The High Court has quashed the decision by Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, to axe Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS), upholding a challenge by CALA Homes. The court ruling found that Mr Pickles used powers to revoke the RSS improperly, against the legislative requirement for a regional planning policy.
This judgement has re-established Regional Spatial Strategies as part of the development plan reinstating the regional house building targets. The coalition Government has, however, made it clear that it still intends to abolish Regional Spatial Strategies through the Localism Bill which is expected to begin its passage through Parliament before Christmas. The Government, in principle, continues to seek to give greater decision making powers in housing and planning to local authorities and other organisations such as Parish Councils as part of its drive to give greater say on development to local communities. The re-establishment of the RSS structure even for the short term will prevent Councils from reviewing down their housing figures which had begun to occur. This will provide a limited opportunity for development proposals which would accord with growth levels set out in the RSS in principle to be supported although it is likely that the Government will seek to close this door as soon as possible given their strong desire to see the removal of the regional tier of planning.
The ruling does provide a narrow window of opportunity in the short term for developers to challenge Council decisions on planning applications until the Localism Bill becomes law during 2011. The ruling represents a significant shift in the planning balance, however, it is clear that it represents delay and will not affect the Government’s long term policy ambition to give communities more say over where homes are built. The Government have sought to play down the significance of the decision and are likely to move forward rapidly with the primary legislation necessary to abolish the RSS.
The Government’s clear statement of intent to abolish the RSS system does, however, remain a material consideration in making decisions on planning applications and appeals although it is unclear how much weight can be given to this position at the current time. The CALA Homes decision seems to open up more questions than it answers and creates further uncertainty in the planning system. It remains to be seen whether Councils will address the issue in a fair manner or seek to delay applications and hope that the Localism Bill is introduced speedily and their aspiration to reduce housing numbers is given statutory backing.
