By Vivienne Russell | 13 February 2012
The government’s planning reforms will have only a negligible effect on growth, according to conservation campaigners.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has promised to bring in a reformed planning regime that is more streamlined and accessible and promotes sustainable growth. Current planning regulations act as a ‘brake on growth’, it has said.
But a study commissioned by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, the National Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, published today, says claims about the costs of the planning system have been overstated.
Conducted by analysts Vivid Economics, Inexpensive progress? concludes that there is no evidence that planning has large, economy-wide effects on productivity or employment and therefore on growth.
It also finds that the value of the social and environmental ‘benefits’ of the planning system are not well understood and more research is needed.
Neil Sinden, director of policy at the CPRE, said the planning regime brought ‘obvious benefits’ as it allowed for the needs of the whole community to be considered alongside development needs.
‘Sadly, these manifest benefits are often ignored by those who can only see the red tape standing in the way of their bulldozers,’ he said.
‘Effective planning should not be seen as a choice between growth or the environment. As this report argues, the aim of planning should be to secure long-term wellbeing.’
Ben Cowell, assistant director of external affairs for the National Trust, added: ‘Planning imposes costs but it also produces significant benefits.
‘Without a strong planning system, our landscape would look very different today. Government needs properly to understand both sides of the equation before it reaches conclusions about the impact that planning has on the economy.’
A DCLG spokeswoman said the report missed a ‘fundamental point’. She said: ‘Our reforms will put power into the hands of local communities to deliver the sustainable development they need for the future while safeguarding the countryside and other places that matter most to them.
‘The current planning system is over-complex, unresponsive, bureaucratic and slow, costing the economy up to £3bn a year, and no-one disagrees with the need to make it easier to understand.’
