Is the planning system fit for purpose and are changes needed?
As part of our ongoing campaign against unsustainable housing numbers across Sussex, Libby Alexander, of Save Our South Coast Alliance, has penned this guest comment on the planning system.
The most contestable challenge in relation to land use in England is the planning system. It has allowed the continual construction of uniform unsustainable badly designed housing developments that are so often built on green field agriculturally rich sites.
These developments continue despite increasing discharges of raw sewage into our rivers and seas, resulting in the pollution of highly protected environments.
So is the present planning system fit for purpose? Some of the problems that should not exist area result of the role of government agencies.
For example the role of the Environment Agency (EA) as to whether or not a development receives planning permission depends if the land is under threat from flooding.
But the EA can only object to land in flood zone 3 which is at risk from river and sea flooding. It does not object to flood risk from groundwater, surface water, and future tidal risks, even when flooding can be proven by locals.
The role of local authorities exacerbates the situation even further by not objecting to planning if the EA has not objected. Local authorities will usually not object to inappropriateplanning applications without the support from other statutory authorities such as water companies.
However water companies have a legal duty to connect new properties so cannot legally object to planning even if drainage in the area is inadequate.
Highway authorities often have limited knowledge of local traffic conditions. There is not sufficient data researched into the impact developments have on local demographics.
As a result of a changing geo political scene there is now much greater concern over energy and food security.
But attempts to grow more food in the UK cannot be sustained with the continual roll out of housing across our hugely valuable Grade I and II agricultural land.
The current presumption in favour of development, which is at the heart of the British planning system, needs to be reviewed and tempered.
Allowing developers to reap the financial rewards of covering the SouthEast with yet more unaffordable housing that is not needed is detrimental on many levels.
In order for Britain to thrive it has to have a truly democratic governance whereby each recognised problem is resolved through across ministry dialogue. Too often solutions are sought from a singular perspective.
Then there is the crucial role of the environment. The key drivers of land use should privilege biodiversity, safety from flood risk and food security to the same degree as it protects landscape quality.
The lack of value attached to these issues is unsustainable and fails to recognise the risks of climate change and significant geopolitical shifts.
And what of the state of the nation’s environment? It is an appalling situation to admit that Britain has the most polluted rivers and seas in Europe and the worst levels of wildlife biodiversity across Europe.
The chief cause of such degradation is manmade.
The solution can and should be a complete rethink of the planning system.