Easing of planning rules prompts fears for transport/ land-use links

by Andrew Forster (Reproduced with permission from Local Transport Today (LTT 567) March 25 - April 7, 2011)

The editor of Local Transport Today, Andrew Forster, voices fears about the impacts on the ground of planning changes introduced in the budget, including the impact of the two Local Enterprise Zones flagged up for the North West.

TRANSPORT PLANNERS and environmental campaign groups this week voiced concern that the Government's plan to relax planning policies will pave the way for car-based development and worsening congestion.

Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to deregulate the planning system in his Budget statement this week. Twenty-one Enterprise Zones will be created across England, planning guidance will be streamlined and there will be a presumption on councils to give the go-ahead to development.

Environmental transport pressure group the Campaign for Better Transport warned that the reforms "could create a planning free-for-all and an explosion of out-of-town, car-based developments".

Colin Black, managing director of consultancy Contemporary Transport, told LTT: "There is naturally a concern that simplifying the planning requirements might mean stripping out requirements to submit transport assessments with integrated travel plans and remove requirements for reporting and securing implementation".

Referring to the plans for Enterprise Zones, Black said: "There is nervousness that we may not have learnt sufficiently from the complications caused by the last round of simplified planning zones. Whilst the headlines might seem impressive, sorting out transport issues has caused headaches for many local authorities subsequently".

Ministers plan to establish 21 Enterprise Zones in Local Enterprise Partnership areas of England. The Government this week announced the first ten in the following LEPs (and specific locations of three zones in italics): Birmingham and Solihull; Leeds city region; Sheffield city region; Liverpool city region (Liverpool Waters); Greater Manchester (Manchester Airport); West of England; Tees Valley; North Eastern; the Black Country; Derby & Derbyshire with Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (Boots campus, Nottingham).

London's zone will be in the Royal Docks. A further ten LEZs will be determined by competition. Letters of invitation will be sent to LEP chairs and a final decision on which zones to designate will be made this summer.

The Government is promising "radically simplified planning approaches" in the zones. Businesses moving into them will benefit from up to 100% business rate discount over a five year period and councils will be encouraged to accept development because all business rates growth within the zone for a period of at least 25 years will be shared by the local authorities in the LEP area.

The Government this week promised to revamp planning guidance saying that, since 2005, an estimated 3,250 pages of national guidance had been issued. It is promising a "shorter, more focused and inherently pro-growth National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)" that should be finalised by the end of the year.

Decentralisation minister, Greg Clark, this week instructed local authorities to re-consider, at developers' request, the terms of Section 106 agreements that are currently rendering developments unviable. Many S106 agreements include developer contributions to transport measures.

Clark also told MPs: "The Government's clear expectation is that the answer to development and growth should wherever possible be 'yes', except where this would compromise the key sustainable development principles set out in national planning policy".

No target will be set for development on previously developed land but the Government still expects a "very significant proportion" to be in such locations.

The Government says it is committed to maintaining the greenbelt. It also pledges to introduce a "package of measures to support thriving town centres and build on the Town Centre First policy" - suggesting that the sequential test policy that favours development in town centres will be retained.

The Government say it is revising the rules on Environmental Impact procedures "to make them much clearer and remove unnecessary work".

Ministers propose a 12-month guarantee for the processing of planning applications.

Black suggested that Enterprise Zones could present opportunities for travel planning. "Will they proactively encourage the formation of local Transport Management Associations to co-ordinate the effective implementation of 'sustainable transport' to support successful regeneration?" he said.

(Editorial) Planning for more traffic

It may be too early to say precisely what the implications of the Government's planning deregulation policies will be for transport policy and planning in England, but many transport planners will be viewing the plans for Enterprise Zones, streamlined guidance and accelerated decision-making with concern.

As planners are always quick to point out, land-use patterns are fundamental in shaping travel patterns. So, if you want less travel, particularly by car, the argument goes that the links between transport and spatial planning need to be strengthened. In recent years that argument has carried significant weight within Whitehall and has been reflected in policies such as Planning Policy Guidance 13, with its maximum parking standards, transport assessments and travel plans, and the 'town centre first' policy that has restricted out-of-town commercial development.

Some elements of this policy framework were actually deleted in the final years of the Labour Government (national maximum planning standards for instance) but far more now appear vulnerable as ministers pursue their goals of boosting economic growth and placing more emphasis on market forces. One minister who champions these goals with great gusto is communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles and he banged his deregulation drum last week in a speech to the Confederation of British Industry: "I've removed Whitehall planning rules which compelled councils to hike up parking charges in town centres" he boasted. More surprisingly, he claimed he'd also won a battle (or perhaps a skirmish) that had been kept out of the public eye: "I've abolished plans for penalty taxes to be imposed on parking charges at local supermarkets".

It is interesting to juxtapose such comments with those of Keith Buchan, the Transport Planning Society's newly-elected chairman. Buchan said last week that, in the absence of a Government commitment to congestion charging, other methods of controlling congestion must be found. On his shopping list are: "comprehensive area parking controls and charging for all types of parking, not just at the workplace ..... combined with a pro-active and well-funded travel plan".

But, above all, Buchan said strong land-use policies were essential: "Siting new development without thinking about how easy they are to serve by walking, cycling and public transport is still far too common in the UK". And it may be about to become even more so.