural Environment Excellence in Planning for Health and Well-being Excellence in Planning to Deliver Homes – large schemes (20 or more homes) Excellence in Planning to Deliver Homes – small schemes (up to 20 homes) Excellence in Planning for a Successful Economy International Award for Planning Excellence

by the Lord Mayor of Plymouth at the start of full council meetings. Not only do more junior officers get to see this important democratic meeting in action, but they also receive appreciation from all councillors on their professional achievement, raising their personal profile and that of the department.

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of “we are too busy to submit for awards”.

Simply putting an award submission together helps you to reflect on the work your teams are doing, and your overall direction of travel. As one planning officer said to me: “I was initially cynical about the culture of submitting awards, but over time I have come to recognise the benefits for inward investment.”

From our experience in Plymouth, agents and developers start from the viewpoint that they are going to get a good service, which helps with relationship management. We have also received increased interest in the role of planners, and planning issues through positive local media coverage.

Winning awards boosts morale, raises your profile, and helps with recruitment and retention. It can also act as a catalyst for improvement in underperforming areas and encourage innovation.

“Being rewarded for outstanding achievement is a real motivator,” said one officer, engendering a real sense of pride in the difference planners are making to the lives of local people.

Awards have helped us focus on the golden thread running through our work – we call it “proactive, positive planning” – and other factors that make a dynamic, forward-thinking planning department, which led to the awards in the first place.

There are also benefits from councillors and officers attending the awards ceremony itself, with the chance to network with fellow nominees.

Awards signpost excellence in the work of fellow planning professionals from which we can all learn. Over the years we have had many invitations to share our award-winning work, including internationally. Celebrating what planning can deliver is vital in these challenging times. I hope I’ve encouraged you to submit for the 2018 awards. As writer William Makepeace Thackeray said: “Next to excellence, comes the appreciation of it.”

I M AG E | RT P I

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Editorial E: rtpinews@rtpi.org.uk

RTPI (switchboard) T: 020 7929 9494

Registered charity no.

262865 Registered charity in Scotland SCO37841

3 POINT PLAN A planner explains how they would change the Northern Ireland planning system

Carrie McDonagh MRTPI, director ONE2ONE PLANNING When a legal start is made, evidence can be submitted to the planners confirming the detail and timelines relevant to expiry but there is no formal confirmation that the permission is retained in perpetuity, nor any formal recording of the submitted evidence. When hard copy files are subsequently destroyed due to their age, any evidence of a legal start disappears – making future negotiations on substitution permissions difficult.

The content of pre-application discussions (PADs) is not available to the public, with no search mechanism to confirm their presence other than the Freedom of Information (FoI) process or checking for the advert for the public consultation events – making due diligence difficult when sites are subject to contract. A register should be held of the notices when submitted.

Often while an enforcement appeal is pending the alleged offenders try to rectify the breach by submission of a Certificate of Lawful Use or Development to demonstrate immunity. Often third parties are material witnesses and have conflicting evidence but have no opportunity to participate in the CLUD process if issued prior to planning appeal.

COMMITTEE PRIORITIES: RTPI IRELAND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The RTPI Ireland Executive Committee oversees the Institute’s work on promoting planning on the national stage. It provides an input into policy discussions at national level which affect planning, and it seeks out and promotes good planning practice.

John Downey, chair of the committee, gives an update on the year’s priorities.

Influencing the development of the Irish National Planning Framework Positioning planning as an important tool to support the government’s Rebuilding Ireland programme Supporting Irish members through our CPD and Open Forum events The Irish Executive Committee aims to engage with, and influence, the Irish Government, TDs and officials on policy issues and to provide CPD and networking opportunities for members.

Planning In Ireland is going through significant change and we are working to help develop the new National Planning Framework, government ambitions for more housing and the establishment of a new Planning Regulator. We work closely with our members in taking these forward.

1 Recording of legal starts

2

3

Register of Certificates of pre­application Lawful Use or notices Development (CLUDs) should be held until evidence of third parties is heard in enforcement appeals

POSITION POINTS

IRELAND 2040 OUR PLAN RTPI Ireland welcomes the Irish Government’s draft National Planning Framework (NPF), but warns that its success relies upon buy-in across government departments and agencies as well as a focus on economic growth. The NPF must be a core strategy recognised across all departments as the central spatial plan that influences their policy, strategies and investment decisions.

The previous National Spatial Strategy tried to spread development and investment too thinly. We must ensure that the NPF provides an ambitious framework for making the difficult decisions required to offer certainty for communities, developers and investors.

n More information: bit.ly/planner1117-blueprint

SCOTTISH LAND COMMISSION’S PLAN The Scottish Land Commission’s first strategic plan – a vision of “a fair, inclusive and productive system of ownership, management and use of land that delivers greater benefit for all the people of Scotland” – translates into four priority actions: land for housing and development; land ownership; land use decisionmaking; and agricultural holdings.

RTPI Scotland is encouraged to see the commission take a strong interest in this issue, which defines the operating framework of the planning system, but stresses that transforming placemaking outcomes will not be achieved with procedural change in the planning system alone – a new approach to land and delivery is needed.

n Read the plan: bit.ly/planner1117-land

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NEWS

RTPI { RTPI annual elections: The line-up for 2018/19 Ian Tant will serve as RTPI Vice-President during 2018

The RTPI has held its annual elections for the Vice-President, the Board of Trustees and the General Assembly.

Ian Tant MRTPI (pictured) has been elected as the RTPI Vice-President in 2018 and will lead the Institute in 2019.

He said: “Since stepping back from full-time consultancy in 2016, my purpose has been to serve the Institute that has served me so well throughout my career.

“I am therefore thrilled and honoured to have been elected by my fellow Members as Vice-President for 2018 and President for 2019. I am deeply grateful for their support.”

The following candidates were also elected:

Board of Trustees Chartered members Janet Askew MRTPI Colin Haylock MRTPI Tom Venables MRTPI Honorary Secretary and Solicitor: Bernadette Hillman LARTPI Young Planner Trustee: Lucy Seymour-Bowdery MRTPI

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Nations and Regions Trustee: To be confirmed

General Assembly Chartered Members Andrew Coleman MRTPI Claire Davies MRTPI David Edmondson MRTPI Pam Ewen MRTPI Peter Geraghty FRTPI Mark Hand MRTPI Meeta Kaur MRTPI Paul McCann MRTPI Julie Morgan MRTPI Charlotte Morphet MRTPI Janet O’Neill MRTPI Cath Ranson MRTPI Ann Skippers MRTPI Stefano Smith FRTPI Andrew Taylor FRTPI (stepped down from a General Assembly space by virtue of his election to position of Honorary Treasurer)

NEW PROVIDER FOR THE RTPI PLANNING C O N S U LT A N T S D I R E C T O R Y

From 2018, the RTPI is taking over the services provided to members by Kaplan Hawksmere, which includes the online Directory of Planning Consultants.

The RTPI is working with a new partner – Planning Portal – to help give greater exposure and additional benefits to Chartered members through a new online Directory of Planning Consultants, hosted on the Planning Portal site.

Planning Portal is ideally placed to attract and engage planning consultant clients, professionals and homeowners at an early stage in their building projects while they are searching for advice from RTPI Chartered Town Planners.

With more than 500,000 unique monthly visits, the Planning Portal site also benefits because:

• More than 90 per cent of planning applications are submitted nationally through Planning Portal.

• Planning Portal ranks in the top three on Google and Bing for all main planning and building control search terms.

The Planning Portal team will shortly be in touch with current subscribers with more information on how to subscribe to the 2018 online Directory of Planning Consultants.

Packages and rates for subscribers are being in kept in line with the 2017 prices, and will be adding benefits alongside the greater exposure to planning consultants’ prospective clients during 2018.

Student/Licentiate Simeon Shtebunaev Frances Thompson Ryan Walker

For more information, please contact Planning Portal at: RTPIdirectory@planningportal. co.uk

Legal Member/Associate Nigel Hewitson LARTPI

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RTPI Y ACTIVIT E PIPELIN

Current RTPI work – what the Institute is doing and how you can help us INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS’ NETWORK CONFERENCE: ‘ICN MEMBERS AS INNOVATORS’ The RTPI Independent Consultants’ Conference 2017, held in the majestic Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, on 30 November, is a unique annual meeting for sole traders and small planning consultancies.

Expect a full programme exploring topics at the forefront of planning, including presentations from Richard Hawkes of Hawkes Architecture and Andrew Whitaker of the Home Builders Federation. Alongside presentations will be a choice of intimate afternoon sessions tackling topics from Neighbourhood Planning to Housing Demand Assessment. There will be plenty of scope for discussion, with open format Q&As plus lots of networking time including an evening drinks reception.

Do not miss out – book now: bit.ly/planner1017-independent

NEW TRAINING COURSES FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT An in-house dedicated RTPI Training team has been working with subject experts to improve and refresh a programme of high-quality courses available from 2018.

All courses can contribute towards RTPI members’ individual CPD. There will be more than 40 masterclasses and briefings, all designed to help planners expand their own technical knowledge and skills, and gain inspiration and an understanding of all the latest developments needed to enhance career prospects.

The briefings offer a key combination of the latest updates and case studies brought together to give practical insights into current issues. Masterclasses focus on specific technical and key development topics.

RTPI SHORTS

2018 SUBSCRIPTIONS: MAINTAINING SERVICES FOR MEMBERS GRAHAM STALLWOOD, CHAIR, RTPI BOARD OF TRUSTEES The value and prestige of RTPI membership continues to grow, reflected in membership numbers reaching more than 24,000 for the first time.

As the largest institute for professional planners in Europe, the RTPI continues to improve and enhance value for members by providing the latest policy and research, an influential voice for planning in the UK and devolved governments, a wide range of careers advice and guidance, support in gaining chartered status, events, conferences, awards, networking opportunities and bursaries for the aspiring next generation of planners.

To continue to maintain services to members the RTPI Board of Trustees decided to raise subscriptions in 2018 by a modest increase of less than £1 a month.

The highest rise is for Chartered, Fellow and Legal members of £10 a year. Members should have received details of their RTPI subscription explaining the changes to rates for 2018. The RTPI has successfully found ways to help minimise subscription fee rises, with this being the first increase since 2015.

Subscriptions are due for renewal on 1 January annually. You can spread the cost by setting up a direct debit for payment in equal quarterly instalments. You also have the option of paying online by credit card. You may qualify for a reduced subscription fee if you are on a low income or if you started parental leave during the previous calendar year. If you have any queries email subscriptions@rtpi.org.uk, or phone +44 (0)20 7929 9463.

Help us stay in contact with you by ensuring your email, postal address and telephone number are up to date.

You can change your details my contacting the RTPI via: changeofaddress@rtpi.org.uk Make sure you’re getting the most out of your membership: www.rtpi.org.uk/membership/member-benefits/

The 2018 course directory is available to view at: rtpi.org.uk/trainingdirectory

MEMBER DEATHS THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PLANNING ENFORCEMENT NAPE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2017, EDINBURGH, 9 NOVEMBER Book now! Expect another sell-out event with this year’s conference taking place in the magnificent City Chambers in the heart of Edinburgh’s old town.

The programme covers a wide range of topics including the role of planning enforcement in sustainable development, the Proceeds of Crime Act, how to handle confiscation, Enforcement of Mixed Uses and case law updates.

Additionally, afternoon workshops will deal with ensuring that notice is appeal-proof and bringing forward successful prosecutions. Do not miss out on the most important annual event in any planning enforcer’s calendar.

Book early to avoid disappointment: bit.ly/planner1017-nape

It is with great regret that we announce the deaths of the following members. We offer our condolences to their families and colleagues.

Anthony Woods Elaine Murray Joan Munro Brian Mellor Robin Mabey Elizabeth Kettle Nicholas Howles Gareth Gunning Iain Godfrey Gary Forster Sidney Fisher Michael Fenton Frederick Coombes Kenneth Clayton

East England Scotland Scotland South East London Yorkshire South West East England Scotland London North West South East South West Yorkshire

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Wordsearch Planning is known for its impenetrable language. Help make things clearer for your client by identifying the commonly used planning terms in our wordsearch

Maze Help little Alok find his way through the maze of government planning policy to an affordable home

Word ladder Change the word at the top to the word at the bottom in four steps, altering just one letter at a time Consultation

Engagement Brownfield

Award-winning city centre regeneration scheme

A

B

Answer to spot the dierence:

Picture A and picture B seem identical – but there's a tiny difference between the two. Can you tell what it is? See answer, right

Picture A has 40 per cent affordable homes; Picture B has none, because the developer successfully argued at appeal that they could not make the scheme viable if it included any affordable housing.

Spot the difference

With thanks to Katelyn Nagle of Arup in Liverpool

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LANDSCAPE

THE MONTH IN PLANNING The best and most interesting reads, websites, films and events that we’ve encountered this month WHAT WE'RE READING...

WHAT WE'RE BROWSING...

Woodlands Trust – Planners’ Manual for Ancient Woodland and Veteran Trees The trust’s new planning manual aims to help local authorities achieve 'high-quality development that respects and responds to the precarious nature of our ancient woods and trees’.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO...

Young, gifted and urban The Academy of Urbanism’s Young Urbanists pages are a hotbed of reporting, blogging, campaigning and more. A brief foray reveals such delights as a review of the ‘Smell Map of London’ and ‘The Inclusive City: an LGBTQIA+ Perspective’. (You’ll need to apply for the status of Young Urbanist, for which you also pay a fee – there’s an application form on the site.) bit.ly/planner1117-urbanist

WHERE WE'RE GOING...

Each month the RTPI runs a range of free or low-cost events up and down the UK. Here’s our pick for the next few weeks. See the full calendar on the RTPI website bit.ly/planner0817-calendar

Skylines, the CityMetric podcast There are two keys to a good podcast – it must be interesting, yes, but it must be consistently produced too.

This one has got that balance right, routinely posting solid stories. Recent topics have included walkable cities, the ‘new urban crisis’, and ‘why cities should be fun’. bit.ly/ planner1117citymetric

Planning Futures Lecture 2017 Monday 13th November, Reading

NE 20:20 Vision: The Future of our Town Centres Wednesday 22nd November, Newcastle

In this lecture, Professor David Adams of the University of Glasgow explores how far planners can rely on property developers and investors, asking why more than 10 hectares of urban wasteland close to the centre of one of England’s core cities has remained vacant for over a quarter of a century, despite four masterplans intended to promote its redevelopment. bit.ly/planner1117-futures

The evolution of the UK’s town and city centres continues unabated, with a regular stream of reports speculating on the future of the retail sector in particular. This event in association with Lichfields will focus on the future of town centres, with perspectives from both the public and private sections. bit.ly/planner1117-town/

WHAT WE'RE PLANNING...

The ne next two issues of The Planner see over the line and into 2018 in style. In us ove our next ne edition (our 50th!), we speak to PAS chief ch Anna Rose, and January sees talking to incoming RTPI president us talk Acres. Got a subject to discuss? Get John A touch – editorial@theplanner.co.uk in tou

RTPI WM 2017 Planning Summit Thursday 30th November, Birmingham This summit explores key themes including technological change, demographics, health and well-being, inequalities and natural capital, and then seek to understand what these mean for planning for meeting society’s needs. The keynote speaker at this fullday conference is Dr Rick Robinson, director of technology at Amey. bit.ly/planner1117-summit

NO VE MB ER 2 0 17 / THE PLA NNER

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Open for entries Recognising outstanding projects, plans and people in these categories:

People

Projects

– Associate Member Excellence Award

– Excellence in Plan Making Practice

– Young Planner of the Year

– Excellence in Planning for Heritage and Culture

Teams

– Excellence in Planning for the Natural Environment

– Small Planning Consultancy of the Year – Planning Consultancy of the Year – Local Authority Planning Team of the Year – In-house Planning Team of the Year

– Excellence in Planning for Health and Wellbeing – Excellence in Planning to Deliver Homes - large schemes (20 or more homes) – Excellence in Planning to Deliver Homes - small schemes (up to 20 homes) – Excellence in Planning for a Successful Economy

Highlighting exceptional examples of planning and celebrating the contribution that planners and planning make to society Headline sponsor:

– International Award for Planning Excellence

Enter by 8 December rtpi.org.uk/excellence #RTPIAwards awards@rtpi.org.uk

Category sponsors:

border archaeology archaeology & built heritage

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