Pictured above: Richard Brown, Associate in the Drivers Jonas Planning and Development Team.

A letter from the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Caroline Spelman MP has reconfirmed the Conservatives' intention to abolish regional planning should they come to power at the next general election. 

The letter sent to Conservative council leaders aimed to clarify the publication of the Conservative's recent policy papers on localism and housing while also carrying forward the position set out the Conservative's Policy Green Paper issued earlier this year on 'Returning Power to Local Communities'.  In essence, Ms Spelman urges council leaders to delay major commercial and housing developments until the Conservative party is in power.

The current Government is continuing to move forward with new proposals for the structure of Regional Strategies (which will combine Regional Spatial Strategies and Regional Economic Strategies) and the creation Local Authority Leaders' Boards.  The Conservatives' intention is to remove what they define as the 'bureaucratic' and 'undemocratic' tier of regional planning, including the abolition of the Regional Spatial Strategies and the cancellation of the Labour Government's plans to move the regional housing and planning powers to Regional Development Agencies and Regional Leaders' Boards. 

Legislation to put these proposals in place would likely be pushed through as a priority although even in advance of this legislation, Ms Spelman identifies that consideration will be given to using the Secretary of State's powers to immediately revoke existing RSS.  

It is suggested that local authorities should halt those elements of Regional Spatial Strategies which they find unpalatable.  Under a new Conservative administration, local authorities will be able to review their Local Development Frameworks introduced through by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, to 'undo unwanted planning policies which the Regional Spatial Strategies had imposed upon them'. 

Richard Brown, Associate in the Drivers Jonas Planning and Development Team comments: "There appear to be a number of factors driving the Conservative's proposals, a key one being to ensure that decisions are made by local people who are democratically elected.  Regional Government is considered to be running directly counter to this.  There is also a view that a Regional tier of government is not good value for money, with the economic and planning benefits arising not measuring up the financial costs of their provision.  

"A further reason highlighted by the Conservative's for the abolition of Regional Government is that trying to deliver planning and economic development at this level simply does not work, with Regional Development Agency's competing against each other for funding and development.  The regional level is also suggested as being at too high a level to deal properly with the size of economies, which often operate at a much more local scale.

"What this would mean for the West Midlands would be the potential loss of the West Midlands Regional Assembly and the revocation of the West Midlands Regional Strategy and its associated housing and employment targets.  For Advantage West Midlands, the proposed reforms would remove any future enhanced planning role in the preparation of a combined Economic and Spatial Strategy for the region.  Proposals would also downgrade AWM's existing economic role, with the suggestion that local authorities could join together and take over from AWM the responsibility for economic development in their local areas.

"In terms of the RSS, there are perhaps some legitimate criticisms which can be made of the way the current system operates.  The Phase 2 Revision to the West Midlands' RSS is a good example in terms of the very long length of time it is taking to prepare, which is in large part due to the need to deal with the inevitably contentious issue of setting out how much development should be apportioned to different parts of such a large and diverse region.  This delay is impacting on the production of Core Strategies and other Local Development Documents by West Midland's Councils within the Region, with many awaiting the final confirmation of housing numbers needed to be accommodated in their area before progressing further with their Development Plans.

"Whether a regional level is the right one for making strategic planning and economic decisions is an important point, and the fact that Regional Spatial Strategies include specific policies for different sub-regions within their wider areas, perhaps suggest that a need for a more local approach is already acknowledged.  

"It seems clear that there are some fundamental issues with the way regional planning operates and that a less 'remote' level of planning would be a definite improvement.  It is hard to see however how the removal of any strategic approach to planning and economic development operating above the local authority level would be of real benefit in the longer term.  Without any kind of strategic guidance in place, it is questionable whether this would translate into the proper distribution of development and infrastructure across the entire region.  Decisions on the amount of new housing would have to be left to individual local authorities.  Some will welcome more development with open arms whereas others will be far less accommodating.  Likewise, any current suggestion of competing for economic funds and development between AWM and adjoining Regional Development Agencies could simply be shifted down to a more local level."

With political parties divided over the future of Regional Spatial Strategies, the outlook for key projects depending upon RSS guidance remains equally uncertain. Without a clear policy at present, key Midland sites which are reliant on clear planning strategy for the creation of major new development locations such as at Long Marston are likely to find their planning progress stalled until after the general election.  What appears to be an inevitable hiatus in planning has the potential to intensify the housing supply crisis and lead to a further delay in delivering much needed new homes in the region.