26 January 2007
The national green belt policy should be swept away and decisions over planning permission left entirely in the hands of local communities, according to Policy Exchange.
A study by the right-of-centre think-tank says decisions over whether land should be released for development should not be dictated by national directives.
Instead, local authorities should exercise their own discretion and be able to impose a 'social cost tariff', worth up to £500,000 per hectare. This would replace existing section 106 agreements, under which councils can impose conditions on developers in return for planning permission.
According to The best laid plans, published on January 24, unfettered local decision-making and stronger incentives would unblock the current planning regime, which is unnecessarily restricting the amount of land available for development.
This in turn is strangling the economy, damaging the environment and putting severe strain on transport and housing services in urban areas.
'The UK's restrictive planning regime undermines the competitiveness of our economy by increasing costs, reducing choice and inhibiting flexibility,' the report says.
But the Royal Town Planning Institute lashed out at Policy Exchange's report, describing it as a 'tissue of misinformation'. The body, which represents planners, said it was 'five or six years' behind developments in the sector.
RTPI president Jim Claydon said it was written with a clear agenda – 'to undermine the planning system and allow chain-stores to be built anywhere'. The key to solving problems with the regime was greater clarity in government policy, not scrapping controls.
PFjan2007
