Archived decisions

PLANNING : DELIVERING A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE - THE PLANNING GREEN PAPER

1. The Cabinet has submitted a detailed response on behalf of the County Council to a consultation paper from the Government which proposes a fundamental change to the planning process aimed at developing a faster, fairer system with community interests at its heart. The Green Paper proposes to simplify the hierarchy of plans by strengthening regional planning and replacing the existing development plan system of structure and local plans (or unitary plans in unitary authorities) by a single level of plan, the Local Development Framework (LDF). This Framework will consist of a statement of core policies; more detailed action plans for small, local areas of change; and a map showing proposed areas of change and existing designations. These LDFs will normally be prepared by the relevant district, unitary or national park authority, although the production of joint frameworks will not be precluded.

2. Whilst the Cabinet accepted the need for the streamlining of a planning process which has been in operation in substantially its current form since 1968, it was greatly concerned at the diminution of the crucial role of the County Councils as expounded in the Green Paper. It concluded that there were compelling reasons for County Councils to have a statutory responsibility in the preparation of LDFs to ensure proper integration of land use, transport and other social and community services and to enable a body of skills, knowledge and experience to be maintained to inform local, regional and European plan making, implementation and conservation initiatives. Other concerns raised in the response included the strongly held view that two of the key aims of the Green Paper, speeding up the planning process and enhancing public involvement in procedures, were incompatible; the absence of any reference to County Councils retaining development control responsibilities for their own development, which was regarded as vital to the timely and effective delivery of the social infrastructure necessary to maintain the quality of life for local communities; and a perceived failure on the part of the Government to recognise the tensions between the need for development and the concerns of local communities. On the positive side, the Cabinet welcomed the recognition that mineral and waste planning is best carried out at the County level in two tier authority areas, although there was a residual concern that the Green Paper failed to grasp the wider resource management issues influencing planning for minerals waste, and the opportunities provided by the review of the planning system to embrace natural resource management alongside minerals and waste planning.

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