The Planning White Paper

1
The Planning White Paper

• A Chiltern Society Perspective
• Mike Overall
• Vice Chairman Strategy

2
Where am I coming from?

• 7 years of Chiltern Society involvement at all
  levels of the Planning System
• Professional background includes
• 25 years of strategic change management in a
  statutory authority, including
• UK and EU policy development
• 11 years as an economic/competition regulator and
  11 as a Safety Regulator (a de-regulator!)
• Organisational and cultural change
• 10 years advising government and industry
  institutions on strategic change issues

3
The White Paper

• Is it a move in the right direction?
• Yes - Builds on sound principles that
  underpinned the 2001 Green Paper
• Can it all be made to work?
• Probably, but the devil is in the detail
• What are the implementation implications?
• Wow!! Massive! Timescale? Resources?

4
A Move in the Right Direction

• Objectives
• Streamline national policy making
• Separate Policy and Guidance
• Devolve accountability
• Deregulatory intention
• Increase/improve public consultation and
  engagement
• Take account of climate change
• Key focus on Place Making

5
Can it be made to work?

• A very ambitious complex simplification -
  Multi-dimensional
• Wide organisational change implications
• Requires step change in culture at every level!
• Can the procedural changes needed be made robust?
• Highly resource dependent
• Requires strong, coherent leadership and tight
  project management

6
Key Delivery Implications (1)

• The LA Planning function becomes a Sustainable
  Development function. Shift in organisational
  management/leadership.
• Needs a far more effective approach to local
  agency co-ordination (e.g. LSPs)
• Much clearer up-front focus required on local
  distinctiveness, character and key sustainability
  issues constraints (e.g. Local proofing the
  Vision Statement)

7
Key Delivery Implications (2)

• A more flexible approach, building on the Plan,
  Monitor and Manage concept
• Shaking off the traditional hierarchical planning
  approach (e.g. implications for Development
  Control function)
• Greater need for sub-sub-regional strategic
  co-ordination role (e.g. at County/cross-border
  level)
• Capacity and competency building

8
Worry Points

• Still Housing and Economic Development led
• Still got strong urban centred emphasis
• Can/will Natural/Heritage Environment strands of
  sustainability be put on an equal footing with
  the Economic Social strands?
• Lacks sufficient clarity on control/enforcement
  issues (e.g. local neighbourhood impact)
• Can multi-agency systems be made effective?
• Gives LAs a competition regulatory role
• Can Local Government cope with the degree of
  change and still remain effective during
  transition?