Getting Britain Building Again: Dream or Reality

As certain as the planning world loves an acronym, the politicians can always be relied upon to come up with a catchy, up-beat slogan to show that when it comes to the built environment, they mean business. So where are we with 'Getting Building Britain Again'?

Words that should inspire confidence. A demonstration that we have a national pro-growth agenda. An acknowledgement that Britain needs to get building. But words can easily just be platitudes. Without an acknowledgement of why we stalled in the first place, can we really rely on the Government to kick-start the process?

A report published by Stonehaven lays the blame for Britain's inertia at delivering infrastructure firmly at the feet of the cumbersome planning system. The fundamentals, they argue, are sound; it’s the increasing reams of additional technical reports to mitigate impacts that are the culprit.  

Consequently, the system finds itself in a bind. In an effort to demonstrate openness and thoroughness it has created a situation where it cannot allow progress to proceed at pace.

This is not exactly ground-breaking news. It's something that all of us in the sector have been talking about for years – even as the government adds even more legislation to the process. But Stonehaven at least proposes a solution to speed things up; placing time, not process at the centre.  

But isn't this all just words again I hear you say? Yes, yes it is. And so is me writing about it.

It never ceases to amaze me how shocked family and friends are when I try to explain the planning system, or why they haven’t heard anything for ages from the developer who a year ago said they are preparing to submit a planning application in their area imminently, but the site remains without an application and no activity to be seen.

So will the Government succeed in making this slogan a reality?

You can't say they are not trying. MHCLG currently has four live consultations on proposals to shift the pendulum back to growth: Speeding up Build Out, Build out Transparency, Reforming Site Thresholds, and Reforming Planning Committees. And then you have DEFRA's consultation on Improving the Implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain on brownfield sites.

However on a regional government level, instead of grasping the agenda for growth, and addressing the housing crisis, it is understood that there are certain London Boroughs who are not proactively engaging with the GLA on the London Green Belt Review. A blatant example of anti-growth and anti-cooperation.

But I don’t want to be all doom and gloom. It is that sentiment that, I would argue, has helped lead us to the situation the country now finds it in.

Like Stonehaven though, I agree that time is the key factor in all of this. We need to stop wasting it, and foster an environment that allows everything to be done in a timely manner; both applicant and local planning authority side. This is not about resourcing, it is about reminding ourselves of the ultimate goal - to 'Get Britain Building Again'. Words won't achieve that, actions will.