Peter Hogg said proposed shake-up would not lead to “step change” in delivery hoped for by government
Reforming the planning system as a means to unlock economic growth is a “red herring”, the UK cities director at Arcadis has said.
Peter Hogg said the government had become “fixated” on the idea that supply side reforms to the planning system, including through legislation currently making its way through Parliament, would drive fundamental change to levels of investment in the UK.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was broadly welcomed by built environment leaders when it was introduced to Parliament earlier this month. It will have its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday.
The legislation proposes reducing the role of councillors and statutory consultees in making local planning decisions and is part of a wider shake-up of the planning system aiming to speed up approvals and stimulate economic growth.
> Also read: Planning and Infrastructure Bill sets out radical shake-up of committee system
But speaking at the Connected Places Summit in the City of London yesterday, Hogg said: “I have a view that reforming the planning system as a key to unlocking growth and innovative development is a bit of a red herring.
“Actually, I think there’s lots that could be done to make the existing planning system better.
“And I think there are things that can be done to make it better resourced and more effective for applicants, but I think the answer to a step change in what we’re able to deliver in this country does not rely on recent changes to the planning system.”
Hogg was speaking as part of a panel discussion at the conference with Graeme Craig, chief executive of Places for London, the development arm of Transport for London, and Royal Town Planning Institute (RPTI) chief executive Victoria Hills.
Craig said the political alignment of Labour at local authority, mayoral and central government level on the need for more housing was more important than changes to the planning system in driving new development.
“As an organisation [Places for London] that I think is going to be doing more development than anyone in London over the next decade or two, I don’t see planning as being the issue,” Craig said, adding building more homes was “something that has to be done”.
“I think the single most useful thing this administration has done is to come in and say that it wants to see homes built.
“In London, there is a political alignment, and that alignment is strongly towards the growth, the building, the homes, the affordable homes that this city needs, and that, from a tonal point of view, to me, matters more than any legislative change.”
Hills, who was chief executive of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation before joining the RPTI, partly agreed with Hogg and Craig on the potential impact of the reforms on driving growth, but said they would mainly be felt through the “perception” it created for investors.
“Did we need a whole new Bill? Probably not. Are we getting it? Yes. So my point is, let’s make the most of it,” she said.
“When you speak with international investors, one of the first questions they have, and certainly one of the questions they had for me when I was running a mayoral development operation before I did this role was ‘but tell me about the planning’.”
“I think it’s the perception of the government changing planning, even if the reality may be slightly different in certain plans, that will help investor confidence.”
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes measures to limit the size of planning committees, mandatory training for councillors who are members of planning committees and a new national scheme of delegation setting out which types of applications should be determined by planning officers and which should go to committee.
In addition, the bill will introduce a system of “spatial development strategies”, which will introduce strategic planning across England with multiple local planning authorities working together to meet development and infrastructure needs. These plans will be produced by regional mayors or, in some cases, by local authorities.
Other reforms to the planning system include last December’s update to the National Planning Policy Framework which created the new ‘grey belt’ landclass for development on poor quality areas of the green belt.
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