§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am today publishing for consultation a draft of Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1)—Creating Sustainable Communities—the core statement of the Government's key planning policies. I am also publishing a paper on the Government's approach to community involvement in planning.
13WSPPS1 is the key overarching document which sets out the Government's high level principles for planning.
Clause 39 (Clause 38, the sustainable development clause, as was) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill requires regional and local plans to be drawn up with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. The clause requires that in doing so, planning authorities must have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State. PPS1 will be a key document underpinning this requirement.
PPS1 is based on three themes:
- Planning for sustainable communities and sustainable development;
- The new approach to planning we are promoting as part of planning culture change (the spatial planning approach); and
- Community involvement in planning.
Sustainable development
Our legislation will make contributing to the achievement of sustainable development the key purpose of the planning system. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister should expect planning policies to pursue proactively the four aims of sustainable development—economic development; social inclusion; environmental protection; and prudent use of natural resources—in an integrated way, in line with the Government's overall strategy for sustainable development.
Spatial Planning
The new regional and local plans provided for in the Bill are based on the philosophy of spatial planning. Spatial planning goes beyond traditional land use planning to bring together and integrate policies for the development and use of land with other policies and programmes which influence the nature of places and how they function.
PPS1 sets out the spatial planning approach that will be adopted in the new planning system. These planning tools will reflect real geographies and real community issues, and are thus a flexible approach to planning and sustainable development.
Community involvement
Effective community involvement is a vital element in delivering sustainable communities. Our aim should be to develop effective community involvement processes which enable a better understanding of the sometimes difficult choices which have to be made in considering development and more ownership of the accompanying decisions.
We need of course to strike a balance between promoting effective community involvement without allowing the system to be bogged down by endless consultation exercises. I want the reformed system to emphasise community involvement as a way of helping to resolve problems early in the process and secure ownership, so that when plans and proposals are put forward, there are fewer objections.
14WSThe paper makes clear that community involvement should be based on a real understanding of the community's needs, should be fit for purpose, and should be front loaded—i.e. involvement early in the process.
PPS1 can only set out the key policy principles for community involvement in planning. To put these in context, the community involvement paper sets out our general philosophy on community involvement in planning, and puts this in the broader context of policy.
Copies of the two documents will be available in the Libraries of the House. They will also be available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at (www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/ groups/odpm_planning/documents/sectionhomepage/ odpm_planning_page.hcsp)