Radical 'planning regulator' idea floated

A former Government planning adviser and a former special adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister are proposing the creation of an independent regulator to manage and administer planning and building control in England.

Under the proposals, spelt out in a pamphlet published by the Town and Country Planning Association, a regulator known as Ofplan would be set up, modelled on the watchdogs which regulate the energy and water industries, Ofgem and Ofwat.

Planning and building control decisions would be left in the hands of elected councillors and policy would still be decided by Parliament, argued professor David Lock, once a government planning adviser, and Paul Hackett, former special adviser to John Prescott.

However, the management and administration of the planning regime would be carried out by Ofplan, headed by a Planning Commissioner.

The proposed new organisation would subsume the Planning Inspectorate, the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) and planning functions of Communities and Local Government.

Lock and Hackett argue that the planning system has suffered from endless tinkering and proposals for piecemeal reform "and has focused on the process rather than settling a framework and concentrating on the outcomes".

Reform of the inspectorate would be on Ofplan's agenda, according to Lock and Hackett, who suggest Ofplan would take responsibility for public inquiries and appeals as well as supervising the production of local plans.

The Ofplan idea surfaced as the Campaign to Protect Rural England has argued that the ability of the planning system to deliver a high quality environment would be weakened if the Government opts for many of the regime revisions suggested by Kate Barker last year.

• In a related development a poll of UK planners has revealed widespread misgivings over the impact of the most recent planning reforms. Planners in England were most sceptical whether the reforms had speeded up decision-making and whether the service was sufficiently well-resourced.

The pamphlet Regulating planning – Ofplan is published in the March edition of the Town and Country Planning journal which can be ordered from the TCPA

Copies of the poll of UK planners are available at www.kcl.ac.uk/geography/people/phd/clifford.html

Roger Milne

23 March 2007