Planning for Housing

Out with the RSS, in with local decision making and accountability, 17th June 2010

The coalition government seems determined to remove the current form of strategic planning without addressing the inevitability of something having to take its place.

One consequence will be the absence of a target for the housing provision to be made through the LDF.

This is not a reason for work on LDFs to end. Quite the contrary. In this and every other matter for the LDF it will be for the planning authority working with its partners to decide what should go in the LDF. Subject of course to sufficient justification. A compelling link between what the plan says and what the evidence says is a fundamental requirement of a sound plan, and of a good plan. Making these links is what we do.

Planning authorities will have to show the evidence for the housing provision figures in their LDFs.

We know how to make this work and we have done many times over several years.

For the Plymouth and Taunton areas we prepared joint area studies to inform contributions to the RSS. We took economic potential and demographic change and worked with functional relationships and settlement roles to promote the appropriate level and distribution of growth
With Mendip we made a case for the housing provision looking at the growth in the economy and the distribution of jobs, with the objective of achieving a better balance to manage travel, together with how to meet the needs of smaller settlements.
With Kerrier we did something similar, looking at planned and progressive regeneration of the main settlements as well as all of the demographic and demand factors
In Wales, already in the absence of imposed figures, we have worked with the elected members in Conwy, to develop a coherent spatial strategy where concerns for economic potential, retail investment, environmental protection, population change, migration and affordable housing needs are all integrated. The housing provision is part of this mix.