The RICS is warning that the government’s proposed “simplified planning system” could prove to be far more complicated.
In its official response to the Planning Green Paper, which was published in December, the RICS has said that the new structure of Local Development Frameworks and regional spatial strategies would allow “greater flexibility at the price of increased complexity”.
The report said: “Developers will be faced with a patchwork of action plans, of village plans, urban neighbourhood plans and area masterplans operating at the micro-level, beneath each statement of core policy. In each local authority the pattern of plans would be different. This system is likely to result in further complexity at the local level.”
Other concerns highlighted by the response include government plans to limit the shelf-life of a planning application to three years.
The RICS said: “This could be achieved, whilst not creating a barrier to large and complex schemes, if the five-year permission was retained for major developments meeting suitable criteria.”
There was also a lack of detail about resourcing the new planning system, the RICS said. “The issue of resources is generally avoided in the Green Paper, yet represents the key issue holding back the performance of the current planning system.
“However, whilst the apparatus and framework may be fundamentally reviewed, an under-funded network of local planning departments will continue to be a brake on the system and prevent the highest standards from being achieved,” it said.
EGi News 06/02/02
