A report by the Royal Town Planning Institute warns that cuts to local planning budgets could jeopardise economic growth, housing and infrastructure development.
According to the RTPI, 79% of people want a bigger say over the development of their communities. However, planning departments have lost 46% of their budget over the last four years and this lack of resources is prohibiting the success of localism.
Cath Ranson, president of the RTPI, said: “Planning has a central role to play in shaping communities: from supporting transport and housing issues, to health and environmental challenges. But these things cannot be managed without effective resources and above all, without the Treasury taking a long-term view and recognising that if we want more homes, more infrastructure and stronger growth we need boots on the ground in our planning departments to make these things a reality.”
The report did identify schemes where planning had been carried out innovatively and successfully. These projects included the Hadrian’s Wall plan, Lea Valley and Salford Quays.
The RTPI represents 23,000 planners working in the public, private, charitable and education sectors. Newcastle University’s Global Urban Research Unit consulted with a panel of 100 UK planning experts to produce this report for the organisation.
