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Church stresses need for local consultation and access to Planning System

28 August 2007

Local people’s access to the planning system should not be sacrificed simply to speed up decision making and planning legislation should tackle the proliferation of gated communities, the Church of England has warned the Department for Communities and Local Government. “Good community relations are a vital part of planning sustainable settlements and their consideration should always be part of the planning process.”

Responding to the Government White Paper Planning for a Sustainable Future, the Rt Revd Stephen Lowe, the Church of England’s Bishop for Urban Life and Faith and chair of its Urban Bishops’ Panel, stressed the importance of accessibility in the planning system. “If there is to be public confidence in the planning system, accessibility is a key issue.”

The Bishop welcomed the White Paper’s commitment to Planning Aid but added, “We do not believe, however, that accessibility should be sacrificed for speed. We hope consideration will be given to how effective full participation can be ensured at the ‘open floor’ stage of inquiries.”

The submission on the White Paper from the Urban Bishops’ Panel argues: “We have recently welcomed the Secretary of State’s announcement regarding participatory budgeting at neighbourhood and local authority level and would hope that some consideration can be given to similar participatory processes being in place for community planning. Speed of decision should not be at the expense of consultation or the engagement of the community in the planning process.”

At the heart of any large scale planning needs to be commitment to a sustainable community life. The bishops’ submission stresses the need to strengthen section 106 on planning gain and other provisions for community facilities as part of the strategic overview of the viability and potential of any new development.

“While we applaud the government’s commitment to ‘creating sustainable mixed communities’, we believe that planning legislation should tackle the proliferation of gated communities and similar developments, which have no spatial or social relationship with local communities,” the bishops say.

 

 

Planning for a Sustainable Future: White Paper

Submission by the Urban Bishops’ Panel of the Church of England

 

Introduction

The Urban Bishops’ Panel welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Planning White Paper.  The Panel recognises the increasing complexity of planning for a cohesive, prosperous and sustainable community life in Britain today.  We recognise that the issues raised in the White Paper have significant connections with other strands of policy which have been announced over recent months – on transport, housing, local government finance etc. We particularly welcome the indication that the White Paper is seen as a strategic document which needs to be integrated across government departments.

The 2006 report by the Commission on Urban Life and Faith, Faithful Cities: A call for celebration, vision and justice [available at www.culf.org.uk ], identified a number of concerns in current planning practice  and identified the need to give priority to an awareness of  places as  ‘spaces of social relations’. A significant part of the report explored the notion of ‘social capital’ which the Commission believed to be a key concept in understanding how sustainable communities are planned and built. 

The report advocated the cultivation of a sense of values and sensibilities as communities become engaged in considering the reshaping of their built environment. The report explored how faith communities might advocate a better understanding of such values and the spiritual dimension of human community. This is not just a concern with the provision of sacred space for the diverse population of our urban communities but the need to examine what the assumptions of planning practice and theory say about attitudes to the ecology of our towns and cities, the inclusion and welcome of those who are different, and the attention given to the voice of young people as the future of their communities are planned. The report has initiated a number of consultations and forums on the theme of ‘What makes a good city (community)?’ where decision makers and stakeholders have explored these themes together.

 

Comments

1) Style and accessibility of the planning system

We note the concerns that the current adversarial system can be intimidating and inaccessible for less well-off communities (2.8). It is important that if there is to be public confidence in the planning system accessibility is a key issue. We welcome the ongoing commitment to Planning Aid. (5.38) We do not believe, however, that accessibility should be sacrificed for speed. We hope consideration will be given to how effective full participation can be ensured at the ‘open floor’ stage of inquiries. (5.34)

2) Sustainability and Community cohesion as a planning consideration

We believe that good community relations are a vital part of planning sustainable settlements and their consideration should always be part of the planning process. We are aware that transparency (2.14) is important where, particularly, issues of community cohesion might also be affected by the decisions made. An awareness of the need to negotiate good community relations is needed particularly in areas where those seeking to disrupt community cohesion might exploit such decisions.

At the heart of any large scale planning needs to be commitment to a sustainable community life. We would stress the need to strengthen section 106 and other provisions for community facilities as part of the strategic overview of the viability and potential of any new development.

While we applaud the government’s commitment to ‘creating sustainable mixed communities’ (1.7), we believe that planning legislation should tackle the proliferation of gated communities and similar developments, which have no spatial or social relationship with local communities.

We believe that the positioning of the sustainability strategy within local government to be vital. (8.3) We believe that Sustainable Community Strategies do need to inform the process at other levels also.  We welcome the clear message of the need to tackle the challenge of climate change (7.8) but would add that the approach given should not be considered solely in the terms of meeting targets on carbon emissions but as part of the drive to tackle all forms of the over-consumption of scarce or non renewable resources. For example:  investment in key transport infrastructure needs to encourage land-based public transport rather than air for domestic travel. 

3) Participation and subsidiarity

We have recently welcomed the Secretary of State’s announcement regarding participatory budgeting at neighbourhood and local authority level and would hope that some consideration can be given to similar participatory processes being in place for community planning. Speed of decision should not be at the expense of consultation or the engagement of the community in the planning process.

We welcome the principle that planning is undertaken at the right level of government (2.12) we would urge that a process for identifying key stakeholders is put in place as safeguards are identified, particularly at regional level or in the case of key infrastructure projects. (3.18ff).

4) Spatial strategies

We believe that towns and cities are strengthened by appropriate emphasis on their core areas and neighbourhoods. We welcome the ‘town centre first’ approach (7.50ff) outlined in the White Paper. We trust this will take into account the need to develop the smaller ‘local’ town centres hubs in a sustainable way and not just city centre areas. We hope that the new test will go beyond the  ‘need and impact’ approach to consider wider spatial and community issues; not least for compact living and good public transport.

 

+Stephen Lowe

Chair, The Urban Bishops’ Panel

Bishop of Hulme

1st August 2007

 

The Urban Bishops’ Panel

The Urban Bishops’ Panel is a sub-committee of the House of Bishops of the Church of England. The Panel acts as a point of reference for items affecting urban communities and congregations which arise in the House of Bishops and General Synod, drawing on members’ experience as bishops in urban areas and their engagement in diocesan and regional strategies.   

Amongst its aims the Panel seeks to:

• · stimulate theological reflection and dialogue on urban life and faith;
• · achieve a better understanding of and influence the processes and policies shaping urban communities and congregations;
• · promote dialogue with government and other decision makers on matters of concern.

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