... concludes
a review set up by the Town and Country Planning Association:
There has also been a significant loss of public trust in planning. A stark comparison can be drawn between the post-war consensus over the value of planning and the highly polarised contemporary arguments which play out over issues such as housing and energy. This process is part of a profound change in civil society, manifested in declining political participation and a loss of trust in ‘experts’. Clearly planning is not solely responsible for this wider political trend, but planning decisions are one of the greatest catalysts of local political activity because of their direct impact on people’s lives.
If there is one striking conclusion to be drawn from the work of the Raynsford Review to date, it is that the current planning system in England does not work effectively in the long-term public interest of communities or the nation. Putting this right requires a forensic examination of the current planning system and the many myths which surround it. It also requires a clear acknowledgement that the system needs to work in the interests of all. It should not be a system designed for the convenience of those who administer it, although it should be efficient and effective. Neither can it be a system which operates simply in the interests of the private sector, or one dominated by any particular vested interest. It must strike a balanced settlement in which the development needs of our communities are met in the most sustainable ways, and in which all parts of the community have a real voice in the decision-making process. This will always be hard to achieve; but, while a perfect system may be beyond our reach, a much improved one is not.
