The Hare & The Tortoise Approach to the Planning System

In his Autumn statement last week Chancellor George Osborne announced a fresh set of measures intended to tackle the planning system's "lengthy delays and high costs", including a review of planning appeals procedures. But will this mean more haste and less speed in reality?

If there was ever a time the Government needed to back off and let us all get our heads around the current tide of planning changes it is now. But no. Just when you thought it was safe to update the Planning Encyclopaedia, good old George lobs in another procedural hand grenade and has us all ducking for cover again. And what the devil does it have to do with the Chancellor anyway? Are the whole cabinet closet planners?

Well Mr Osborne, if you really wanted to avoid lengthy delays and high costs here are three simple measures:

1. Do away with the often nonsensical and 'bottom protecting' validation procedures that have provided every 'jobs-worth' administrator with such unmitigated enjoyment over the last few years. Let some real planning common sense prevail for goodness sake.
2. Stop the consultation rot now. If there was ever a vehicle for delay and for costs stretching into infinity it will be letting 'locals' have free reign over planning applications. Prevarication and filibuster based on limited or no real understanding of the planning and development system is a recipe for disaster.
3. Go mad. Re-invest in planning departments. They have been decimated by local Government cost saving exercises and a lot of very competent and experienced planners are now 'available for alternative employment'. You want speed of decision-making? Keep the time-served guys around who know what the hell they're doing and can also bring along the next generation. And let's not forget all those nice guys at PINS.

Having made more than a few appeals in my time I cannot really see what is wrong with the present appeal system. There is a well understood structure and definite timescales, which you depart from at your peril. The short householder procedure was a sensible addition and with so many appeals now being dealt with by way of Written Representations rather than in Public Inquiries, the days of wearing out suit trousers on hard chairs in cold church halls are pretty much long gone.

There is also some suggestion that appeal decisions need to be more consistent. Apart from the general and longstanding planning premise of 'each case on its individual merits', you might just check the old home front first George. Looking at the way in which Captain Pickles has driven a flotilla through the appeal decision process in the last few months and evidently  suffers from increasing prematurity - something profoundly destined to cause delays and costs beyond all reason - I would respectfully recommend the phrase, 'physician heal thyself'. 

So where is the problem? Heaven forfend this is just another in a continuing series of sops to the general electorate or worse, a poorly contrived balancing act to keep the development sector engaged.