LDA Design and planning 'a better world'
Image: courtesy of LDA Design
A review of national planning policy for England is underway to meet urgent housing need and promote more sustainable growth. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government wants to ‘fix foundations’ quickly, whilst also bringing in new mandatory targets for councils, local housing plans and more social housing. This push is also Planning’s best chance to come into its own again, leading solutions to the country’s big challenges, from the climate and nature crises to worsening public health and social inequalities.
To achieve this shift, Government needs to go further than the current proposals and LDA Design has submitted a formal response to the consultation through its Planning team. In short, here’s what we think needs to be at the heart of change to Planning, to make it easier for all professionals working in the built environment to shape the world for the better.
Renewing the purpose of planning
Housing growth needs to be balanced with commitments to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, reverse the decline in biodiversity and enhance community wellbeing.
Planning, however, has become increasingly viewed in the negative with the good work planners do undervalued. So, Planning needs to be empowered to fulfil its purpose – which means not only unlocking more housing but, crucially, ensuring that all the potential socio-economic benefits from growth are realised. Both private and public sectors need to recognise the significance of Planning as the only tool which can create the future in a way that achieves the outcomes we need.
Planners can find renewed purpose as agents of change. When people have purpose, they can do remarkable things.
Structure spatial planning around environmental infrastructure
Strategic spatial planning needs a frame of reference. Environmental infrastructure is the only asset that can address the country’s big challenges, and so strategic spatial plans should be structured around it. This requires landscape-led thinking at scale.
The way land and resources are used is exacerbating pressure on ecosystems and slowing down growth. An intentional landscape-led approach can accelerate the pace of growth in a way that is also restorative, while harnessing the natural world to create the setting for the homes and jobs we need and ensuring that we have a society that is resilient to the effects of climate change.
All this creates a distinctive rather than a generic place, one that is rooted in the ecology and landscape of the locale.
A vision is required for every new place
The places where we live shape our lives. From the outset we should have a clear idea of what sort of places we are creating – this means having a vision which looks at development in the round. The places we make should benefit people and the environment and we should be clear how. Public health is governed by quality of place, so good connectivity is needed alongside generous public realm and green space, with the facilities and public services that make life easy and sociable.
Nature should be at the heart of every vision. Planners have a critical role to play in identifying solutions to reverse decline. We are part of nature, not separate from it. Understanding this changes everything. It takes us from reactive to proactive.
Housing has to be about quality as well as quantity
The Government has pledged to the ambitious delivery of 1.5 million new homes over five years. This is a great start to tackling the perfect storm around housing, but how this growth is managed will influence the lives of generations to come. For two decades now, surveys assessing the quality of new housebuilding have made grim reading and show how far most are from fostering community life. Without radical changes to Planning, we will not get the places we need and people will be locked into environments and lifestyles that do not benefit them.
LDA Design’s response to the review of planning policy stresses that it is vital that quality is not sacrificed to speed, and planning reform should give prominence to wellbeing as a key outcome from development.
Wellbeing is a powerful idea because of all it embraces, including climate resilience, nature recovery, social equity and public health. The United Nations has recognised its power to guide decision making, inspired by the pioneering Wellbeing of Future Generations Act in Wales.
It is in all our interests – public and private – that we consider the long-term impacts of our decisions. It’s common sense.
New ambition demands new investment
We argue that the pledge by Government to recruit 300 new Planners is not enough to address the challenge faced by local planning authorities. It cannot solve the shortage, especially of experienced planners, and planning reform also needs to be supported with meaningful investment in professional resources, technology and skills.
We all need to have trust in Planning and faith that Planners will do the right thing for us and the planet. But more than that, Planners can inspire hope in a better future and lead the charge to securing it.
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