EAST OF ENGLAND eXPRESS - Royal Town Planning Institute

Transcription

EAST OF
ENGLAND
eXPRESS
Summer 2016
Where are
we now?
Can you recognise this place?
NEWSLETTER OF THE
RTPI EAST OF ENGLAND
>CONTENTS
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SERVING PLANNERS IN
BEDFORDSHIRE
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
ESSEX
HERTFORDSHIRE
SUFFOLK
& NORFOLK
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This edition of the
East of England Express is sponsored by
EAST OF
ENGLAND
eXPRESS
INTERACTIVE CONTENTS
GUEST EDITORIAL BY PETER GERAGHTYPAGE 3
OUR BIG FAT NIGHT OUT…PAGE 4
OUR EVENTS PROGRAMME 2016PAGE 5
LEGAL INSIGHT FROM 39 CHAMBERSPAGE 6
OUR CONFERENCE 16/03/16 - RURAL HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT
PAGE 7
A BIG DAY IN MAY!PAGE 9
SELF BUILD: ADAM INVESTIGATES…PAGE 11
PAUL’S PIECEPAGE 12
PLANNING AID UPDATEPAGE 13
ROBERT’S REFLECTIONSPAGE 14
RICHARD SUMMERS - OUR MAN DOWN UNDER…
PAGE 16
OUR CONFERENCE 21/04/16 - PLACE MAKINGPAGE 17
PHIL VISITS OUR PATCH 21 & 22/04/16PAGE 20
YOUNG PLANNERSPAGE 22
AFFORDABLE HOUSING SEMINAR REPORT BY JAKE NUGENT
PAGE 23
OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS 23/3 & 17/05/2016PAGE 24
EDITOR REQUIREDPAGE 26
QUIZPAGE 26
INSIDE THE BACK WITH NATASHAPAGE 27
DAVID LOCK ASSOCIATES OPPORTUNITYPAGE 28
pg 2
Cover photo by Gillian Girling
East of England Express Summer ‘16
>CONTENTS
GUEST EDITORIAL BY PETER GERAGHTY
Whatever happened to place-making?
The 4th May 2016, marked the centenary of the birth of Jane
Jacobs. A spirited New Yorker, Jacobs was not an urban
planner but an activist and journalist. Her 1961 book: Death
and Life of Great American Cities1 should be mandatory
reading for every planner and politician. Jacobs advocated
a place-based, community-centred approach to urban
planning, arguing:
“… the best way to plan for downtown is to see how
people use it today; to look for its strengths and to
exploit and reinforce them. There is no logic that can be
superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them,
not buildings, that we must fit our plans.2
Jacobs recognised that cities were more than a collection
of buildings – they are the backdrop to everyday life and
experience. As she said in her book: “Cities have the
capability of providing something for everybody, only
because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
Jacobs’ view seemed to be recognised in the Conservative
party green paper: Open Source Planning (2010) which
states: ‘if we enable communities to find their own ways
of overcoming tensions between development and
conservation, local people can become proponents rather
than opponents of appropriate economic growth.’ This
was the precursor to the Localism Act and Neighbourhood
Planning. The publication of the National Planning Policy
Framework (NPPF) followed in 2012, which contains some
important references to design and place-making including
the minister’s view that ‘confidence in development itself has
been eroded by the too frequent experience of mediocrity.’
The NPPF says:
“In order to fulfil its purpose of helping achieve sustainable
development, planning must not simply be about scrutiny.
Planning must be a creative exercise in finding ways to
enhance and improve the places in which we live our lives.”
It goes on to add that good design is indivisible from good
planning. Since the NPPF the government has pursued a
sustained reformist agenda. The latest raft of changes to the
planning system in England are proposed in which there is
a drive to accelerate decision-making, reduce engagement
with communities and increase housing output; I am
prompted to ask myself whatever happened to creative
place-making?
Planning is fundamental to achieving growth that meets
the needs of the present without compromising those of
future generations. To meet this challenge we need a stable
planning system; one in which we can demonstrate the
added value that planning brings. A planning system that
has the confidence of citizens and business-world alike.
Constant changes to process can undermine support for the
planning system and therefore, the perception of planning as
a beneficial activity. Rather the focus should be on outcomes
and place-making.
Engagement and participation is vital to the sustainable
development process and to dispelling the misconceptions
about planning and its objectives. The concerns identified by
Jacobs are as relevant now as they were then. In the rush to
increase housing numbers we are in danger of engaging in
tokenism or even worse. What we must do is clearly identify
and distil for those affected by development the value and
contribution planning plays in securing a sustainable future.
John Egan in his 2004 Review of Skills for Sustainable
Communities3 said:
“There are too many housing estates simply dumped into
spaces with no amenities and no thought for their future
governance. Too many ugly retail parks serving no other
purpose than shopping by car. Too many hospitals and
schools isolated from the communities they serve...”
pg 3
Egan highlighted that:
“Places where people want to live – and that are
sustainable – do not happen by chance. They are
the product of visionary thinking and commitment by
highly skilled civic and national leaders, developers and
professionals, with the full engagement and support of
local partners and communities.”
The danger with the current reformist planning agenda and
singular quest for greater housing numbers is to forget the
lessons that Jacobs identified and diminish the creativity of
place-making which is the essence of the art and science of
town planning.
Peter Geraghty
The views expressed are those of the author and are not
necessarily shared by Southend Borough Council, the East of
England Region of the RTPI or the RTPI.
Mmm, thanks Peter - food for thought?
Now don’t forget dear readers, if you would like to get into
print, as it were, and contribute to this humble publication all
you have to do is jot something down, draw us a cartoon or
take an appropriate photo and send it to me at the address
on the next page.
Cheerio for now and keep smiling!
Peter Hakes, editor
J. Jacobs, Death and Life of Great American Cities, (New York, 1961).
J. Jacobs, “Downtown is for People”, Fortune, (April 1958).
The Egan Review: Skills for Sustainable Communities, (Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister, 2004).
1
2
3
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
OUR BIG FAT NIGHT OUT…
Next Issue
The next issue should be published
around Autumn 2016. Deadline for copy
is 15 August 2016 to:
The Editor Peter Hakes, PO BOX 11102,
Brentwood, CM14 9JQ
Tel:01277 220043
email:peter@hakes3334.fsnet.co.uk
Acknowledgements
Editing: Peter Hakes/Tina Palmer
Design: David Lock Associates
Thanks to all contributors
Our Gala Dinner & Awards Presentation Evening
FRIDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2016 AT 7:00 - 11:00 PM
SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES
We are all invited to our Annual Gala Dinner and Awards
Presentation Evening, with headline sponsors Bidwells and
David Lock Associates.
A limited number of sponsorship packages are available,
starting from £740 inc VAT.
We are absolutely delighted to announce that Dame Kate
Barker will be our Guest After Dinner Speaker.
Set in the beautiful surroundings of Girton College,
Cambridge, the evening will commence with a Drinks
Reception and will be followed by a sumptuous 3-course
dinner.
Follow us on:
During the event, the winner of our 2016 Planning
Achievement Award will be announced and a charity
raffle will take place in aid of the MK Community Foundation.
@RTPIEastofEng
Family and friends are welcome to attend this prestigious
event.
To find out more, contact Tina - details on next page.
Individual Places and Tables of 8 or 10 (without
Sponsorship)
Please use the Booking Form to reserve your place.
This can be found on our web site –
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/events-calendar/2016/
september/east-of-england-gala-dinner-awards-presentationevening/
• Individual places at the Dinner and Drinks Reception are
£55 inc VAT
• Discount price for a table of 8 (without sponsorship): £425
inc VAT
• Discount price for a table of 10 (without sponsorship):
£525 inc (very limited availability)
Notice to Readers: The RTPI East of England
Regional Management Board wish to point out
that the sponsors have had no editorial role in the
production of this newsletter and the Board does
not endorse the sponsors or have any view on
any matter on which they are involved. Registered
Charity No. 262865 and Scotland SC 037841
This edition was sponsored by:
pg 4
>CONTENTS
OUR EVENTS PROGRAMME 2016
Our Regional Programme of Events is organised by professional planners for professional planners.
Full details of each of the proposed events will be listed on the website http://www.rtpi.org.uk/the-rtpi-near-you/rtpi-eastof-england/conferences-and-events/ as information becomes available, but here is the latest version of the programme:
CONFERENCE AND EVENTS PROGRAMME 2016
Type of Event
Month/Date
Event
Location
Comments/Info
All day conference
15 July,
from 9.50am
“Current Planning Issues”
Conference for Councillors
Suffolk Coastal
DC Offices,
Woodbridge, Suffolk
Kindly hosted by
Suffolk Coastal DC
Roundtable
20 July,
from 1.00pm
“Where to House
the Nations”
Cambridgeshire
Professional
Development Centre,
Cambridge
Being facilitated by
a member of the
RTPI Policy Team
Gala Dinner &
Regional Award
Presentation
Evening
23 September,
from 7.00pm
RTPI East of England
Gala Dinner & Award
Presentation Evening
Girton College,
Cambridge
Sponsorship
packages available
All day conference
20 October
from 9.30am
Local Plans - What’s
the Problem?
The Spirella Building,
Letchworth
Kindly hosted by
Letchworth Garden City
Heritage Foundation
All day conference
4 November,
from 9.30am
Annual Planning
Law Update
Downing College,
Cambridge
Kindly sponsored by 39
Essex Chambers and
Cornerstone Barristers
29 November,
from 9.30am
“Current Opportunities
and Challenges in
Plan Making”
Huntingdonshire
DC Offices
Kindly hosted by
Huntingdonshire DC.
Organised in association
with ATLAS/HCA
All day conference
pg 5
Please note: These details are subject to
change and are provided for guidance only
******
Your support at these events is
vital to ensure their success
Would YOU be able to offer your expertise by
making a presentation at one of these events?
******
Sponsorships Available
Would your organisation be able to host one of our
events in a suitable conference room, in exchange
for a few “free” places for your staff? Or would your
organisation be willing and able to sponsor one of
these events by making a contribution towards the
cost of a venue or towards the cost of lunch? In
return, the organisation’s name would be included
on the conference literature and promotional
material could be displayed at the event.
******
Any offers of help or assistance from Regional
members would be very gratefully received.
Please help us to provide the
Regional events you need.
Up-to-date information can be obtained from:
Tina Palmer, Regional Co-ordinator,
RTPI East of England
Tel: 01359 250258;
Email: eastofengland@rtpi.org.uk
>CONTENTS
LEGAL INSIGHT FROM 39 CHAMBERS
Office to resi: a summary of recent revisions
After months of ‘will they, won’t they’, the government
recently confirmed the permanence of office to residential
permitted development rights, introduced on a temporary
basis in May 2013. The Town and Country Planning (General
Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2016
was laid before Parliament on 11 March 2016 before coming
into force on 6 April 2016.
Class O permits the change of use of a building and any land
within its curtilage from a use falling within B1(a) (Office) to
a use falling within C3 (Residential). It is subject to various
restrictions, qualifications and conditions. Previously, it
was subject to a requirement to make a Prior Approval
application only in respect of transport and highways
impacts, contamination risks on the site and flooding risks.
Paragraph W in Schedule 2, Part 3 of the GPDO sets out
the requirements for such an application and the manner in
which such an application is to be processed.
The most noteworthy of the recent revisions is the addition
of the “impacts of noise from commercial premises on the
intended occupiers of the development” as a matter for the
Prior Approval of the authority (by virtue of the substitution
of a revised paragraph O.2). This addition may be seen by
some as a logical extension of what has been described as
the apparent development of an ‘agent of change’ doctrine in
a planning context.
Further to the above, the Amendment Order also removed
the exemption of certain areas from the office to residential
right with effect from 31 May 2019. This will allow local
authorities for exempted areas to utilise article 4 directions in
order to remove the rights.
Despite it having been announced on 13 October 2015 that
the office to residential right was to be extended to allow the
demolition of office buildings, other operational development
and new building for residential use, the Amendment
Order takes no steps in this regard. However, it has been
reported that the same still features on the government’s ‘to
do’ list and so it will be necessary to keep an eye on future
announcements and developments in this regard, possibly as
part of the progression of the Housing and Planning Bill.
Jonathan Darby
THIRTY NINE ESSEX
STREET CHAMBERS
LONDON WC2R 3AT
Development under Class O is now permitted subject to
the condition that it must be completed “within a period of
3 years starting with the prior approval date”, meaning that
prospective developers will be required to ‘use it or lose it’.
pg 6
>CONTENTS
OUR CONFERENCE 16/03/16
Development in the Rural Historic Environment
MANAGING AND ACCOMMODATING CHANGE AT THE
LOCAL LEVEL
Uttlesford District Council Offices, Saffron Walden
The annual joint conference with the regional branch of the
IHBC was kindly hosted by Uttlesford District Council.
The event brought together individuals from the planning
and conservation professions to enjoy a lively programme of
speakers and the added bonus of a ‘walkabout’.
Andrew Taylor, Assistant Director Planning & Building
Control at Uttlesford District Council and Chair of the RTPI
Board of Trustees welcomed us to the district, which formed
an interesting context for the speakers that followed. It
is a district of contrasts, he explained, from the growth
areas around Stansted Airport, to the rural villages and 36
conservation areas. As one of the counties experiencing the
highest demand for housing growth, now is a pivotal time
for the new local plan and for protecting, preserving and
enhancing the rural historic environment.
Before lunch, we moved on to neighbourhood planning
and the opportunities this presents for the historic
environment. Rachel Hogger of Modicum Planning gave
us some fascinating insights into some of the key lessons
she has learnt from her extensive experience working
on neighbourhood plans with communities in Lavenham
and Thaxted. One of her key messages was the need
for communities wanting to protect their historic assets
to produce a technical evidence base. She was followed
by John Somers of JS Conservation Management who
widened the discussion to include neighbourhood planning
orders.
After a wonderful spread of lunch, we sat down in the
afternoon to an informative presentation on ‘NPPF
Paragraph 55 Dwellings’ by Matthew Bell, Architect,
Modece Architects and Director, Hemp Architecture. Our
speaker provided insights from his experience winning
planning permission for several such dwellings which meet
the criteria of the design being either of ‘exceptional quality’
or of an ‘innovative nature’. He emphasised the need for
such claims to be backed up by evidence or independent
review to meet these tests.
walkabout
tired delegates homeward stroll in Saffron Walden
David Coleman, Associate Director of Boyer Planning gave
the first presentation of the day on the topic of ‘Garden
Suburbs’ and Historic Market Towns. He started by
providing an overview of how the idea of ‘Garden Suburbs’
has evolved and its relationship to the more well-known
‘Garden Cities’ concept, before drawing upon his extensive
experience of applying the concept in Maldon. ‘Garden
Suburbs’, he explained, could be used to masterplan high
quality development which protects historic market towns
from piecemeal development and can provide a more
palatable type of development to local residents.
pg 7
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
It was then time to stretch our legs and get some fresh
air with a study tour of the award-winning ‘The Avenue’
in Saffron Walden by Teresa Borsuk of Pollard Thomas
Edwards Architects. We were all struck by how well the
Hill Residential scheme related to its context and the high
quality individual design of the dwellings. The study tour was
a perfect example of successful development in an historic
market town, from which attendees could take away some
good ideas to apply elsewhere.
The day ended with a round up by the conference Chairs,
Michael Hand and Chris Bennett (IHBC East Anglia branch
member) followed by questions. Our thanks go to the
speakers, organisers and attendees for making the event
such a great success. We look forward to more joint events
with the IHBC in the future.
Charlotte Burton
Andrew Taylor introduces Uttlesford
walkabout
pg 8
>CONTENTS
A BIG DAY IN MAY!
IT ALL HAPPENED ON 17/05/16
Yes, what fun we had in Bury St. Edmunds... It all started with
Our May Committee Meeting, followed by Our Management
Board Meeting. Later there was our big annual get-together
(or AGM as it is sometimes called) followed by a discussion
on a relevant planning topic. Later Tina had organised a curry
and quiz night!
The details:• A report of Our May Committee Meeting can be found
elsewhere in the newsletter.
• Our Management Board Meeting...
As our committee meeting was to be held in the afternoon
before the AGM we had the opportunity for our Board to
meet before our committee. This worked well, and we were
able to give the committee a brief summary of the matters
discussed.
Timetabling three meetings in one afternoon gave us the
discipline of sticking to time, and it was a necessarily short
meeting that considered: action points arising from our
previous meeting on 23 March; a preview of the Treasurer’s
report that was being tabled later at our committee; and
updates of Business Plan activities, including progress with
forging closer links with the planning school at ARU, and
‘planning for planning’ our conference and events for 2017.
The meeting concluded by considering succession planning,
particularly for the editor of our newsletter, so ably carried out
by Peter Hakes for as long as anyone of us can remember - a
truly hard act to follow. Jackie Ward indicated that she would
not be seeking re-election to the post of Honorary Secretary
next year, so a volunteer will also be needed (from within or
outside the committee) for this post.
OUR AGM…
Those of you who attend AGMs will know that they can be
rather tedious and yet they are essential for the running of
a democratic organisation like ours. For those of you who
weren’t there here is a very quick summary of what should
have happened - those who were there will know what did
happen!
The meeting began with a short intro. by current Chair,
Michael Hand.
Apologies for Absence were quickly dealt with and the
Minutes of the 2014 Yearly ‘get together’ were scrutinised
for accuracy and approval and the opportunity given to raise
Matters Arising.
pg 9
Next, last year’s chair David Potter presented the ‘big book
of the year’ otherwise known as the Regional Report of
2015, which is produced to highlight the main achievements
of our organisation during 2015. I am sure you can guess
the matters that were covered - things like… Introduction,
our Management Board, our Committee, our Support Staff,
our Activities Committee Meetings, our Regional Business
Plan, our Conference Programme and Events, President’s
Visit, Young Planners, Newsletter, Communication with
our Members, Links with Anglia Ruskin Planning School,
Liaison with Fellow Professional Organisations, our Awards,
Planning Aid, Financial Matters and Reports of Regional
Representatives. There was a succinct conclusion by David
Potter.
Of interest was the Maurice Hellier Memorial Prize, a
competitive prize awarded to the most Outstanding Planning
Student on Anglia Ruskin University’s Planning Degree
course. This had been awarded to Jack Lilliott during the
annual prize-giving event at ARU in October.
This shows David, Jack and Dr Peter Crabtree, Deputy Dean
at ARU.
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
A BIG DAY IN MAY!
Next were Reports from Regional Representatives
on HQ General Assembly and Regions and Nations
Panel (Robert Hobbs and Jackie Ward respectively) for
acceptance and Report on Planning Aid in our region by
Adam Banham, for acceptance.
Towards the end now we had Treasurer’s Report and
Accounts for 2015 from Robert Hobbs, for acceptance.
Then for information was a short report on the 2015
Planning Achievement Award.
Lastly we had the old faithful… Any Other Business.
DISCUSSION
Rob Hobbs chaired a lively debate on devolution,
housing and infrastructure. There is much press about
devolution, its geography and a potential elected mayor.
The geographical relationship between Cambridgeshire,
Peterborough, Norfolk and Suffolk was debated, with
housing and infrastructure considered to be two key drivers
for any future proposal. The role of strategic planning was
highlighted and the creation of a framework to address
housing growth, jobs and associated infrastructure.
The role of starter homes and self-build was discussed with
the government favouring these as a key part of its housing
strategy. Concern was raised over the potential impact upon
current affordable housing delivery in particular affordable
rent and social rent. Self-build was viewed as a successful
idea on the continent, but questions were raised over the
effectiveness of delivery in England due to the cost and
availability of land.
There was emphasis on the need to plan for infrastructure
and ensure it is delivered upfront, and that this was being
hampered by unplanned schemes being given planning
permission often by appeal due to the absence of a five-year
housing land supply. Funding for infrastructure was raised,
with reliance on section 106 agreements and the community
infrastructure levy questioned.
CURRY NIGHT AND QUIZ…
WHICH ELEMENT IS USED TO GALVANISE STEEL?
Thanks to Tina for acting as adjudicator and score keeper!
Everyone who attended the Quiz thought the venue was
absolutely ideal, and it is hoped that Paul can be persuaded
to make this an annual event!
Paul gives out papers
WHICH IS THE ONLY PLANET NOT TO BE THE SUBJECT
OF A MOVEMENT IN HOLST’S “THE PLANET” SUITE?
FROM WHICH BOOK COMES THE PHRASE: “FOUR LEGS
GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD”?
These were just some of the random questions asked by our
resident expert Quiz-Master, Paul Maison, during the social
curry and quiz evening on 17 May.
The winners - 3 wise men +1
A good time was had by all who attended this event, which
was held in the beautiful surroundings of the Oakes Barn in
the centre of Bury St Edmunds.
A small but select group of quizzers came together to form
four quiz teams:
Class Q quiz team – from Babergh/
Mid Suffolk
• The Quizzy Rascals
• The Three Wise Men + 1
• Simple Minds
• The Class Q’s
At the half-way point, it was difficult to judge which team was
going to win.
But a crafty Joker, followed by a maximum score during
round 9, meant that The Three Wise Men + 1 came home
in first place, with a score of 186.
They were closely followed by the Simple Minds, on 184.5
(the half came when they were unable to name the 4th
member of Abba!).
pg 10
Simple Minds
>CONTENTS
SELF BUILD: ADAM INVESTIGATES…
Self-build and Custom Housebuilding
On the 1st April the requirement in the Self-build and Custom
Housebuilding Act 2015 came into effect for councils to
hold registers of people wanting to build their own home.
Time will tell, but the new duty could herald a new era.
The Government wants to see custom build and self-build
completions rising to 20,000 per annum by 2020. Echoing
what is seen in other European countries where up to 2040% of all new homes built are self-commissioned.
The new duty to hold ‘right to build’ registers is intended to
be a means to gather together evidence for policy-makers.
Amongst the ideas getting discussed is for local plans to
have quotas for custom-build housing. So on qualifying
residential sites, a meaningful proportion, perhaps 5-10%
could be offered as serviced plots. The potential trouble here
is obvious, as custom-build gets pitted against affordable
tenures and starter homes in the negotiations between
planning authority and developer.
How traditional house-building firms react to the custombuild sector is set to be intriguing. Some house-builders
could take umbrage, seeing it as an imposition to sell-on
part of their site, and thus missing out on selling homes on
part of their site. However, there are counter-arguments,
and in reality the regional and national house-builders might
not be too bothered. Having weathered the economic
downturn, there are considerable amounts of development
land coming through the planning system, and demand for
housing outstrips supply. Estimates put the need for housing
at 240,000 per annum and completions are struggling to
consistently exceed 150,000.
With more homes needed than the private house-building
industry can manage to build themselves there appears
little reason to deny custom builders the opportunity. In fact
there are some reasons why a typical house-building firm
might welcome some custom build homes within their site.
Being able to sell to custom-builders might be profitable on
its own and if the custom build element is sold-on early it
might help the traditional developer’s cash-flow. With luck
traditional house-builders and custom build firms will find a
way to happily co-exist over the coming years. A blurring of
the two sectors is possible, as house-building firms get into
the custom market, and custom-builders offer more options
for those self-builders who want the construction managed
for them.
In the shorter-term, registers are a means to stimulate
demand, and finally to break the self-fulfilling prophecy of no
plots and no demand for plots. The assumption being that
if the market is there, investment in custom build firms will
follow. That does not solve all the challenges, and there are
still questions over home-buyers raising mortgages. Banks
and buildings societies have traditionally been quite frosty
towards self-builders, offering poor deals and insisting on low
loan-to-value ratios. Typical worries being
that self-builders take years to finish or
never finish, that the completed home will
be worth less than expected, or that poor
construction standards will blight the whole
project.
Times are changing though, as modern
methods of construction are quicker
and less subject to snagging costs.
Furthermore, the Government is
saying custom builders should not be
disadvantaged from other home-buyers.
Another commonly cited problem to the
custom builder is the planning system,
but the tension is unnecessary, and
perhaps gets over-exaggerated. Planners
are interested in quality of design and
pg 11
sustainability, and these are bywords for the custom build
industry as well. Some applications will get refused, such as
where countryside protection policies trump allowing a home
to be built ‘in the middle of nowhere’, but that does not make
planning anti-custom-build.
In fact transitioning from big homes in the country to building
more homes at higher densities in towns and cities is crucial
to the custom-build sector maturing and becoming a greater
proportion of overall housing completions. The way forward
for the fledgling sector is likely to be ‘managed’ custom build
schemes where flats, terraces, and semi-detached homes
accord to a design code, get partially built as standardised
shells by a contractor, and then are offered to the purchaser
to finish as they wish. If that can be achieved, the custom
build sector deserves all the encouragement the planning
system can give it.
Adam Banham
Custom Build: A sector of the house-building industry set to grow.
(CGI image of Aldcliffe Road, Lancaster, Custom Build Scheme, courtesy of Plot.)
>CONTENTS
PAUL’S PIECE
PLANNING, PARKS and DESIGN
“Summer afternoonsummer afternoon…..the
two most beautiful words in
the English language” Henry
James (author)
Summer can be great but
frustrating. Tourism is a
two faced thing, being a
blessing and a curse, with
crowds and travelling to
destinations.
I like reading the National Geographic. Some say it is a
“coffee table item” yet the recent ones major on urban parks
and also centenaries. It is not about Shakespeare (400th)
but the century of the US National Park service. Yellowstone
was the world’s first National Park. The recent NG shows fine
examples of urban parks – “bringing nature close to home“
such as Munich’s English Garden, New York City’s High
Line, Barcelona’s Parc Guell and opening up a small river,
previously underground in the heart of Seoul.
Britain as well as the east of England have much to be proud
of at different levels- from the Broads NP, the AONBs,
and down to imaginative ”pocket parks”. Fine restorations,
including brownfields and restored mineral sites, have been
achieved and enjoyed.
Most people now appreciate green/blue infrastructure and
know about the importance of the physical, mental and
spiritual welfare it bestows, especially with accelerating
rates of urbanisation. However, financial tightening has
slowed progress. Reductions in maintenance is slowly
degrading such assets, let alone developing new green/blue
infrastructure.
Gardens certainly make people feel healthier (despite my
cat!). According to the RHS, one hour’s gardening uses
up 459 calories comparing well with cycling (613 cals) and
walking at 383 cals). No doubt this is an average. Feeding
the birds and providing wild parts of a garden are definite
benefits for ecology and the environment.
Moving to Design, I noted that the Planning Convention on
the 28th June has a session on building quality into design,
with pressures on planners to improve new housing schemes
quickly and asking the question “how do we ensure that
housing design is of good quality and meets the needs of
communities?
Clearly, there is, at times, a “sameness” with cloned estates.
Winning over the local and new population needs to happen
more smoothly and help achieve much needed new homes.
The NPPF makes reference to the need for good design.
I noticed a proposal for 220 homes in Kent. It was refused
recently by the Secretary of Communities, Greg Clark, on the
grounds that “much of the scheme would appear cramped,
unrelieved and somewhat anonymous”. The overall quality
does not match up to the NPPF’s aim to create residential
environments of genuinely high quality (Planning Resource
070316)
This is encouraging!
Zaha Hadid died untimely on 31 March. She was a genius
and very much a visionary. Also she was an artist as well as
an architect. Owen Hopkins described her work as being like
a performance- haunting, intense and utterly unreproducible;
frozen music of which she is composer, conductor and
performer.
pg 12
There are rebels in so far as they design buildings that look
like nothing that have come before. (Kieran Long.)
Zaha Hadid’s swimming pool for the Olympics in London
showed elegance and imagination, and is well used. The
accountants were tearing their hair out as costs overran
considerably.
Generally there have been too few architects involved in
schemes and developers, not surprisingly, want to control
costs. There are gaps between the local population’s views
and incoming users.
Happy holidays- whether you are in the garden, or waiting for
a plane in Stansted or Luton, or Norwich or Southend.
There really is much to see and enjoy in the East of England.
Paul Maison
>CONTENTS
PLANNING AID UPDATE
PAE ACTIVITIES –
2015/16
Planning Aid
England continues
to provide a
national advice
service via
telephone and
e-mail. The Advice
Line offers free
and independent
planning advice to
the general public,
currently handling over 2000 queries per year. In addition
to this we also have the Planning Aid Direct online resource
at advice@planningaid.rtpi.org.uk for all planning queries.
It is our biggest source of casework for volunteers, with
those individuals and communities eligible for support being
appointed a volunteer to assist them.
As we only receive around 9% of our advice service queries
from the East of England, we continue to ask all members
to promote our service as much as possible to increase the
service’s profile within the Region.
CURRENT WORK
Volunteer tasks can be summarised as:
o Casework – supporting individuals or groups dealing with
particular planning applications, appeals or enforcement
issues, e.g. during 2015/16 volunteers dealt with a range of
cases advising on a variety of development issues which
included helping a pensioner about a new front garden
wall; advising a family about the implications of a major
redevelopment area affecting their home; and advising a
housing association about a planning application for a new
community garden.
o Neighbourhood Plan support – this can range from giving
advice on queries arising during the preparation of specific
plans to general training – e.g. at the end of February
four volunteers helped run two training workshops for
representatives from 25 neighbourhood plan teams based
in the Bedford area.
o Capacity building – a particular requirement for
disadvantaged communities that need to organise and
understand the way the planning system works so
they can engage. During the past year our community
engagement work included one volunteer leading a
training seminar for over 40 local councillors on the
planning application process and making representations
on development proposals.
pg 13
RTPI East of England supports PAE through its Planning Aid
Advisory Group, with members of the Regional Committee
liaising with PAE nationally via monthly teleconferences and
other contact with the regional PAE Project Officer.
Our regional volunteers are also supported by three PAE staff
provided centrally whose role has been:
o Identifying volunteers opportunities and initiating casework
o Co-ordination of volunteers and necessary administration
(expenses etc.)
o Ensuring monitoring and consistency of service delivery
o Preparing presentations (e.g. for use in training sessions),
support materials, etc.
Members of the RTPI in the East of England are urged
to consider volunteering for Planning Aid. It offers a great
opportunity to gain experience in community planning and
other areas of Planning – perhaps those you are not able to
experience in your full-time work - and moreover to make
an effective contribution to the engagement of local people
in the planning process, particularly those from deprived
communities.
Brian Whiteley, PAE Co-ordinator for our Region
(contact via: the RTPI offices on 0207 929 8337 (direct)
/ 0788 954 1956 (mobile) or via e-Mail: brian.whiteley@
planningaid.rtpi.org.uk)
>CONTENTS
ROBERT’S REFLECTIONS
“If it is not broken do not fix it. Well, it is certainly broken so how do we fix it?
In the post financial holocaust of 2007 voices urging
housebuilders to build have grown from shy murmurs, and a
denial homes are not needed, to even NIMBYS like the CPRE
accepting that we need more homes. Indeed, in some parts
of England some commentators say that the 25 to 40 year
olds, the have nots, are ‘yelling for new homes’.
England needs at least 243,000 new homes every year just
to keep up with the number of households being formed,
according that is to the Lyons Review. There is back log
in the supply of homes as numerous areas have under
supplied, by playing ‘smoke and mirrors’ with land supply,
allocations and completion rates, for decades. Only 143,000
were built last year and the number is faltering further this
year as the economy again slows.
The consequences of a lack of supply in the housing market
is well known. Rocketing house prices, sky-high private
rents, plummeting rates of home ownership, sofa surfing,
staying with mum and dad or friends and crippling long
term debt for yet another generation. Furthermore, the
undersupply of housing is debilitating for the economy of the
UK. There is nothing new in this situation. Dame Kate Barker
made the point only too well in 2004 in her report on housing
supply but was largely ignored by our politicians before the
subsequent financial events of the era surpassed her findings
as being a key point of concern.
Twelve years on the housing market is still broken. Some
say it is even more dysfunctional as the depression of almost
a decade ago ended the viability of a large number of small
and medium sized building companies. The result is we have
a small number of gigantic housing firms which have many
marketing faces and a relatively small number of very small
builders who mainly earn a living by building out the odd infill
plot here and there. As a result we still do not build sufficient
homes and despite constant government fiddling and the
promotion of ‘permitted development’ no one has solved the
problem.
One frequently banded about argument is that it is all the
fault of a failed development plans system. Yes, in many
places the plans are woefully out of date and politicians
should give far more importance to placing more resources
in what are now all too frequently depleted departments
of one or two beleaguered individuals. However, recently
published research from Civitas (The Institute for the Study
of Civil Society which was founded by David George Green
and Robert Whelan early in 2000 as an independent think
tank) illustrates that the number of housing starts since 2006
has actually been outstripped by planning permissions. This
surplus of permissions now adds up to some 369,000 units.
Indeed, in many places approval rates are at about 80% and
planning departments are providing permissions almost as
fast as they are being submitted.
The other side of the problem is the private sector. Since
the early 1990’s, when the construction of Council housing
was halted for political reasons the majority of house building
has been undertaken by the private sector with a sprinkling
of housing association units. We were told that the private
sector will bridge the gap. They have not and for a plethora
of reasons cannot – even if they wanted to. In 1988, there
were 195,000 private house completion out of a total
220,000 new homes. Since then the closest we have come
was in 2006 when 160,000 private units were built out of
183,000 homes.
After increasing taxes for the rest of us the Government is
now looking at taxing developers further with a revisit of the
2013 ‘use it or lose it’ tax. Since 2009 house builders have
been given generous ‘carrots’ to increase the rate of delivery.
pg 14
Under the ‘Help to Buy
Scheme’ the Government
uses tax payers – our money to pay developers
for up to a fifth of the value
of a home to help first time
buyers. Some say this has
helped increase the supply
others say it has merely
allowed developers to increase their prices and their profits
by 20%. Then there is this year’s ‘Starter Home Initiative’
which allows developers off the hook for some aspects of
planning gain if properties are sold at a 20% discount. As
a result, housebuilding profit margins are near an all-time
record high of 17.6%.
The Office of Fair Trading looked into why build rates did not
rocket in the pre-2007 economic boom years. They noted
that it was not in house builders interest to sell homes below
current prices, so they drip feed them into the market as fast
as they can sell them rather than as fast as they can ‘throw
them up’.
A betterment tax or a land tax is not a revolutionary idea.
The concept has come and gone several times before.
Indeed, in 2013 the IMF recommended what it called ‘fiscal
buttressing’ to help the rate of supply by dis-incentivising the
holding of land and not developing it as they do in civilised
countries such as Denmark and New Zealand. On paper it
looks pretty simple but in reality all sorts of issues can fetter
implantation: completing the purchase of sites which were
only controlled via an option agreement that was subject to
securing an implementable planning permission; avoiding
working at risk during Judicial Review periods; the discharge
of pre-commencement conditions; securing the relevant precommencement wildlife licences from Natural England and
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
ROBERT’S REFLECTIONS
then undertaking the seasonally dependant work; undertaking
the required detailed archaeological work; the provision of
infrastructure by statutory undertakers; securing the required
highway adoption approvals to allow sites to be opened up
and tendering the works from a deskilled workforce. Indeed,
all too frequently, it takes more time to secure the legal ability to
develop the site than physically build it.
However, it is true that the ‘Big Boys’, Barratt, Bellway,
Persimmon and Taylor Wimpy, do control huge swathes of
the land market. Some say, far too much of it. In a recent
audit Persimmon had over six years supply of deliverable
homes – if their current build rate is perpetuated. In addition
to this quantum of implementable permissions they allegedly
control more than 17,000 acres of strategic land on which
they have the legal option to bring forward land for planning
permission - or to put it another way probably enough land
for some 250,000 new homes. In these circumstances,
other providers are cut out of the market which results in
many smaller developers complaining, perhaps rightly so,
that there is a near monopoly that is cutting them out of the
market.
Civitas has suggested giving housebuilders a time limit by
which they should have completed new homes or sell the
land or face a punitive tax. In defence of the status quo,
champions of the established house building industry say
that house builders would simply delay further the rate at
which they secure planning permission and then build. But
would profit hungry shareholders agree to that? But, as
the clamour for a land bank tax grows – albeit quietly –
developers shout that they are already increasing the net
supply of homes if you include completions, conversions and
the new ‘micro boxes’ that are being brought forward under
the shroud of permitted development.
In these circumstances, perhaps George Osborne and his
colleagues should appreciate more widely that taxes are
not just about increasing revenues but changing behaviour.
Examples surround us every day in the guise of such things
as the pricing of cigarettes, sugary drinks and petrol. Sure,
the exchequer receives revenue from us enjoying these
consumables but his real driver could be to ‘educate’ us into
not consuming as much of these items. On this basis, if the
land bank tax is phased in properly whilst it may not raise
much revenue for the Government’s coffers it may increase
the rate of housing delivery in the medium term.
Robert M Purton
Partner on behalf of David Lock Associates Limited
The views expressed are those of the author and
are not necessarily shared by DLA, the East of
England Region of the RTPI or the RTPI.
pg 15
>CONTENTS
RICHARD SUMMERS - OUR MAN DOWN UNDER…
Planning in The Antipodes…
Yes, our region is active down under ! Richard recently
visited his family in Australia and took the opportunity to
speak to planners in Canberra and then in Brisbane about
the RTPI’s international work and Planning Aid’s work in
neighbourhood planning (see international news on the RTPI
website for the full stories).
Phil Williams, our current President, flew into Brisbane just
in time to join Richard for his talk to the City Council and an
“Aussie and Pommy Planners” networking event co-hosted
by RTPI and the Planning Institute of Australia on the eve
of the PIA National Planning Congress. Phil flew onto visit
planners in New Zealand straight after his visit to Brisbane.
Lo and behold, Tony Hall (one of our past Chairs) showed up
at the “Aussie and Pommy Planners” networking event and
Andrew Meddle (ex-Southend BC now in Adelaide) appeared
at the PIA Congress. It was great to hear their news. It’s a
small world !
Richard Summers, Dy Currie (PIA and CAP) and Phil Williams at the “Aussie and Pommy
Planners” networking event on Brissy’s South Bank
Richard Summers and Tony Hall at the “Aussie and Pommy Planners” networking event
on the South Bank
Brissy is becoming a new “world city” - it is growing fast and has a spectacular night
time skyline
PIA Congress and Planning Excellence Awards, Brisbane
PIA Congress exhibition and networking between sessions
pg 16
>CONTENTS
Place Making: Delivering Successful Places – From Concept to Reality
Fielder Centre, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
Place Making, Grenoble Style by Dr Stéphane Sadoux,
Université of Grenoble Alpes
We had a whistle stop guide to the French Planning System
illustrated by a description of how planning has influenced
Grenoble through place making over time. Grenoble started
with a dense urban fabric, based on the Haussmann Paris
style model with wide streets defined by inward facing
blocks, looking onto central courtyards. The 1970s saw a
modernist extension which was huge in scale and not user
friendly. Place making principles emerged as a consequence
of and a reaction against modernist planning. In the
1980s, transport links were used as a catalyst to enhance
sustainability and as a regeneration tool including bringing
back the tram network.
Today, high level issues and challenges are concerned with
physical constraints including;
• A national land and housing shortage
• Congestion and pollution
• Extreme temperature variations
• Attractiveness and historic core
• Undesirable urban sprawl
The case study identified a number of problems from
they are seeking to learn, including the need for more
place specific design tools, the need for skills training and
enhanced building insulation to deal with the extreme climate
variations. Positive place making tools included design
coding and the setting out of bold, bespoke visions for each
urban neighbourhood based upon the principles of good
urban design and strong governance. The closing message
from Stephane was that where existing tools don’t allow
for the desired outputs then we must find another way of
achieving good quality sustainable places via additional tools
and dialogue and negotiation.
Sustainable Places: Negotiating and Delivering WinWin-Win Outcomes, Joe Doak, Associate Professor of
Urban Planning and Development, Henley Business School,
University of Reading
Joe focussed on the influence of process, networks and
partnerships on place making. Some key points:• The key to success is to build a network of stakeholders
and partnerships
• Agreeing priorities relies on a sound understanding of
different resources: socio-economic, environmental and
cultural.
• Need to consider both current and future environmental
implications and plan for future generations.
• Need to optimise outcomes to draw others into a scheme.
• Need to consider all inter-relationships within a project and
what others can bring.
• Planners do not necessarily have to be the project
lead, but planners are integral to managing change
and articulating key messages and can add value to the
neighbourhood planning process at key stages.
• The lead must work in partnership with all others.
• It is important to have an appropriate governance
structure in place to bring clarity and democratic
accountability to the process.
pg 17
Case Study: Place Shaping in South Cambridgeshire,
Jo Mills, Director - Planning and New Communities, South
Cambridgeshire District Council
Jo shared experience of good practice and lessons learnt
from four key case studies in South Cambridgeshire
looking at delivering strategic growth - Bar Hill, Cambourne,
Northstowe and Waterbeach.
In the earlier examples, the aim was to ensure minimum
impact of the new planned strategic growth on existing
communities. This resulted in problems of isolation, with the
impacts of the new development tending to be worse on the
existing community, such as traffic generated by a large new
superstore and the location of employment on the edge of
the new settlement, whereas it may have been better for old
and new to be better integrated within the centre of the new
development.
The benefits of developing long-term, integrated relationships
were borne out in later planning projects and strategies
based on establishing a shared purpose. Key priorities for
Northstowe were the early delivery of major infrastructure,
e.g. the guided busway and school, and planning for the
whole community to ensure full consideration of issues such
as connectivity. Keeping a degree of flexibility to allow for
changes and regular engagement between all stakeholders
enhanced confidence and understanding in the planning
process. A clear focus upon quality was paramount to
delivering a high quality environment. Using tools such as
a Planning Performance Agreement, an Economic Strategy
and a Branding Strategy at the outset all help significantly
with achieving success.
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
Effective Community Engagement Thame
Neighbourhood Plan, Cllr Helena Fickling, Thame Town
Council
Helena gave a heart-felt presentation drawing on first-hand
experience of preparing a Neighbourhood Plan for this South
Oxfordshire market town. The NP was made with the aim
of creating a good place to live, to protect from insensitive
development and to retain its identity. The key messages
with a focus on community engagement are;
• The Core Strategy was perceived as a threat to Thame,
particularly as the town was allocated more housing than
other settlements.
• The community wanted development to relate to and
reflect Thame and to maintain the vitality of the town
centre.
• There is increasing scepticism about NPs especially the
ability to control development, for example since PD rights
now allow for office to residential conversions and CIL
money has been delayed. Government policies seem to
undermine the localism agenda.
Keynote Presentation on Place Making and the Role of
Planners, Phil Williams, President RTPI
Phil set out an interesting national perspective with an
emphasis on the intrinsic links / triangle between planners,
politicians and communities. Some key points;
• A neglect of space can harm communities and undermine
economies.
• Planners need to be involved in the delivery process to
ensure success.
• A planning consultant appointed to manage process.
• Planning can play a pivotal role in alleviating social
problems; where people live can affect their life chances.
• A variety of community planning events were held which
resulted in the production of a vision statement and core
objectives.
• Four attributes are key to success: visionary, action
orientated, inclusive and innovative
• Not all areas of the town engaged and more should have
been done to engage non-participatory groups.
• The preparation of the NP highlighted how difficult the
public find democracy and planning.
• The process gave residents more control over the town’s
future.
• To be successful and sustainable, we need to find a way
of moderating behaviours and change, incentives are
clearly more attractive than coercion.
• Much of what has been built has been mediocre, and
flagships are the exception not the rule: we should learn
from missed opportunities.
• The Plan controls design and density. The density was low
but developers found this made schemes more popular.
Can Garden City Principles be Applied to New
Development? Patrick Clarke, AECOM
Patrick focussed on one of the garden city principles:• TCPA (2014) established 9 garden city principles which are
indivisible/interlocking. Also promote land value capture
• CABE looked at what buyers want from a development
(attitudes and decision making)
• Density land economies occur at around 30-50
dph . Before or after this infrastructure costs are
disproportionately high.
• Need to be clearer about the type of residential
environments want to create: this can unlock and respond
to issues, for example SUDs can be fully integrated.
• Streets need to be fit for purpose, for example wide
enough to allow for on street parking and tree planting
(such streets are more expensive to construct) or plots
formatted to allow for parking alongside properties.
• In Northstowe invested in good transport provision: this
allows for cars but makes it easier to use other modes.
Delivery Mechanisms, Funding and Partnerships, John
Walker, Garden City Developments
John gave an inspiring talk about delivery concepts, related
to Garden City Princples (TCPA).
Of the 9 principles 3 are enabling and John suggested that
getting those right early, then it is easier to deliver on the
remaining 6. Some key points:• Need to create a local vision, involve public sector
participation.
pg 18
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
• Current practice not working due to mistrust amongst
stakeholders.
• Create propositions where everyone gains and land values
must be shared fairly between community / developer and
landowner providing profit for all;
• Political leadership needs to be backed up by delivery
apparatus, such as a local development vehicle (i.e. New
Town Development Corporation) to give confidence.
• Need to be more ambitious over the stewardship of
community assets.
• Local authorities must initiate work (possibly securing
capital against their assets), central government can then
fund it and then parties will start to see leadership. If local
authorities are involved early on in the funding process,
this provides certainty (they are less likely to pull out or
change their mind).
Joe Doak,
• Several sites should be identified to create a strong
negotiating position with landowners. Deliverability and
confidence of deliverability should influence allocation.
• Government agents such as Atlas, use developers’ viability
models to facilitate easier negotiation.
• Community trusts used to manage assets but also provide
feedback and create community engagement at the
outset.
• Planning policy needs to think beyond the plan period,
embedding longer term policies within the development
plan.
Thanks to University of Hertfordshire for hosting this event.
Sandra Scott with contributions from Clare Buddle
(University of Hertfordshire Student) and Wendy
Hague.
President Phil Williams making a keynote speech
pg 19
Cllr Helena Fickling making a passionate speech about community engagement
>CONTENTS
PHIL VISITS OUR PATCH 21 & 22/04/16
After 15 years as Head of Planning at Cardiff City Council,
where he led major projects including redevelopment of
Cardiff Bay and the city centre, Phil Williams took up the newly
created post of Director of Planning and Place at Belfast City
Council last year. The 2016 RTPI President arrived in our
region by train from South Wales in time to deliver the Keynote
Address to delegates at the Place Making conference in
Hatfield (see separate article in the newsletter). During the
lunch break Phil met with conference delegates before being
driven to Stevenage accompanied by our Chair, Michael Hand
and Senior Vice Chair, Wendy Hague.
Here, on a visit to the GSK Stevenage Bioscience Campus,
the President met Sarah Barker, Principal Planning Officer,
Zayd Al-Jawad, Head of Planning and Transportation and
Councillor John Gardner, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder
for Environment and Regeneration at Stevenage Borough
Council. Following an introductory talk from the Business
Manager, the group toured the Bioscience Catalyst - a joint
venture between the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills, GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust and Innovate
UK. It includes the only start-up facility in the country which is
specifically for the pharmaceutical industry and offers access
to equipment and facilities that would otherwise be beyond the
reach of small or medium-sized companies.
Stevenage Bioscience Campus
Overall, the site has an outline planning permission for
development of 60,000 sqm office floorspace (B1). Draft
policies in the emerging Local Plan for Stevenage Borough
promote Gunnels Wood as the main employment area
in the town and supports an upgrade to meet modern
requirements, providing a high quality and attractive business
destination. Under construction is the Cell Therapy
Catapult (7,287 sqm of B1 use) - a £55 million state-of-theart manufacturing centre which is expected to create up
to 150 jobs. The Stevenage site was chosen as it met the
essential criteria that included excellent UK and international
logistics for short life products, available workforce and value
for money. It is a research and manufacturing building to be
used by up to 12 firms simultaneously, but separately, for the
manufacture of late phase clinical trials and initial commercial
supply of advanced therapeutic medicinal products including
cell and gene therapies. It is envisaged that the development
will create further high skilled jobs and attract investment to
the region and the UK. Further information is available from
the link below:
regeneration until 2031. Councillor Simon Speller, who had
been involved in the early planning of Stevenage, presented
the President with a replica of the Borough’ s Coat of Arms
- see below. In addition, Councillor John Gardner gave Phil a
book published to commemorate the 70th anniversary.
The gold crown on the top of the helmet
indicates a planned area.
The President was then taken back to
Hatfield for a cheese and wine reception
hosted by the University of Hertfordshire at
the De Haviland campus, where Phil met
some of the region’s Young Planners and
our committee members. See separate
report from the Young Planners.
Phil outside the Museum in
Stevenage
http://www.stevenagecatalyst.com/lab_and_office_space
thecell_therapy_catapult_
Immediately afterwards, officers and members from
Stevenage BC were joined by colleagues from other
Hertfordshire local authorities at Stevenage Museum,
where the President enjoyed tea and cake while viewing the
history of the town. This year, the town is celebrating the
70th anniversary of the designation of Stevenage as the first
New Town in August 1946 and the Council’s archivist had
assembled original documentation relating to the early plans.
Richard Javes, Planning and Transport Policy Manager at
Stevenage BC, gave an entertaining presentation on the
evolution of the town since 1946 including preparation of
the new Local Plan to guide development and town centre
pg 20
Simon Speller,
Porfolio Holder for
Neighbourhoods and Cooperative Council, presents
coat of arms.
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
PHIL VISITS OUR PATCH 21 & 22/04/16
This was promptly followed by an enjoyable and relaxed
dinner at nearby Beales Hotel with guests including
conference speakers, university staff, our committee
members and others who had assisted with day one of the
Presidential visit.
All enjoying the evening
dinner
The theme for the second day of the President’s visit was
the closure and re-development of MOD sites in the region.
The day started in Mildenhall at the offices of Forest Heath
District Council meeting the Leaders of Forest Heath and St
Edmundsbury Borough who share services as West Suffolk.
Phil Williams and planners from West Suffolk were invited
to join the second Board meeting of the One Public Estates
group that have come together, with government support,
to provide a public service hub in Mildenhall. The purpose
of the Board meeting was to receive a presentation on the
announcement that
RAF Mildenhall is
to close and that
the USAFE base at
RAF Lakenheath is
to expand. There
was an interesting
discussion around
the challenges and opportunities around this huge change for
the local area, with Phil citing the example of the steelworks
closure at Llanwern. There was then an opportunity for the
planners and Forest Heath’s Planning Portfolio Holder to
meet with Phil before setting off for Alconbury Weald.
Alconbury Weald is the biggest development that
Huntingdonshire District Council’s planning department has
worked on for a number of years and it is currently one of the
largest schemes in the country. From inception, through the
planning process (involving lots of community engagement
and partnership working) to delivery, it is anticipated that the
site will take 20 -25 years to build. The scheme comprises
up to 290,000 sqm of employment floor space, including
data storage and a materials recovery demonstration
centre, creating up to 8,000 jobs in the Government-backed
Enterprise Zone. More than 5,000 dwellings, including
sheltered/extra care accommodation will be built, together
with a mixed use hub and mixed use neighbourhood
facilities, including retail, commercial, leisure, health, place
of worship and community uses. Non-residential institutions
include primary schools, nurseries, a secondary school and
land reserved for post 16 education provision. The plans
also involve creation of open spaces, woodlands and sports
provision; retention of listed buildings; new vehicular access
points from Ermine Street and the A141, with other new nonvehicular access points; associated infrastructure; reserve
site for a railway station and ancillary uses and associated
demolition and groundworks.
The President met Andy Moffat (Head of Development) and
officers from the Strategic Development Planning Team,
Planning Policy and Economic Development to discuss
the challenges faced by planners to deliver growth on this
scale in the face of Government cuts to the public sector.
Presentation at Forest Heath DC – Wendy Hague (left) and Phil Williams
pg 21
He was particularly interested in the proactive approach to
partnership working to deliver a development of this scale
(including key obligations such as affordable housing) and
how that can be used as a blueprint for the development
of other MOD bases. The visit also allowed the President
to meet with the developer of Alconbury Weald, Urban
and Civic, and understand their views in bringing forward a
development of this scale. The visit was finished off with a
tour of the site and the first phase of residential development.
Phil with Rebecca Britton
from Urban & Civic
Studying the plans
Thanks to all those who made this a memorable visit - we
wonder who will be visiting us next year?
Michael Hand, Wendy Hague, Jackie Ward and Clara
Kerr
>CONTENTS
YOUNG PLANNERS
The Young Planners have
had a busy few months with
events across the region.
In April, we met the RTPI
President during his visit
to the region. Phil Williams
spent the evening with us at
a cheese and wine reception
kindly hosted by the
University of Hertfordshire,
where he talked to them about his plans for the year ahead
and the benefits of RTPI membership.
In the same month, our Young Planners at Bidwells in
Cambridge kindly organised and hosted a seminar on
‘Affordable Housing in the East - Is it a pipe dream?’. Jake
Nugent, Principal Planner at Bidwells and member of the
Regional Activities Committee provides a round-up next. The
event was well received and the presentations were followed
by drinks and nibbles.
Our monthly Cambridge socials are going from strength to
strength with new members regularly joining. Coming up, our
next socials will be Wednesday 25 May (which you have just
missed!) and Wednesday 22 June. We meet from 6:30pm
onwards at the Grain and Hop Store on Parker’s Piece.
There will be a table booked and everybody is welcome to
come along for a drink and some food if you are peckish.
Finally, we now have a new email address
rtpieeyoungplanners@outlook.com. We would love to hear
from you if you would like to become more involved in the
Young Planners or if you have any queries. You can also
follow us on Twitter at @RTPIEoEYPs
Charlotte Burton
Young Planners Conference 2016 in Belfast, 14 – 15
October 2016
Don’t forget to book your place at the Young Planners
Conference 2016 hosted by Northern Ireland Young
Planners. The conference includes sessions on smart cities,
healthy cities and planning for social cohesion, as well as a
varied programme of workshops and study tours on offer,
such as to the new Titanic quarter or the highly-regarded
Giant’s Causeway visitor centre. For more information
(including travel arrangements) and to book your ticket,
please see here: www.rtpi.org.uk/events/young-plannersconference-belfast-2016/.
The HQ membership team delivered a presentation and Q&A
session on the Assessment of Professional Competence
(APC) held at the University of Hertfordshire in April. The
session covered eligibility and experience requirements as
well as the written submission. The event was well-attended
and feedback was positive. If you are preparing your APC
submission but were unable to attend, then there are events
coming up soon in other regions that you are welcome to
attend. Look out for details on the RTPI events calendar
(www.rtpi.org.uk/events/events-calendar/). Alternatively, you
can contact the membership team at membership@rtpi.org.
uk.
YPs chat to President Phil
pg 22
>CONTENTS
AFFORDABLE HOUSING SEMINAR REPORT BY JAKE NUGENT
On 14 April 2016 Bidwells hosted a very successful Young
Planner’s Seminar on Affordable Housing and Viability
attended by over 40 delegates. The joint presentation by
Bidwells’ Head of Planning Mike Derbyshire and Andy
Haynes, Partner in the Residential Development team, saw
a number of key topics covered including policy foundations,
the history of affordable housing provision and recent
pertinent appeals and judgments. The following is a brief
summary of areas covered, with contact details at the bottom
for those who would like more information.
The current housing market is seeing the lowest rates
of delivery since the beginning of the 1970s whilst the
population is forecast to continue to increase rapidly, only
compounded by changes to the composition of modern
households (i.e. greater numbers of one person and single
parent households).
So how can this problem be addressed?
The provision of affordable housing (hereafter AH) has
been seen as important since PPG Note 3 (1992), however
this has always been seen in the context of wider material
considerations. Circular 6/98 required LPAs to identify the
need for AH, from which policies could be included in Local
Plans. PPS3 (2005/2011) built on this with LPAs required to
set an overall AH target, taking account of the economic
viability of housing land, before the NPPF came into force in
2012 and provided clear policy on significantly boosting the
supply of all housing (Para 47) whilst maintaining clear focus
on viability (Para. 173).
There are three key points from this for housing delivery: 1)
viability is a material consideration; 2) planning gain burdens
must be eased to allow development to take place; and 3)
developers and landowners are entitled to a competitive
return, otherwise development will not happen.
Quite simply, the starting point must be the delivery of
housing and the provision of AH cannot be prioritised to
the point that it stalls any development taking place. This
is a position that has been supported through a number of
Appeals and Judgements. The government has continually
repeated the mantra that 40% of nothing is nothing.
The following Appeal decisions and Judgments have made
clear that the starting point is the delivery of housing, with
viability being a key material consideration, and reinforces
that the presumption in favour of sustainable development
renders all policies related to the delivery of housing out of
date.
Key decisions include:
• Parkhurst Road Ltd v LB Islington (Ref: 2227656): Viability
& Benchmark Value – appraisals must reflect current
market with regards land values. Developer had not
overpaid for land as in-line with market. AH reduction
justified.
• City of York Council v SoS and Water Lane Limited (Ref:
CO/11060/2013): Applied to quash inspector’s decision
to allow 0% AH. Case dismissed, where lack of five year
housing land supply delivery of any housing has to take
priority.
• Denham Green (Ref: 2228247): Disagreement over
applicability of overage clause in LPAs favour. Inspector
found overage not PPG/ CIL compliant.
• Langley Road (Ref: 3005876): Appellant sought removal
of overage clause on future dated viability appraisal.
Future dated viability brings uncertainty to values, affecting
funding potential. Inspector found values might rise, but
this is a benefit in encouraging housing supply.
pg 23
• Richborough & Hopkins Homes Judgments
(C1/2015/0583 and C1/2015/0894): Underlying the NPPF
is a basic imperative of housing delivery. Presumption in
favour of development pre-NPPF is not new where there is
a five year supply deficit.
There was much positive feedback on the content and
current nature of issues covered from delegates and Bidwells
looks forward to hosting similar seminars on other pertinent
topics in the future.
If you would like more information on any of the topics
covered above please contact the following:
Jake Nugent – jake.nugent@bidwells.co.uk
Kimberley Brown – kimberley.brown@bidwells.co.uk
NEW YOUNG PLANNERS
REP.
Charlotte, who has
successfully coordinated
the young planners over
the last year and a half in
our region is now stepping
down; Thank you Charlotte
for all your hard work.
Replacing her is Libby
Hindle – we wish you well.
Libby can be contacted
on:libbyhindle@gmail.com
>CONTENTS
OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS 23/3 & 17/05/2016
HELD, AS EVER, AT WEST SUFFOLK HOUSE IN BURY ST. EDMUNDS:
HOME OF BURY IN BLOOM
A big thankyou to St Edmundsbury Borough Council for the
use of this accommodation for our numerous meetings.
Much of the March meeting was taken with looking at
our Business Plan projects this year, and seeking
volunteers for the groups that help to deliver these
projects and events. The biggest is the Conferences and
Events Group that all committee members are on. But
you don’t have to be a committee member to help. We
would particularly welcome volunteers that don’t necessarily
wish to join the committee but who would like to help with
conference and event planning, including finding suitable
speakers, researching venues, and putting together
programmes for conferences.
Charlotte Burton has done a fantastic job as Our Young
Planners Convenor, but is giving up this role, so we
need a volunteer to take this on (now resolved –see
page 23 and report of next meeting).
Our other groups are Policy and Research, Planning
Aid, Planning for the Future, and the Regional Planning
Awards Panel. One of our Business Plan projects is to try
to represent the RTPI and planning as a career at Careers
Fairs and events in the Region. We would also like to find
ways to attract new members, so again, if you have an
interest in education, planning as a career, or would
like to be involved in trying to recruit new members
please get in touch.
We finalised arrangements for the President’s visit, and
thank Stevenage Borough Council, Huntingdonshire
Council, Forest Heath Council, Rachel Almond, Dr
Alina Congreave and the University of Hertford, and
Urban and Civic for their time in hosting Phil Williams and
showing him around various projects, and to our Senior Vice
Chair, Wendy Hague, and Chair Michael Hand.
See what actually happened somewhere in this
newsletter….
The committee reviewed the March conference (held jointly
with IHBC) at Uttlesford District Council offices (see report in
this newsletter), and spent some time planning conferences
for the rest of the year, and the gala dinner in September. The
content of our conferences was the subject of a discussion
that ranged from our competition from other training
providers, to the lack of budgets and support for CPD in local
authorities, to whether the content reflects the composition of
planners in our region. Are they too local authority focussed?
Should we take a fresh look at our offer? We would very
much like feedback from you – especially if you can
help us to continue to provide good, value for money,
CPD to planners in this region.
The esteemed editor of this august organ has announced
his resignation to take effect from the end of this year – this
caused some concern amongst committee members as
Peter does this job apparently effortlessly, and will be very
difficult to replace. Is this something you feel you could
do? Peter is happy to talk to anyone interested in
taking up the reins from next January. See advert on
page 26.
pg 24
It was reported that to date we had only received national
entries for our regional planning awards, and hoped that
some would be submitted direct over the coming weeks.
Reports were received from officers, and from
representatives on the General Assembly and the Nations
and Regions Panel.
The meeting concluded with a notification from James
Harris HQ Policy & Networks Manager on the Location of
Development research project being undertaken. Information
on this is available on the RTPI website at http://rtpi.org.uk/
knowledge/research/projects/location-of-development/.
James or a member of the policy team is to be invited to
attend our July meeting.
At the May meeting….
Chair Michael Hand, welcomed members and hoped that
everyone would stay to the AGM and Debate/Discussion on
Devolution, Affordable Housing, Starter Homes and SelfBuild which would be taking place immediately following
this meeting. Later during the evening, Tina had organised
a social curry and quiz evening - a long day for many
committee members! (see reports in the newsletter on what
happened!)
HQ Policy Team had requested that we organise a
Roundtable event on Housing the Nations. See page 5 for
the date and location of this Roundtable event.
The Presidential visit was discussed - again see report in
this newsletter for an update.
Thanks were extended to everyone involved in making the
visit such a success and it was reported that a letter of
appreciation had been received from the President to all
concerned.
CONTINUED >
>CONTENTS
OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS 23/3 & 17/05/2016
Details of our forthcoming events were discussed, see
programme on page 5.
A session at the July committee meeting would focus on the
programme of events for 2017. If any members have any
suggestions on topics, venues, or indeed if they would
like to contribute to an event in 2017, we would be very
happy to hear from them. Email RTPIEEsec@hotmail.
co.uk
The Awards Panel will be meeting to discuss the revised
scoring system for our 2016 Awards and the design of the
new trophies. The closing date for nominations will be
extended and it was hoped that more direct entries would be
received.
Jackie Ward reported that she would be stepping down as
Hon.Sec. at the end of 2016. She hoped that a volunteer
would come forward to take over from 2017. Jackie will be
sorely missed as a member of our Management Board and
all committee members were very grateful to her for her
expertise in the role of Secretary.
Our Hon. Treasurer, Rob Hobbs, reported that our finances
were in good order. A discount offered for early booking for
the November Law conference had been very well received,
and so far this year we have received more sponsorship than
anticipated.
Adam Banham (Planning Aid) acknowledged that an event
should be organised for volunteers in the not too distant
future, and he would liaise with the Planning Aid staff at HQ.
It was agreed that the Planning for the Future sub-group
would find suitable county representatives, who could find
out the dates and locations of forthcoming Careers Events
in their local area. There are leaflets and other information
available from HQ which can be easily sent to anyone wishing
to attend a Careers Event.
Charlotte Burton handed the role of Young Planners rep.
on to Libby Hindle. Charlotte was thanked for all her efforts
in enthusing young planners to get involved during her time
as representative, and she reported that she is happy to
continue as the rep. for Cambridge.
pg 25
We are always happy to see RTPI members at the
committee meetings, and would be especially pleased
to hear from members who wish to volunteer to help us
provide events and other activities in our region.
Jackie Ward, Hon. Sec. and Tina Palmer Our Coordinator
>CONTENTS
EDITOR REQUIRED
QUIZ
Where are we now?
Following Peter’s announcement that he will be retiring as editor of the East of England
Express at the end of the year, the Regional Management Board has the impossible task of
finding his replacement. The new editor will need something of the organisational, creative and
diplomatic skills that Peter had in abundance and which have helped to make EEE such a long
lasting success. This is a voluntary position working with the Regional Management Board
and the wider membership in the region to help produce our quarterly newsletter that aims to
keep members up to date with RTPI news and local planning issues.
We were of course in the north west of our region in beautiful
Peterborough!
If you might be interested in this role and want to know more, please send me an email and
we can arrange for more information to be provided. Please reply by 31st July.
Mike Ovenden, Ian Poole, Julie Robshaw, Gavin Felgate, Colin
Endean, Gareth Martin, Nigel Barnes, Carry Murphy, Michael Brooks, Vicky Owen, Ella Murfet,
Emma Ousbey, Stuart Willsher, David C. Glason, Daphne Mair, Tony Bowhill, Jenny Robinson,
Kim Wilson and Roy Warren.
David Potter FRICS MRTPI, Past Chair RTPI East of England - david.potter2012@
btinternet.com
And 20 of you knew it - but the winner is Paul Smith of
Peterborough City Council (pictured here) and he has received
the M&S voucher for £25.
Runners up were:-
So now, dear reader, it’s your chance to win that valuable voucher.
All you have to do is decipher the photo on the front page (which we guarantee is somewhere
within our region) and tell us where it is!
Send your answers by Email to me at peter@hakes3334.fsnet.co.uk
CONGRATULATIONS!
The winner of the RTPI Award
for Excellence in Planning for
Community and Well-being was:-
These will be kept in a secure place until 29th July 2016 (BST), when the first entry taken (by
someone independent of the RTPI) from this secure place will be the winner. Only those on the
East of England RTPI register will be eligible and specifically excluded are myself, members of
the East of England Regional Management Board and staff of David Lock and Associates.
Good luck!
Hadleigh Park Olympic Mountain
Bike Legacy Project
THE QUIZ PRIZE IS SPONSORED BY THE PLANNING LEGISLATION
UPDATE SERVICE – contact, planninglegislation@outlook.com
Web site, www.planninglegislation.info
Submitted by: Chris Blandford Associates
Other participants included Castle Point
BC, Essex CC and the Salvation Army.
pg 26
>CONTENTS
INSIDE THE BACK WITH
Natasha Oosedam, Editor of ‘Planners On Top’, brings you ‘love, intrigue and
town planning’ from the ‘John le Carrierbag of the Marshes’ - Marcia Worlspittle.
Under Two Flags?
They were sitting around the old wooden console Murphy
wireless set that sat dustily in the corner of the sitting room.
Willerby adjusted the tuning knob and suddenly through the
crackling ether came…
“Hello comrades, my name is Lara and I live in the most
beautiful country in the world - yes, Mother Russia. I have a
wonderful apartment here in Moscow and a sweet dacha
in the Urals. This year I was at my dacha and waited in
anticipation as the snow slowly melted and the meadows
came alive with the colour and scent of the beautiful
wildflowers, which makes this such a breathtaking region...”
Willerby turned to his fellow listener and raising a quizzical
eyebrow, asked whether he recognised the voice.
Ex-agent ‘Riesling’ had been invited by his former boss to
participate in an evening meal and, he now realised, to listen
to the radio, on that cool summer evening.
The former spy looked up sharply and said, “why, yes, it has
a feint welsh accent. Is it? Could it be...my colleague from the
old days, ‘Black Lace’?”
“It is indeed!” confirmed Willlerby, turning back to the radio
and increasing the volume slightly.
The broadcast faded slightly and then continued with the
narrator extolling the virtues of her new life, having left the
decadent ‘west’ behind. With the feint, plaintive sounds of a
balalaika in the background, she told of her peasant upbringing as a serf in Snowdonia where harsh government
employers forced poor men, women and children to work
in the dangerous lead mines. She spoke of her escape from
this terrible and degrading existence by having to join the
despised British Army and her eventual forced enlistment
in the diabolical British Secret Service. She then told of her
great disappointment and frustration when, following months
of training, the bourgeoisie would only let her act as ‘a
minder’ for a minor male spy.
After many years of drudgery in this capitalist organisation
she had been tossed aside by the British and given menial
filing jobs to do. She then told how she had ‘seen the light’
and become a double agent operating from a small villa in
that western capitalist seat of learning, Cambridge.
She recalled that when the net began to close in on her she
escaped to her adopted Motherland.
Willerby turned off the radio and watched as Riesling
absorbed and analysed what he had heard.
Suddenly he burst out, “To think I, trusted - no I absolutely
relied on that girl - the whole of the Romanian operation relied
on her – I am disgusted –I can’t believe it - is it true Willerby?”
The horror struck Riesling was interrupted by the strident
tones of the telephone. Willerby transferred the call to his
study and left the worried ex-spy to his fretting.
A few minutes later he returned, smiling.
“No need to worry, old man – the lads at GCHQ have
decoded the broadcast and what she really says is, ‘that she
has located the missing item’.
“But what does that mean?”
“Well you will recall that my so-called colleague, RainworthySykes was really a KGB Colonel - ‘the fifth man’ - under code
name ‘Blue Apple’. Well he’s now safely under lock and key.
pg 27
But there was a small part of the puzzle that was missing
–and that was the identity and whereabouts of the person
who was running him. So ‘Black Lace’s’ job was to penetrate
their networks and find that person. And it sounds as though
she has succeeded. There is still much to do of course –not
least getting her back-but I think a small drink is called for,
eh?… Gin and tonic?”
***
One month later, the man previously known as Digby was
sitting at his breakfast table in Norfolk when the peace of
the morning (Bella was at the library and Nancy, still living
at home had gone to a conference arranged by the East of
England Branch of the RTPI, in Ipswich) was shattered by the
ringing of the telephone.
After a short conversation he put down the receiver slowly
and muttered to himself,
“What has happened? –I don’t understand? … Willerby
says the latest message from ‘Black Lace’, says that ‘some
problems have arisen and am coming back...’ What does this
mean?”
Yes, what does this mean?
Has Marcia written the next episode yet?
Find out by reading, not the next issue, but the one
after that, of ‘Planners on Top’.
David Lock Associates are always
on the look out for talented
planners and urban designers.
>CONTENTS
Our Services
Communication and consultation skills to engage
effectively with local communities, business groups, local
stakeholders, political leaders, young people and all hard
to reach groups in society. We can build the capacity
required to ensure effective participation in debate,
discussion and planning for growth and change.
A long track record in the master planning and
regeneration of towns, cities and regions, through robust
spatial plans and urban design frameworks that guide
investment in infrastructure.
A trusted multi-discipline practice of consultants and our
sister companies; Integrated Transport Planning and
DLA Architects Practice all of which encourage equal
opportunities, to draw together the complementary skills
required in any project.
A broad appreciation of the complexities faced by
public sector clients to deliver regeneration and change,
reconciling differing requirements through planning and
engagement.
David Lock Associates Limited, the proud
sponsors and graphic designers of the East
of England Express, are one of the largest
independent planning and urban design
consultancies working in the region. If you
are interested in developments that make
a real difference to the quality of people’s
lives in places such as: Basildon, Colchester,
Elsenham, Felixstowe, Ipswich, Luton,
Norwich, Peterborough and The Marston
Vale then please look at our website:
www.davidlock.com
© 2016 David Lock Associates.
Ambition for places – their potential and opportunity –
to make ‘big plans’ which have the ability to galvanise
consensus around a vision for the future.
Capacity to make good places through urban design and
the implementation of complex plans at the local level to
bring the vision to fruition.
davidlock.com
The views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the Regional Activities Committee or Management Board, the Institute or author’s employer’s.
RTPI East of England Regional Office
PO Box 708, Bury St Edmunds, IP31 2XP
Royal Town Planning Institute Registered Address
41 Botolph Lane, London, EC3R 8DL

EAST OF ENGLAND eXPRESS - Royal Town Planning Institute

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