Everybody needs good neighbours

Encouraging local participation within the planning process enjoys a cross-party consensus, which can seldom be said in the current political environment. In theory, there are a number of opportunities for local communities to be involved in shaping the way their local area develops. Whether it’s responding to public consultations for Local Plans, contributing to a Neighbourhood Plan or requesting that the Local Authority creates a list of facilities that are valuable to the local community, we have witnessed marked progress since the 1968 Town and Country Planning Act which, while introducing public participation, never detailed how it would work in practice.

Neighbourhood Plans, formally introduced through the Localism Act 2011, were, at the time, the latest attempt to introduce community based planning measures, following on from initiatives such as inter alia, Parish plans and Village Design Statements.

However, unlike previous community-based planning measures that have attempted to empower citizens, the political enthusiasm for neighbourhood planning has been remarkably sustained.

Earlier this summer the Government announced further financial support in a clear move that demonstrates its full and continued support for neighbourhood planning. All councils can now claim £20,000 to support a neighbourhood plan referendum once they have set a date following a successful examination.

April 2018 marked the sixth anniversary of the introduction of neighbourhood planning. Often captured in local and trade media, it remains a weekly occurrence to see plans across the country being formally ‘made’ part of a Local Planning Authority’s development plan. Last week two neighbourhood plans became part of South Oxfordshire District Council’s local plan, with a turnout of 35% (Benson NP) and 47.5% (Watlington NP). Earlier in July the Walkern Neighbourhood Plan referendum in East Hertfordshire DC saw a huge turnout of 49%. To put that into perspective, turnout in the 2017 local elections was just 33%.

The analysis of the first 206 neighbourhood planning referendums to take place across England found that there had been more than 336,000 votes cast in the polls with an average turnout of 32.4%.

Yet, despite continued Government support and some high turnouts in referenda – is neighbourhood planning really making an impact when it comes to broadening participation in the local planning process, or is it just the same old faces who spearheaded the previous failed initiatives?

Desktop research and coversations with parish / town councilors would indicate that it is typically the same individuals driving neighbourhood plans forward, and there are also many examples across the country of neighbourhood plans with very low referendum turnouts – an area of Wolverhampton recorded a paltry 8.24% turnout - whilst it was a ‘yes’, can this Plan really be taken seriously or should a minimum turnout threshold be considered?

In June 2018, residents of Honiton in Devon were urged to ‘step up’ or face ‘losing out’ after Honiton’s Neighbourhood Plan was granted a six-month continuation. The warning, made by the town’s mayor, comes after the current committee was deemed ‘inquorate’ - meaning it is not made up of enough members.

The complex nature of the planning system makes it difficult to measure the effectiveness of neighbourhood planning. Whilst it’s clear many people still need convincing before they contribute, neighbourhood plans have been shown to exert tangible power in decisions over land use. If this is sustained, participation should only increase, but by how much?

Turnout in the EU referendum, where campaigns could tap in to far more resource than civic groups, was 72.2%, could neighbourhood plans ever achieve this level of participation? Until the initiative can shake off the stigma and the robust empirical evidence that demonstrates a reliance on “usual suspects”, it’s hard to see it happening.

Whilst neighbourhood planning contains progressive possibilities, and in theory, there are no structural barriers to participation, apathy will always be present and impossible to entirely overcome. Localism itself is based on an egalitarian ideology that assumes there can be a redistribution of power from national and local government level to local communities. This has been achieved to a degree, but parish and town councils will remain the bottom level of decision-making for the foreseeable future.

Achieving tangible, democratic participation presumes that effective mobilisation will provide the community with a long-term platform to act in future. Neighbourhood planning has laid the foundations, but how the plan makes a difference to that particular parish could ultimately significantly change the level of involvement for the better. Ensuring the plan retains its value and legitimacy, rather than left sitting on a shelf gathering dust will be an important factor in sustaining democratic engagement in the future.

At Planning Potential, we consider Neighbourhood Plans in any appraisal we do and encourage our clients to engage with those coordinating the document – ultimately, those behind the plan typically know the area better than anyone.