• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Thorncliffe | Your Shout

Planning committee approval | Community consultation

020 7587 3040

hello@thorncliffe.com

  • Home
  • Book a demo
  • WhatsApp & Email

The Labour Planning Paradox

ABOVE: Oliver Banks chatting with Robert Blackman-Woods

Labour have just launched their new Plannning Commission policy at their conference. We caught up with our shadow minister for planning, Roberta Blackman-Woods beforehand to discuss the party’s ambitions for the NPPF, Local Plans and the Housing Crisis.

At this year’s Labour Conference Brexit, antisemitism, factional power struggles and controversial speeches took almost all the limelight. While all that drama was unfolding we found ourselves in a small room outside the conference venue with some of Labour’s most senior planning policy figures all poised to announce what could be the biggest shakeup to the party’s planning policy since the Land Value Tax.

Roberta Blackman-Woods has been chipping away at a very big question for a very long time: “How can Labour change planning for the better” – she may have gotten close to an answer with the Labour Planning Commission.

Make no mistake, the purpose of this commission is to present in 2019 an entirely new national planning system.

Here’s how its billed to work; between now and September 2019 a consortium of planning experts from local governments, Labour politicians, the LGA, the RTPA, the TCPA, the BPF, the FMB and RICS will tour the towns and cities of the UK speaking with councillors, developers, residents, consultants, planners and local politicians about the planning process and how it could be improved. Now if you think that’s rather a lot of initialisms (some very prestigious ones you’ll doubtless recognise) then you’d be right and that’s a fairly strong indicator of how seriously this is being taken by Labour chiefs.

Labour has come out and said in no uncertain terms it believes the planning procedure in the UK is broken and unfit for purpose, rather than complaining and offering no solutions they’ve set up a robust panel to travel the length and breadth of the country to find a solution.

But we’re worried (even though many of us are lifelong Labour supporters), that the solution will simply be more regulation, more hoops and more bureaucracy.

The balance to be struck here is exceptionally fine, too much capitulation to residents who feel embattled by the planning process and you could further stall development and home-building, too many concessions to developers and you risk alienating the core Labour voter.

We’re looking to contribute to the commission’s consultation across the country and believe there’s a strong case to be made for greater granularity in the NPPF, so that a one size fits all rule won’t stifle development in Surrey while radicalising the opinions of residents in Southwark.

If Labour’s Planning Commission achieves anything, it should unveil the paradox at the heart of the planning process, that the time of a one size fits all national planning framework is unsustainable in this day and age, and that as councils are given greater and greater financial independence they should too receive greater powers of self-determination on planning.

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

What people say about us…

Smooth operation

Many thanks for last night: a very smooth operation!

Message was very welcome

Was a great result – especially to receive unanimous approval! Many thanks also for you and your team’s work in the run up to the committee. Getting those messages across really helped and was evident by the feedback given by members on both sides of the political spectrum … notably on the successfully engagement with residents and how the scheme responded accordingly. Message was very welcome!

On point

Harry was on point and has been the whole way through. We are all very chuffed. We are already preparing for another rather testing application on another site and you can be certain that we will engage you

Appreciated

Thanks Richard, your help has been much appreciated. Will let you know when the next job comes up!

Big guns!

Thanks for your and the team’s help. It was good to know we had the proverbial big guns in our armoury!

You kept calm

Many thanks for that: your team did very well, and kept a lot calmer than me! Matt was a sensible wise head, as was Alex, but he also made me think succinctly for the questions and how to answer, which is a great skill to try and acquire. Especially for someone as verbose as me!

A unanimous approval

Councillors praised both officers and the developer on their work and engagement.

A unanimous approval 5-0

With your help

Really pleased to hear the news this evening

With your help, we got it through !!!!

Best Regards!

Truly excellent example

Great news that we approved 60 houses on green belt last night.

It was tremendous that the Chair said that this was a “truly excellent example of good consultation…”

Gave me more confidence

Thank you – we were both somewhat surprised given the level of objections but in fact the committee hardly discussed the scheme at all before consenting it.

Thanks to your team for preparing me well for the committee which certainly gave me more confidence.

A big relief

Thank you. A big relief. As I am sure you can appreciate, we are delighted!

Your team did a great job, especially Matt who was integral.

I look forward to catching up soon.

Unanimous

196 flats approved unanimously, thanks to all involved.

Professional and effective

I wanted to thank you and all at Thorncliffe for managing the consultation process so professionally and effectively. This, without doubt, played a crucial role in gaining the approval.

Once again, all our thanks.

Was a good result

Cant remember the last time I got anything through unanimously!

Was a good result, it’s the right scheme for the site and of course we had a great team including yourselves working on it,

First class troops

Richard. Your troops did a first class job as always. Many thanks

Praise for communityUK

Well done for the way you presented tonight’s online consultation. I thought it was an excellent format.

Great result last night

I just wanted to say thank you again for all your help with the great result last night.

You have been tremendous and it is much appreciated.

whatsapp button

020 7587 3040

hello@thorncliffe.com

  • Our office location
  • Recruitment
  • Externally-enforced code
  • Our social values
  • How we work
  • The story so far

localcouncils.co.uk

communityUK

© 1999–2021 Thorncliffe Communications Ltd, 312 China Works, Black Prince Road, Albert Embankment, SE1 7SJ | 020 7587 3040