The new Coalition Government has wasted no time in bringing forward its localism agenda, passing powers back to local authorities and their communities. This drive covers all aspects of Government and the delivery of services but has far reaching consequences for the planning system.

Since the Communities Minister’s letter of 27 May, it has been known that Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) were to be abolished, indeed the housing figures contained in RSS were deleted by this letter. Confirmation of the abolition of RSS has now been set out in a further ministerial letter of 6 July.  All regional guidance has, of that date, been revoked. This leaves a significant vacuum in planning policy given the patchy coverage of Local Development Frameworks across the country and often reliance on out of date policies in ageing Local Plans.

The Government has confirmed in ministerial speeches, the overwhelming importance of localism and its place at the heart of their policies, not just for planning In a speech at the Planning Convention, Greg Clark MP set out in more detail the decentralisation agenda. Transferring powers back to a local level is considered by the Government as the only way which the country’s development needs can be met. Top down targets for housing numbers have, in the minister’s view, failed to deliver the growth needed. Giving powers to local authorities is seen as the only way to turn around the negative attitude to development that many communities have. The localism agenda lies at the heart of Government policy and a decentralisation bill will be published in the autumn. Change in the planning system is here and moving forward at a rapid rate and it is important to take opportunities which this will present.

Abolishing RSS represents a key step in the Government’s decentralisation agenda. Local Authorities now have responsibility for determining their own housing growth levels and it is unclear how Councils will respond to this opportunity. The Government is adamant that giving power to local Councils to determine what growth is most appropriate in their area is the best way to facilitate increased housing growth. It remains to be seen if these changes will secure growth as sought by the Government. The danger, of course, is that these changes will simply allow Councils to limit development in areas where this would be popular. There is significant concern that the changes will be an opportunity for ‘nimbys’ to prevent the required growth.

Alongside these changes, the Government has provided guidance on a number of other matters affected by these changes and for more details on these please contact any of the BBA team.