On 15 November, Richard Brown, director at Keith Williams Architects, joined 30 leading architects and planners including Michál Cohen, Chris Dyson, and Fred Pilbrow at the Leaders Council Roundtable who met at the Caledonian Club in Belgravia to discuss the UK’s planning system.
There was broad agreement for the following recommendations:
Recommendations to parliament
* At local and national level, the planning system requires greater clarity and consistency.
* Architects should have direct involvement in the planning system. The social enterprise Public Practice is an example of how this can work.
* As well as causing issues with recruitment, Brexit has led to regulatory uncertainty. The government should clearly set out which EU regulations will be retained and which will be repealed.
* A major problem planners face is a lack of resources, which leads to delays. Delays mean huge costs for local authorities, developers and clients. Therefore, greater investment in the planning system would save significantly more money than it would cost.
Additional points
Many other points were raised at the meeting. These included the need for digitisation of local plans; the unregulated nature of the planning appeals process; the lack of clarity over carbon targets; and the need for a better link between house building and local infrastructure.
What’s next?
The challenge now is to create the space for these arguments to be heard. To this end, The Leaders Council will write an open letter to relevant individuals in parliament and Whitehall urging them to take action and inviting them to take part in a follow-up roundtable. On the recommendation of Tuesday’s attendees, the Council will also invite planners from local authorities in London to make it a more well-rounded discussion. We will also be putting together a special report to look at the planning system in-depth, with input from Leaders Council members and MPs.