What is happening to Planning nationally?

Planners and communities alike must be asking the same question - what is happening to our planning system. I've been alerted to what is going on over the border and it is quite frightening. A radical shake-up of planning was promised by the Conservatives while they were in opposition. It's a pledge they are determined to fulfil now they are in power.

In England, the Government Communities secretary Eric Pickles has already abolished regional spatial strategies, which set the framework for planning under the previous administration. Regional plans have now gone with the promise that planning responsibilities should fall on local authorities to make planning decisions for themselves. But around three-quarters of English authorities have no Core Strategies in place and certainly no Local Development Frameworks (LDF)in place to guide planning decisions, despite their introduction by the government six years ago. The development industry was already complaining that planning policy was too slow in its making but had begun to work alongside regional development targets.

Many authorities in England were working on their Plans but this work is likely to be aborted fairly quickly. Regional targets for housing growth have been abandoned and Local authorities will be asked to provide their own development targets and local plans are expected to be based on those created by residents for their own neighbourhoods.

This is scary as many Conservative controlled authorities have already pledged to abandon planning approaches in Core Strategies and LDF's, claiming that the new Coalition Government has or is about to completely dismantle the planning system leaving a huge planning policy vacuum. A free for all is on its way in terms of planning decision-making leaving the planning system at the mercy of nimbyism.

So in England we will see replacement of LDF's by Neighbourhood Plans - but what are these? Already over-stretched planning departments will be completely unable to support communities wishing to progress such local plans. But we're also told that Councils which do not adopt a local plan within a given timeframe will be forced to accept development – whether they like it or not. The policy has been framed as a "presumption in favour of sustainable development."

Royal Town Planning Institute public affairs officer James Butler says: "In the absence of a local plan it has been suggested that all development which fulfils national minimum standards will be permitted.

"Local authorities must have the capacity and resources necessary to draw up a local plan if the new planning regime is to genuinely empower communities and reflect their views."

A lack of resources is not the only source of concern. Questions have been asked about what exactly sustainable development might mean. Indications from the government suggest it will require judging applications against the need for new development, as well as schemes' environmental credentials. But how it would operate in practice is far from clear.

Simon Ricketts, head of planning at commercial law firm SJ Berwin, said "It's open to the obvious criticism that sustainable development means all things to all people. It's very difficult to apply a test like that to individual situations. We need details as to what is meant by this term. Sustainable development sounds reassuring but as a lawyer I want to see how it is defined."

Details surrounding the new planning process, including national planning guidelines, the presumption in favour of sustainable development and a timetable for implementation are due to emerge in a localism and decentralisation bill to be published next week.

Over the last few years planners over the border have complained about the amount of evidence and documentation required to justify the Local Plan - this has slowed down the system. But while brevity will be welcomed, the proposed system has been accompanied by the complete removal of regional planning and abandonment of guiding principles. Even the Planning Inspectorate is now at risk of dismantling as Localism dictates that local decisions are sacrosanct.

Here in Wales, we are of course years behind England. But the Local Development Plan system that Wales opted for may well see us maintaining planning values - what is required here though is a quickening of LDP production. Snappy planning policy documents that are able to change with changing circumstances are the order of the day. But are planning authorities up to it?