New local spatial planning advice published
Planning minister Caroline Flint has called for greater urgency in the development of "appropriate and effective" local plans as she launched new guidance on local spatial planning in England.
Flint said ministers had listened to criticism of the most recent reform of local plan making which has created the now four-years-old system of Local Development Frameworks (LDF) and core strategies.
She acknowledged that the regime was "unnecessarily complicated" and said that the new advice, framed in PPS 12 on local spatial plans, together with new regulations, would make the exercise less complex.
Flint stressed that "the LDF should not be a dry planning document. It is where the vision of a place is set out. It shapes the outcomes for places and it steers capital investment in your area. These plans must be a major priority for any local leader".
The new advice makes it clear that core strategies should look forward 15 years and be specific about siting policies. Flexibility and infrastructure deliverability must be key concerns. The guidance also highlighted that planning authorities should consider joint-working.
In a related development Flint has insisted that eco-towns will go through the planning process and would not bypass the local spatial planning regime.
"Where an up-to-date local plan exists, clearly the eco-town should be considered in the light of that plan. And where a planning authority would benefit from some extra resources to get their plan updated, we will provide those resources," she said.
The minister promised more guidance on eco-towns in the form of a PPS and the publication next month (July) of more detailed information about the next round of consultation over the initial short-listed proposals.
She added: "No decisions have been made on which locations will go forward to the final shortlist. And in addition each development proposal will have to submit a planning application which will be open to full scrutiny."
• Accompanying the revised Planning Policy Statement 12 is a new Plan Making Manual produced by Communities and Local Government and delivered via the Planning Advisory Service website.
The manual brings together council experience, useful advice and guidance in producing local development frameworks. It accompanies the revised regulations announced today which set out the new requirements for producing development plan documents.
This online resource can be accessed here
• Also published is the Spatial Plans in Practice Report on Infrastructure Delivery which focused on the role of spatial plans in the delivery of infrastructure requirements resulting from the reformed spatial planning process.
Access Planning Policy Statement 12
Roger Milne
5 June 2008
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