Well you can’t say we weren’t warned that the Conservatives would abolish Regional Spatial Strategies if they were elected – it was the central plank of their planning green paper published earlier this year.
But Eric Pickles’s letter last week making this clear seems to be causing shock waves among house-builders, who fear the removal of the planning justification for thousands of proposed units across the country, and planning officers, who fear a new system and job losses. Already the DCLG has told regional leaders’ boards that funding will be allocated for Q1 2010 putting at risk the jobs of 200 staff in eight regions.
The normally calm and balanced Planning Officers Society (POS) were practically vitriolic as they expressed “Great disappointment that the government has taken this step without proper transition and with no provision for strategic planning.”
It is Pickles’s insistence that his 112 word letter should have ‘material weight’ that seems to be causing the most consternation. South and West Oxfordshire have decided not to progress their Core Strategies and more will undoubtedly follow.
The writing is on the wall. House-builders will have to get used to a world where they have to sell their proposals to local communities and councils without the underpinning of Government housing numbers. We are entering uncharted waters and experience suggests they will be choppy.
Written by Stephen Byfield