Planning Law And Implementation - Essay Example

? Planning Law and implementation Planning processes in many countries including the UK operate as administrative systems. The planning organizations and agencies responsible for management of natural and built environment agree on programmes and policies that instigate change, prepare for development and promote sites. Some of the key administrative roles of the planning agencies include preparing and implementing policies, organising and allocation of goals and solving the conflicts that may arise from interest groups (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.252). Since a planning policy can affect the future economic prosperity of a given area, it cannot be taken as an independent statutory activity of the state. Negotiations play a key role in implementing a planning policy. There is always a need to encompass the views of all interest groups in a given planning policy. Negotiations help to encompass all the activities and views of organizations involved in the planning process such as the central government, statutory bodies, local planning authorities, the market, and the public in the planning process. It is crucial to consider these interests to avoid conflicts after the full implementation of a policy. Each of these agencies mentioned above has a certain degree of influence in the planning process (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.252). Their influence may be experienced at various stages of policy formulation as well as implementation. The degree of influence of these interest groups varies in different situations and different groups. The policy planners must make sure that they draft and implement policies that are most appropriate in a given administrative area. Through negotiations with the interest groups, the varying opinions from these parties are put into consideration. However, these opinions are not used as a blueprint in the policy planning, but they are used as a scope for amendments where some factors may be taken into account. Negotiations also try to balance the market choice, which is the individuals’ desires, and the political choices that are the actions and the desires of the state (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.253). The process of selecting and amending polices should not be taken as a technical problem solving task, which can only be undertaken by professionals with high skills and perfect knowledge. Any planning process should incorporate the technical issues with the behavioral actions and choices in different options. Following this relationship, the occurrence of conflicts is inevitable among the interested organizations, the state and individuals. Negotiation can be used to avoid these conflicts. # 2 The country and town planning in the United Kingdom have experienced many years of legislative, practical and professional experience behind it. At the end of the twentieth century, the commission on planning had a significant influence in the country. It has increased its environmental regulation and structural funds programmes through the new concept of spatial planning in the country. Spatial plans have been effective in solving the conflicts that arise from changes in land use and property development (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.252). Spatial planning is an instrument that is helpful in establishing sustainable and long-term frame works for social, economic and territorial development both between and within countries. The main role played by partial planning is enhancing the integration among sectors like transport, housing, industry and energy. It is also an essential tool for improving the local and national systems of rural and urban development; this takes into account the environmental issues. Spatial planning plays both developmental and regulatory functions (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.253). As a regulatory mechanism, spatial planning assists the government at local and national levels to give approval for a certain activity. As a development mechanism, the government uses it to elaborate on developmental tools necessary for providing infrastructures and services. The spatial planning has helped in establishing a direction for the urban development, preservation of national resources and providing incentives for investments among other. In mediating the conflicts of interest that arise from land use, change and property development, spatial planning has several aims. First, it aims at promoting territorial cohesion by the use of balanced economic and social development of regions (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.253). Territorial cohesion is essential in minimising conflicts of interest that arise from land use change and property development. Secondly, spatial planning helps in encouraging development generated by the urban functions. Spatial planning has succeeded in promoting a balanced accessibility to land use change and property development. In this way, it is easy to trace the cause of any conflict associated to land usage policy and property development. Such planning is essential in reducing environmental damage by protecting and enhancing the natural heritage and natural resources. Energy sources have been developed through spatial planning, which has also successfully incorporated the cultural heritage as a development factor (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.254). An effective spatial planning helps to avoid duplication of ideas and efforts by actors such as commercial developers, government departments, communities and individuals. As such, it is easy to avoid conflicts of interest that arise from land use change and property development. # 3 Local development frameworks contain integrated policies based on a clear understanding of the environmental, social, and economic needs. They also consist of the constraints that may hinder the achievement of these needs. Most development plans consist of regional spatial strategy that covers the whole region. The local planning authorities in the local development frameworks make the development plan documents (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.254). A local development framework is comprised of local development documents that are included in the development plan documents. They are also part of the statutory development plans and supplementary planning documents. A local development framework also consists of the statement of community involvement, annual monitoring report and local development scheme. Local development frameworks and regional spatial strategy prepare an essential framework for efficient and effective implementation of a planning policy. Indeed, the local development framework contributes a lot and supports efficient and effective implementation of a planning policy (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.255). Since the local planning authority prepares the local development framework, every local planning authority must adopt some core strategies. They have to set up an overall vision of how the places and areas within them should develop. The local planning authority also lays down the strategic objectives for the area and concentrates on the main issues that ought to be addressed. There should be a delivery strategy in order to meet the objectives formulated. The authority indicates the level of development intended to happen and time, place, and the means to achieve the development. Lastly, the local planning authority has clear arrangements for monitoring and managing the delivery of the strategy. The local planning authorities in charge of local development frameworks support efficient and effective implementation of a planning policy. When preparing the local development documents, local planning authorities are required to consider the characteristics and principles of other relevant programs and strategies (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.255). Such relevant programs and strategies include the community’s strategy on health, education, social inclusion biodiversity, waste, environmental protection and recycling among others. The planning authorities are supposed to consult the bodies responsible for such strategies to ensure effective integration while addressing long, medium or short-term priorities. The local development framework is a key component in the delivery of the community strategies and setting the spatial aspects. Where appropriate, the local development framework provides a long-term spatial vision to the community. In the local development documents, the elements of the community strategies related to the use of land and development should be reflected. This ensures a smooth implementation of the proposed planning policies. # 4 Building a new home depends on the functioning of an extremely complex delivery chain that involves different players from the public and private sectors. These players include private developers, local authorities, the central government, housing associations, homes and communities agencies. Under section 106 agreements, for any social rented or an affordable home to be constructed, they have to be subsidized in order for the house to be offered at a lower rate than the market rates (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.252). This happens in three main ways; first, there are grants from the central government to housing associations. The funds are administered by the homes and communities agencies. Secondly, there is private borrowing by the housing associations. Lastly, there are planning agreements that are negotiated by the local authorities. The developers may agree to construct a given proportion of an affordable home through planning permission. Following the agreements of section 106, there are several measures that can be taken to guarantee the continuing supply of affordable housing by the stakeholders. First, to ensure there is no or minimal housing crisis, many affordable and social rented homes must be built. Regional and local governments should ensure that they set a high target for the number of affordable and new homes (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.254). Housing associations, house developers and local councils should ensure that they work together in building such houses. Enough family sized homes should be built to solve the overcrowding problems. The local councils have a key role to play in ensuring there is affordable housing according to section 106 agreements (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.255). The local councils provide more than half of all affordable housing. However, there are several councils with poor records in terms of the provision of affordable and social housing in United Kingdom. Apart from the housing association, other organizations should be encouraged to provide affordable housing throughout the country. These organizations can fulfill this role through forming the local housing companies. Homes, community agencies, and the government should investigate the measures that can be taken to increase the number of affordable and social homes under the agreements of section 106. Under these agreements, the private developments have a basis to halt. These are just a few measures necessary to guarantee the continuity of supply of affordable housing by the main stakeholders. Many people support these ideas as long as the housing providers compete in the same playing field since the public subsidy should be used in a cost effective manner. #5 Under section 106 agreements, several main issues affect the provision of affordable housing. First, the main stakeholders in the provision of affordable housing have to identify the land to build in before they can commence on their work. They have to obtain planning permission from the relevant authorities before building new homes. There is a long process involved before obtaining planning permission and this procedure discourages the stakeholders. This is one of the issues affecting the construction of affordable houses (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.255). Secondly, there must be a willing purchaser of the houses to be built. For any developer to build a house, they have to be convinced that there are willing purchasers of the houses they intend to build. As such, the developers will be ensured of their profits once they complete building the houses. The situation may turn more difficult if the prices of the houses are fluctuating or there are no enough potential buyers. The developers may not be willing to invest their money in building affordable houses since they may not be guaranteed of immediate returns. Another issue affecting the provision of affordable housing is the reforms in the planning systems. There have been reforms by the government aimed at increasing the supply of available land to developers who are willing to build new homes. The national guidance requires local councils to identify enough land for the developers five years in advance. A council that succeeds in identifying such land receives an additional grant. The common problem is that most of the councils are unable to identify enough land to build affordable homes. There were reforms introduced by the government at the regional level planning to ensure that each region sets a target for its housing needs (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.255). The other problem affecting the provision of affordable housing includes the large land owned by public authorities. Most public authorities like the ministry of defense and the national health services have large pieces of land, which can be used to build affordable homes to many people. However, the government has committed itself to the provision of affordable homes (about 200,000 new homes) through registering the surplus public sector land (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.256). There is also a problem of lack of leadership, especially at the local levels. Community leaders and local politicians have to demonstrate their commitment to building the new and affordable homes by fighting the opposition to such plans. #6 Some scholars have defined spatial planning as critical thinking, which is concerned about places and space as the ground for an action or intervention. Spatial planning is a crucial practice when delivering any sustainable form of development. There are several roles played by spatial planning in development. First, spatial plans ensure that there is the availability of suitable land, which can be efficiently used for development in line with the social, environmental and economic objectives (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.256). This way, the people’s lives are improved as these plans contribute to sustainable economic development. Secondly, these plans ensure the enhancement and protection of the natural and historic environment, which is a quality character in the countryside as well as the existing communities. Since the government is committed to ensuring that the environment is protected for the future generations, it has to implement spatial planning to ensure the achievement of a low carbon and eco-friendly economy. Spatial planning practice also plays the role of ensuring there is high and quality development through inclusive and reasonable designs. Such practices ensure efficient use of resources in any form of development. They also ensure that the proposed development supports the existing society and contributes to the creation of safe, livable and sustainable communities in which every member accesses jobs and key services (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.257). Spatial planning is also concerned with issues such as coordination, mediation and integration of spatial dimensions in policy streams. Spatial planning practices focus on addressing the factors that influence the functioning and the nature of the areas people live. Spatial planning is a space mediating and place shaping mechanism. It is vital to consider the objectives of a spatial planning system in order to establish the desired outcomes. The questions that arise during planning include how to do, and who should do what in order to realize the competing objectives. Spatial planning aims at producing a vision for the future places, which would respond to local opportunities and challenges. It is based on the sense of local distinctiveness as well as community derived objectives and evidence within the framework of regional strategies and national policy (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.257). Spatial planning also translates the vision of development plans into a set of programs, priorities, policies and land allocations; the public sector resources achieve the vision. From this analysis, it is clear that spatial planning is a crucial practice when delivering a sustainable form of development. Thus, spatial planning practices play many roles. #7 For the past 20 years, the urban regeneration programs in United Kingdom have been focusing on attracting investors, visitors and middle class shoppers. The programs do this through creating consumption spaces and transforming places (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.258). Many people have criticized the urban regeneration programs for several reasons including putting too much emphasis on physical improvements, and forgetting the social and environmental outcomes. They argue that the urban regeneration programs do not consider the environmental and social outcomes; they are only concerned with the physical improvements of the urban areas. Any urban regeneration program should be cost-effective and represent value for the money spent. They are ways in which these programs can place a greater emphasis on the environmental and social outcomes of their activities. Indeed, after spending a lot of money in these programs, they should not have negative effects to the society. In the regeneration areas, these programs should ensure that the appropriate population occupies a designated space at the appropriate time. This is a vital step in ensuring that the social and environmental outcomes are controlled (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.258). The regeneration areas represent diversity and differences that act as key means in framing a vision of social life in the urban areas. They reflect broad cultural and social relations, which may be termed as detrimental to the new images. The urban regeneration programs should be concerned with creating new meanings and discourses as they change the physical form of places. They should ensure that the urban spaces are safe or are seen to be safe by people all over the country. This is because these regeneration programs take place in areas characterized by petty crime, dereliction and negative perception. This is crucial in changing the social outcomes of the programs. Reading is a town that was originally an agricultural town. The town was improved through regeneration program in the 19th century and became a center of blue color manufacturing trade. In the 1980s and 1990s, the town experienced rapid economic growth due to trade. The town overcame the environmental outcomes as people shifted their attention from agriculture to trade (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p. 258). In order to improve the social outcomes of regeneration programs, there should be a focus on forms of crime, which have a detrimental outcome on the success of the regeneration. The main objective of these programs should be keeping the streets safe in order to attract people. #8 Town center management entails coordinated proactive initiatives that are designed to ensure that the towns and cities are attractive and desirable places. In most instances, these initiatives are partnerships between private and public sectors where interests are brought together. Currently, in the United Kingdom, there are more than 600 cities and towns with town center management (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.260). The services of town center management may vary from one town or city to the other since they comprise of locally developed initiatives, which work on different scales across the centers. Many people regard Town center management as an excellent idea that faces many problems in order to be effective in delivering services. They argue that the Town Center Management cannot effectively cater for the diverse needs of all stakeholders in the cities and towns (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.261). Many towns and cities are faced with the problem of environmental pollution, increased insecurity and marketing problems among others. Each town or city has a range of diverse activities that occur daily. To deal with these problems, the Town Center Management develops strategies that cover the development of what the city of town has to offer (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.261). However, the strategies developed do not deal with the problems mentioned above. For example, there can be strategies to deal with environmental pollution, but it may not be easy to stop activities that cause such pollution because they may be crucial in the town or city. The other significant problem faced by the town center management is the lack of autonomy. In many cases, the roles of the city and town centers are in the control of the local authority. Town center management requires a high level of formality and maturity from the public sector, especially for the business led partnership (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.261). As a result, it will play a role of setting strategy, but this does not mean that it will have the overarching decision in the town or city. When given autonomy, town center management will be able to serve many needs demanded by the stakeholders. The other challenge faced by town center management includes the challenge of finances. The partners involved in town center management have the responsibility of funding it. The members of the steering group or board in the wide membership scheme are the core funders. When some of them stop their funding, it becomes a blow to the organization. #9 Cullingworth & Nadin (2001, p.262) conclude that, in a planning program, the action lies in implementation. There are complex conditions and environmental changes that may affect the implementation of a planning program. Implementation must be successful before considering a program as effective or ineffective. Implementation of a program is a challenging and complicated course of action. Each planning program has some different phases, and before every phase starts, there should be the expansion of needs in the initial high level planning. Planning tools are normally logic to calculate, but they can be manipulated to yield optimum results. Through the appearance of a plan, it can be easy to tell whether it was scheduled automatically or not. An automatic scheduling can yield optimum results than manual scheduling, which looks too orderly and neat. Failure to motivate the project members can result to a significant failure of the plan. A strategic plan cannot work on its own; there has to be people working on it. Different people are assigned different tasks at different levels of implementation. Leaders of strategic plans should motivate the subordinate members since they play a vital role in implementing a plan (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.263). The failure to link the individuals or group to strategic planning is another hindrance to success. In order to achieve remarkable success in strategic planning, groups and individuals should be linked to strategic planning. This turns out to be crucial as it enhances the effective achievement of the strategic goals, aims, and objectives of the implementation process. All relevant stakeholders should actively take part in the strategic implementation of the programs. This ensures that the process achieves the intended results, which it was meant to achieve. A given plan aims at translating strategic intent effectively until the results are achieved through powerful and clear team efforts. Many master plans remain plans if they operate in a complex environment or conditions. Several steps can be taken to be able to make a plan successful. There should be communication of the strategic intent, action plans and thrusts to all parties involved. Everyone behind the plan should be rallied through rigorous communication (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.264). The team members should set individual targets and goals that are compatible to the strategic plan. The progress of the plan should be consistently measured and assessed. After that, feedback should be taken to the concerned parties for analysis of the strengths and weaknesses. #10 People prefer planning processes and public involvement because planning processes minimize the scope for later conflicts. This means that there would be a less room for arguing about implementation and application. The other explicit function of a planning process is ensuring that the interests of stakeholders are considered, and the outcomes reflect the interests of the general public. The public can present many interests in a planning process (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.266). There are four main participants in the planning; they include politicians serving the government, the development industry, the public and land owners. The public is a highly diverse group that achieves an increased role through pressure and public involvement. In a planning process, the government assumes that there is a balance in the interests available. During the early years in post war period, many people drew plans in a vacuum that ignored the ways in which development processes and property markets worked (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p. 267). For example, land was allocated to uses that seemed sensible in planning terms, but with no consideration of the market. During planning, market considerations seemed subservient to needs. Today, there is a better understanding of how land and property markets work. People consider the need to take into account the market trends. The public and private sectors have pooled their resources and efforts together in the property development process. Planning systems have helped in mediating conflict of interests Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.268). Most property developers are concerned with profits and investment, especially when the period is short. Planners do not operate in the same time scale like that of developers who quickly respond to market opportunities. On Greenfield sites, development is easy compared to inner city locations. For many developers, projects are risky, but planners do not take this as a challenge. From economics, markets are diverse and dynamic since one location differs from the other. This is different for planners since they do not understand the market; the concerns of planners are on the long-term plans (Cullingworth & Nadin 2001, p.268). The pressure they receive comes from the political factors and not the economic factors. For developers, particulars are of concerns, but for planners, particulars are just one out of many considerations, which falls under policy matters. With such differences, it is possible to have a conflict of interests between planners and developers. In solving conflicts, people have shifted from development control to mediations and negotiations. References List Cullingworth, J. B. & Nadin, V. (2001). Town and Country Planning in the UK, London, Routledge. pp. 252-270. Read More