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Labour launches planning commission
Labour has launched a new planning commission to review the party’s policies on the system at its annual conference.
Billed as a “root and branch review of the planning system”, the commission will examine how local residents can be given a greater say over developments in their areas and mechanisms for delivering affordable housing.
The party said the commission “will seek to reverse the impact of government deregulation of planning”, which it claims has left residents sidelined over decisions about developments in their areas.
It will also consider changes to building regulations regarding safety and sustainability.
Representatives from the National Housing Federation and the Local Government Association will be included, as well as the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Town and Country Planning Association, the British Property Federation, the Federation of Master Builders and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
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Andrew Gwynne, shadow communities and local government secretary, said: “Local government planning departments are increasingly stretched, dealing with more applications, and struggling with a deregulated, poorly functioning planning system.
“This commission will help Labour design a planning system that works for communities, and helps deliver the kind of development that communities want and need for the future.”
The commission will hold meetings with residents, planners, councils and developers across the country and is also seeking written submissions.
It will report in September 2019 with proposals for a new planning system.
Labour planning commission terms of reference
- A set of proposals for a new system of local plan making underpinned by values and a purpose that sees planning as representing the public interest, and to examine how local authorities can lead and be champions of planning in their area in partnership with others.
- Establishing how planning policies and strategies developed at the national, regional, local and neighbourhood level can link together to provide better outcomes for our communities.
- Examining how local communities can better provide the building blocks of our planning system, and take ownership of planning policies that will affect them; establishing the framework to facilitate this.
- Identifying changes that need to be made to our system of planning gain, to streamline it and make it more efficient and transparent for developers and communities.
- Considering measures that will improve land supply, including changes that might need to be made to compulsory purchase orders.
- Considering changes that might need to be made to building regulations: to make buildings safer; to make buildings more energy efficient; to make buildings carbon neutral where possible.
- Exploring how the planning system could better support infrastructure development and how government at different levels can facilitate this.
- Considering how best to develop a new generation of garden cities, villages, urban extensions and new towns.
- How to improve the quality, design and sustainability of new buildings to help address climate change.
- How to drive forward innovative and modern methods of construction and improve access to digital networks and better computer assisted design.
- Make proposals for the training and support of planners to enable them to be a catalyst for visionary local planning to develop skills and ensure a pipeline of future planners exist.
- Considering how to better support the housing and construction sector with particular regard to the role that small builders, land trusts and cooperatives can play in the delivery of new housing and infrastructure to ensure greater diversity in the construction sector.
