Illustration by David Knight, from the Skeffington Report (1968), copyright HMSO 1969.

Post-war planning in England - what was built where and how - was an exclusive process that ignored ordinary citizens. As time went on, there was increasing demands for people to have a voice. In 1968 a new planning act gave people a right to know what was being planned in their area and to say what they thought. Alongside this was published the Skeffington Report, which discussed what real public participation in planning would look like.

"The evolution of the structures of representative government, which has concerned western nations for the last century-and-a-half, is now entering a new phase … planning is a prime example of the need for this participation for it affects everyone … people should be able to say what kind of community they want and how it should develop"

The Skeffington report gives some striking examples of public participation. In 1961 Coventry, public discussion in the council’s development plan included surveys, public meetings in every council ward, discussion meetings arranged by local groups, exhibitions, participation of local schools and new voters, and involvement of the press. The participation was valued, even if the impacts on the plan were relatively light. Even today, examples like this feel ambitious.

The 2018 Raynsford Review of Planning in England outlines the national (from the top), local and regional (from the bottom) rules that shape what is built and where.

In the decades since Skeffington, the emphasis on who has power in planning has shifted between regional strategic planning, favoured by Labour, and a more hands-off approach of planning in the localities, favoured by the Conservatives. There has been little time for the system to settle and learn what works. The innovation of Neighbourhood Development Plans in England has potential to underpin local place-making (similar “Place Plans” in Wales and “Local Place Plans” in Scotland have since been introduced). These have some statutory weight behind them but their impact is limited.

National planning priorities and planning inspectors continue to trump local control. Large developers have a lot of resources to push through their plans. Some councils have community development to stimulate and support local discussion (a key recommendation of the Skeffington report) but this is dependent on fair political and financial winds. For ordinary people, planning is typically an indecipherable and impenetrable code.

The current changes to planning add up to a further loss of public control. A greater role for strategic regional plans and mayoral authorities will take some decisions out of the hands of local councils. A ‘national scheme of delegation’ will remove the powers of local council planning committees to consider and decide on many applications in public. Funding for communities to draw up Neighbourhood Development Plans has been dropped.

The Homes for Everyone campaign argues that current government housing targets could be more than met through using empty homes and properties, pushing developers to progress housing already given permission, and encouraging the rent of spare rooms, before any more development is even needed.

Much of the current conflict over local development is due to national house-building targets, which have been argued to be damaging and misguided. With an under-resourced and under-pressure system, England risks planning being dictated by elite decisions and without a post-war deference to authority. It is a recipe for the same conflict that led to the Skeffington report in the first place.

At the same time as planning shifts upwards and outwards, neighbourhoods are an increasing focus of Government policy. This offers an opportunity to think about what neighbourhood planning could be. A discussion of community-led planning in 2020 put forward three main proposals:

“First, through moving beyond a focus on getting voices heard and a seat at the table, to securing power through direct ownership of and access to land, assets and resources. Secondly, by moving from responding to proposals to people putting their own plans forward. Thirdly, … participation should be more than ticking a box to say that democracy has been put into (limited) effect, and that one of its purposes should be to (re)assert the social purposes of planning”

These three ideas could create a real neighbourhood-led planning system. For example:

1. The ‘Homes for Everyone’ proposals focus on repair and enforcing existing planning permissions. This could place a broad programme of renewal in community hands. The legislation is there for communities to buy and build, community-led planning has a proud history and continues to be active across the country. What is needed is significant and fully devolved funding. Some brilliant schemes struggle to progress due to lack of funding, whilst those in power struggle to let go of the funding they have. 
2. The re-introduction of support for neighbourhood plans and also the lighter touch “Neighbourhood Priority Statements” (introduced in 2023) would help communities inform local and strategic plans. The Government is looking at how councils can use technology and AI to make the process more accessible, through both off-the-peg and local solutions. Alongside this, more could be done through interactive community planning in the real world, including through citizen assemblies and juries.
3. The 2018 Raynsford Review of Planning in England had several key conclusions, including that: local authorities are given more control; the Government draws up “comprehensive new planning guidance on how genuine public participation can be promoted”; and, that professional bodies “urgently review their ethical codes to embed the principle of ‘Do no harm’”. These measures would start to place the social purpose of planning above that of profit.

Planning for the people and their neighbourhoods can happen but, as has been the case since Skeffington, it relies on political will.

For more on planning, neighbourhood democracy, and all things related, join us at the Neighbourhood Democracy Movement drop-in chat, Thursday 24th September at 12 midday till 1pm online with Google Meet. We’ll have an overall chat along with smaller breakout chats to swap ideas and experience.

Hope your week goes well, best wishes,

Jason

Jason Leman
Citizen Network - Neighbourhood Democracy Lead

Illustration by David Knight, from the Skeffington Report (1968), copyright HMSO 1969.