Localism Bill - Planning Revolution

[Tim Lund]

Always complaining about what's being built around Sydenham? Want to see a different range of shops and businesses in SE26?

The government's Localism Bill, which is currently going through Parliament and is timetabled to achieve Royal Assent in November 2011, might change all that. The aim is to turn local planning on its head, take powers away from developers and local councils, and hand them over to the community.

Sounds too good to be true? Well not if you read the main provisions of this Bill which aims to ensure that communities come together to decide what their area should look like, where new shops, offices or homes should go and what green spaces should be protected.

The Bill envisages that a Neighbourhood Forum will draw up a Neighbourhood Development Plan. This plan covers all areas of local planning except for those drawn up by strategic planning authorities such as the London Mayor or the Department of Transport/Network Rail. If local people vote in favour of the Development Plan in a local referendum, Lewisham council will have to adopt the plan and the local planning committee is compelled to adhere to that plan when considering planning applications.

"Pre-determination" will be at the heart of Neighbourhood Development Plans. If a developer wants to construct something in an area then the onus is on that developer to persuade the Neighbourhood Forum of the value of the proposed development at an early stage. Developers will be allowed "without prejudice" to have pre-application talks with Forums to ascertain their attitude to any proposed development. The developer has a duty to provide full details of the development with drawings and should seek to persuade local people of the value of proposed plans before starting work on an application.

In some cases, a developer may draw up plans in conjunction with a Neighbourhood Forum. Such a "site specific" plan will be known as a Neighbourhood Development Order and will not require planning permission.

To discourage nimbyism, neighbourhoods will benefit directly from extra money for their locality (know as a Community Infrastructure Levy in the jargon) coming from any sizeable planning application which they approve.

Clearly, this Bill has a long way to go before it becomes law and many issues have yet to be clarified but it does point the way to a very different future where local people are in charge of what is and isn't built in their neighbourhood.

If you want to find out more about the Localism Bill and how it is intended to work, come along to the London Forum meeting which will be held at The Gallery, 75 Cowcross Street, EC1, near Farringdon station at 6pm on July 5. The speaker will be Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, an expert on the governance of London and the Localism Bill.

I don't claim to have the planning or legal expertise to understand all the implications of this, but I think it's important!

[Tim Lund]

I've been making some more efforts to make sense of this, especially since I have heard local councillors for both Sydenham and Forest Hill speaking enthusiastically about this Bill, which is currently trundling through Parliament. I am deeply, deeply sceptical, for a whole bunch of reasons. It's full of language about empowering communities and neighbourhoods, and comes with a 'Plain Englsih Guide' which starts like this:

For too long, central government has hoarded and concentrated power. Trying to improve people’s lives by imposing decisions, setting targets and demanding inspections from Whitehall simply doesn’t work. It creates bureaucracy. It leaves no room for adaptation to reflect local circumstances or innovation to deliver services more effectively and at lower cost. And it leaves peoplefeeling ‘ done to’ and imposed upon - the very opposite of the sense of participation and involvement on which a healthy democracy thrives.

I have long believed there is a better way of doing things. Eight years ago I wrote a book called Total Politics which set out the case for a huge shift in power - from central Whitehall, to local public servants, and from bureaucrats to communities and individuals.

Today, I am proud to be part of a Government putting this vision into practice. We think that the best means of strengthening society is not for central government to try and seize all the power and responsibility for itself. It is to help people and their locally elected representatives to achieve their own ambitions. This is the essence of the Big Society.

We have already begun to pass power back to where it belongs. We are cutting central targets on councils, easing the burden of inspection, and reducing red tape. We are breaking down the barriers that stop councils, local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups getting things done for themselves.

But we can go a lot further by changing the law. The Localism Bill was published in December 2010. It sets out a series of proposals with the potential to achieve a substantial and lasting shift in power away from central government and towards local people. They include: new freedoms and flexibilities for local government; new rights and powers for communities and individuals; reform to make the planning system more democratic and more effective, and reform to ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally.

This document summarises each of the main ideas proposed in the Bill, and explains the overall difference that they could make. I am looking forward to a great debate about them in parliament over the coming months.

I also hope to see a debate in the wider country - among councils, community groups, volunteers, social activists and many more people - about how they can seize the opportunities this historic Bill represents, and use the rights and freedoms it offers to make a difference in their community.

All this talk of decentralisation, and caring about people feeling ‘ done to’ and imposed upon - but he will know as well as anyone that power is never given away - just sometimes seized.