Here - DLP Consultants

Issue 89 spring 2016
M a g a z i n e
o f
t h e
R . t . P . i .
W e s t
Birmingham enters a new chapter
– as the final page turns on the old library
T
he RTPI President, Phil Williams,
was present to see the beginning
of a major new chapter in
Birmingham - the demolition of the ‘old’
library as part of the new Paradise
Circus re-development scheme from the
top of the new library at Centenary
Square.
For some people, it doesn’t seem that
long ago when the ‘old library’ designed
by John Madin & Partners was being
built. As a striking, but ‘brutalist’
example of 1970’s architecture, the
library had become a key landmark in
Birmingham’s City Centre.
Inside
Chair’s report
2
RtPi agM
2
Playing around with participation 3
Demolishing the old Birmingham library.
But the redevelopment of Paradise
Circus which started in January 2015
will make an important contribution to
creating better links cross the city, with
new pedestrian streets and squares and
better connectivity, enabling the
proposed extension of Metro services to
Centenary Square. For the time being
however, the demolition of the Paradise
Circus has become quite a landmark in
itself.
The Old library from the new library.
M i d l a n d s
The £500 million regeneration of
Paradise Circus, is likely to last for the
next 10 years with the wider
replacement of buildings scheduled for
completion in 2026 with new office
blocks, a cycle hub, landscaping and a
circulatory system. n
editor – John acres, Ripon Cottage, 5 Manor Road, Kilsby, near Rugby, Warks, CV23 8Xs
Work: 0121 234 9106 • home: 01788 824343 • email: [email protected]
the Black Country seeks £6bn
rebirth as UK’s largest
garden city
4
local Plans expert group
– Report published
5
2016 RtPi West Midlands
Regional awards
5
three West Midlands Planners
shortlisted for award
5
new ‘ambassadors’ needed
for the future of planning
6
Young Planners’ Update
6
new clearer Professional
Code of Conduct published
6
supporting Community Planning
in the West Midlands
7
Call for volunteers – RtPi
educational activities
7
a tribute to george goodall
7
Places and spaces.
the Midlands Big Meet
8
housing supply: more
than just numbers
9
Planning law Update
10
CPd
12
Visit our
new website
turley.co.uk
Sponsoring Tripwire
spring
1
Chair’s Report
W
ell, we are three months
through the year and 2016
is gathering pace.
It was sad to start the year with the
loss of George Goodall. George
was an active RTPI member and
ambassador for planning in the
region having taught many planners
in the profession. George’s main
passion was Planning Aid and was
a core champion of its aims and
successes. George will be sorely
missed not only by the Regional
Activities Committee, but across the
whole region and in the RTPI more
generally where he served on the
General Assembly and the RTPI
Council for many years.
The first event of the year was the
Regional Great Debate, hosted by
Glen Howells which this time
focused on the issues arising from
the new Combined Authority for the
West Midlands. It was interesting to
hear the various views about the
benefits it would provide to the
Region. However, a key concern for
me was that the Combined Authority
will not have any role in Strategic
Planning. This raises a number of
questions about the ability of
authorities to deliver integrated
infrastructure across the region
without joined-up strategic planning.
It will be interesting to see how the
Combined Authority evolves over
the coming months and years.
More recently, the West Midlands
hosted RTPI President, Phil
Williams, for a two-day visit on 17th
and 18th of March. It was an honour
for me to welcome Phil and to show
off the successes of planning within
our Region. The visit started at
Birmingham City University, with an
interesting presentation on the
development of ‘Rufopoly’ and is
successor ‘Participology’ (see
elsewhere in Tripwire). The team
explained how it has been actively
utilised within the planning world.
This was followed by a tour of the
University’s expanding campus in
the Eastside of Birmingham, which
is aiding the transformation of this
former derelict part of the City
Centre.
Ben Simm and Mike Vout.
In the afternoon we visited Dudley
MBC, for a presentation on the key
planning objectives in the Borough
and an opportunity for the President
to talk directly to the planning
officers. Afterwards Helen Martin and
Annette Smith led a tour showing us
the regeneration and redevelopment
of Dudley Town Centre. This
included the work completed through
Dudley Townscape Heritage Initiative
which won a National Planning
Excellence Award for Conservation
for the Authority. The work had
brought various specialisms together
including transport, landscape and
design with all the work being
completed in house. Dudley rightly
deserve full recognition for this
project.
In the evening Phil had the
opportunity to meet and talk to
Young Planners in the region, which
was held at Metro Bar in
Birmingham. This was followed by
dinner with members of the
Regional Activities Committee
where the President was able to
learn more about the RTPI work in
the region.
Next morning, we walked around
Birmingham City Centre, including a
visit to the Bullring Shopping Centre,
Grand Central, the Colmore
Business District, Brindley Place and
the new Birmingham Library. At
Snow Hill we also got the opportunity
to see the new tram system running
onto the highway network, and to
see how the new spaces work.
We visited Bromsgrove School in
the afternoon and spoke to Sixth
Form students studying Geography
about the benefits of planning. It
was interesting to speak to the staff
and students and see how planning
threads through a variety of topics
within the curriculum - and we even
managed to convince a number of
students to consider planning as a
career.
Finally, the West Midlands Regional
Ball has been announced. It is on
10th June 2016 at Aston Villa
Football Club. We are currently
looking for nominations for the
Regional Planning Excellence
Award and Young Planner of the
year Award which will be presented
at the Ball. If you know of a Project
or indeed a Young Planner who
deserves recognition, then do
please submit a nomination so we
can celebrate their success! The
deadline has been extended to 25th
April 2016 – good luck. n
Ben Simm
RTPI West Midlands Regional Chair
RTPI West Midlands AGM. Wednesday 4th May 2016
T
his year’s Regional AGM will
be held at the Old Joint Stock,
Temple Row West in
Birmingham city centre on
Wednesday 4th May 2016 starting
at 6.30pm.
After the AGM there will be a short
presentation by Mark Middleton
2
spring
from the ‘Futures Network West
Midlands’ on the importance of
strategic planning for providing
housing, jobs and infrastructure,
and a discussion on how to promote
this with the West Midlands
Combined Authority, Local
Enterprise Partnerships and other
channels.
A light buffet will be provided.
The formal invitation and papers
including the Annual Report for
2015 will be circulated nearer the
time. n
Paul Harris
Regional Secretary
Playing around with participation
R
esearchers at Birmingham City
University, led by Alister Scott,
have devised a new publicly
available engagement resource kit and
associated guidance that is called
PARTICIPOLOGY. It has grown from
the original game Rufopoly, which has
featured before in Tripwire, but is a
progression from a fixed board game
format associated with the rural urban
fringe to a more flexible and bespoke
tool that can be tailored for use in many
land management, planning, and
community or staff development
processes.
cards to add more uncertainty into the
game if it is desired.
although they did not feel that they
necessarily needed to have a ‘winner’.
The power of the resource kit is that it
enables a diverse range of potential
board game applications to be devised
for a whole host of purposes. It is,
however, important to realise that this is
a tool and not an end in itself. It sits
within a bundle of participatory tools
that should follow established principles
of good practice.1 Our case studies to
date highlight its potential and
versatility.2
In workshop 2 the Queen Mary
students engaged with BCU Masters
planning students. This enabled an
exchange of experiences to help
design more questions (22) and to
modify/improve existing ones. The
consensus and role play model was
favoured together using the
PARTICIPOLOGY role play cards.
During discussion the pupils were keen
to add some kind of scoring/weighting
to each question. The categories of
‘Healthy, Happy & Prosperous’ were
used.
Example: Developing a resource kit
for A level Geography - Queen Mary
Grammar School Walsall
PARTICIPOLOGY can be used to
inform a range of engagement
activities, whether early in a policy or
decision or consultation process, or
later on as a refreshment tool to help
facilitate dialogue when new challenges
come up, or to contribute to evaluation.
PARTICIPOLOGY uses a board-game
format - an unconventional way of
engagement where the throw of dice
challenges participants to address key
issues randomly.
PARTICIPOLOGY was designed in
partnership with decision-makers,
policy-makers and practitioners – all of
them working on challenges around
land use and development. Their
involvement as partners helped us cocreate, design and test the tool
thoroughly and to enable the creation
of the online resource
http://www.participology.com/.
PARTICIPOLOGY allows you to select
and download hypothetical playing
boards that represent typical urban,
lowland, rural, upland and coastal
landscapes. The board can also be
designed using the guidance available
on the PARTICIPOLOGY website.
There is also a wide range of pre-set
questions to choose from, or questions
can be designed for a particular
situation. Role play character profiles
are also available for download
together with some random chance
Alister Scott and Claudia Carter from
BCU and Rob Matley from Queen
Mary’s Grammar School facilitated
two workshops enabling a board
(mixed urban edges3) to be designed,
populated with questions as well as
play a draft game. Tasks associated
with different question spaces were
allocated to different tables. Students
then were tasked to design questions
according to a set goal around the
need to understand contested issues
around the urban rural fringe as it
affects the sustainable development
agenda.
In workshop 1 the essential aspects of
DESIGN4 and PLAY5 were briefed to
the group. The students were divided
around 4 tables and each group was
given different numbered spaces on
the board to design questions for. The
pupils were told to consider their own
experiences, particularly in topics they
had studied/were studying – energy,
urban redevelopment, rivers, conflict
etc. to build questions with the
facilitators as guides. Ideas for the
play mode were also developed with
each table putting forward
suggestions to carry through to the
next workshop. Most wanted to see a
role play format6 used and a group
consensus style approach to each
question reflecting political realities.
The students were keen to have some
kind of outcome to the game,
For the entrance task players of the
game were asked to rank their
preferences (Healthy = environmentally
friendly; Happy = socially beneficial;
Prosperous = economically beneficial)
based upon their assigned role
(roleplaying cards). After discussion of
each question (with players in certain
roles) a consensus was reached and
the group ranked their solution/outcome
in terms of the three categories, 3
points for the top option, then 2 etc.
This then constituted the end of the
game, where the overall scores in the
three categories were totalled and each
player could then compare the result to
their original preference.
What was clear from facilitating this
event was the passion and enthusiasm
the game approach instilled in the
students and the relative ease to
encourage deeper reflection and
learning around addressing different
needs. Importantly, enabling the
students to design the questions and
rules themselves helped build a sense
of ownership in the process. This has
important implications for the design of
participatory processes in planning
perhaps. The next steps are to develop
a resource kit for A Level students
based on the Queen Mary Grammar
School output.
This is one of many uses of the
resource kit. See the case studies and
play your own West Midlands game.7 n
Notes
1 www.participology.com/citizenprinciples.php
2 www.participology.com/case-studies.php
3 www.participology.com/boards/mixedurban-edges-050615.pdf
4 www.participology.com/design.php
5 www.participology.com/play.php
6 www.participology.com/cards.php
7 www.participology.com/case-studies.php
spring
3
Black Country seeks £6bn growth as new Garden City
T
he ‘Black Country’ and ‘Garden
Cities’ are not normally words
that are found in the same
sentence. However, against the
unlikely background of the MIPIM
property conference in Cannes, in the
south of France, the Black Country
Local Enterprise Partnership recently
launched their plans for a Black
Country Garden City designed to
project a new image for the ‘industrial’
West Midlands.
The controversial ideas stem from the
earlier somewhat ‘tongue in cheek’
‘Albion’ Garden City proposal,
promoted by the West Midlands
Regional Design Agency, MADE,
submitted in response to a previous
Wolfson Prize competition in 2014.
Speaking at the recent ‘Places
seminar’ in Birmingham, David Tittle,
the former Chief Executive of MADE
and the ‘author’ of the former Albion
city proposals said ‘This was a way of
harnessing the stubborn pride of the
Black Country people – looking at the
place as ‘half full’ rather than half
empty. The Black Country has
amazing infrastructure – railways,
roads, canals and underused powersupplies accustomed to catering for
heavy industry’.
In the international property world, it is
always important to get noticed. So
whilst the proposal for the investment
of over £6bn to build over 45,000
dwellings within a decade is an
ambitious plan, it is primarily a bold
attempt to re-brand the Black Country
and lever new investment into the
area – to get the Black County on the
map – but for the right reasons.
‘The prospectus is an important step
on our transformation journey’ said
Chris Handy, the Black Country LEP
Board Member launching the project.
‘We are ambitious to work with
forward thinking housebuilders,
developers and investors to
accelerate the building or more
one conurbation, from Wolverhampton
in the west to West Bromwich in the
east, Halesowen in the south and
Wednesfield in the north. According to
the brochure the scheme will
ultimately generate £18bn for the local
economy.
Black Country Garden City - example
of low carbon, timber houses.
homes, designed to our garden City
standards and offering residents high
quality affordable homes close to
public transport, schools healthcare
and green space’.
The brochure makes it clear that the
Garden City vision is not about
starting with a clean sheet and
building in remote locations where all
the infrastructure and facilities need to
be built from scratch. Nor is it about
using expensive materials or overcomplex architecture. It is about
keeping it simple, building on existing
assets and deploying sound principles
to create outstanding places where
people want to live.
Clearly therefore it won’t be a new
Garden City in the recognised sense.
It will use over 550 existing sites and
focus in particular the 4 opportunity
areas at Dudley Port (an area with
immense potential), The Lye (once
known for its bucket manufacturing),
Willenhall (with its intact historic
village) and the Canal Quarter in
Wolverhampton in what the LEP
describe as a ‘21st century
interpretation of the Garden City
ideal’. Already home to more than 1.1
million people, it is expected to house
200,000 more by 2026. It promises to
be one of Britain’s largest ever
brownfield site regeneration projects.
It will be the first garden city to be
formed by bringing existing towns into
The brochure describes the Black
Country as the fastest growing area
within the Midlands which attracted
record levels of foreign business
investment last year. The region
boasts 4000 firms including thriving
automotive, aerospace and
construction sectors that together
contribute more than £1bn to the UK
economy and support 44,000 jobs.
Local leaders believe that rebranding
the region will help the Black Country
attract skilled workers and retain
graduates from local universities.
David Tittle argues that one has to
break away from the vicious circle of
low value = low price. ‘The property
market is always conservative’ he
says. ‘They think you can only sell
what you have always sold. People
shouldn’t have to demonstrate their
ambition by moving elsewhere’.
The LEP is optimistic that the Black
Country can evolve to become a more
prosperous area where about the
canal-sides of Wolverhampton and
Dudley becoming a vibrant area for
the arts and heritage projects, places
where street food, performance arts
and crafts can flourish, boosting the
region’s claims to be a more desirable
place to live.
There has already been high-level
endorsement for the project.
Communities Secretary Greg Clark is
quoted as saying: “The Black Country
garden city symbolises the region’s
ambition. It will deliver modern new
housing that will be a magnet for
business investment, notably in
advanced manufacturing and
construction, which will boost the local
economy and supply the houses local
families want.”
The key to success is likely to be the
strength of the Black Country
resilience – so with a great sense of
community within its 30 towns and
300 local villages, the Black Country
Garden City clearly already has a
head start. n
http://www.blackcountrylep.co.uk/
MADE Wolverhampton Aerial View.
Black Country Garden City
4
spring
Smethwick Canal bridge.
Local Plans Expert Group – Report published
P
roposals to speed up and
simplify the process of making
Local Plans were presented to
ministers on 16 March 2016 and are
now open for representations.
In September 2015 ministers launched
a panel of experts - the Local Plans
Expert Group - to examine what
measures or reforms might be helpful
in ensuring the efficient and effective
production of Local Plans. Authorities
were said to be struggling to meet the
requirements of a complex local plans
process; housing needs were not
being met and communities were
being turned off by the length, slow
pace and obscure nature of many
local plans.
The Panel identified a number of key
problems:
●
●
agreeing housing needs;
difficulties with the Duty to
Cooperate, including the
●
●
●
●
distribution of unmet housing
needs;
a lack of political will and
commitment;
a lack of clarity on key issues,
particularly SHMAs, strategic
planning, Green Belt and
environmental constraints;
too many changes – changes of
policy, advice and factual changes
in forecasts (“moving the
goalposts”); and
a lack of guidance, support and
resources
The Panel make a number of general
recommendations about:
●
●
●
speeding up the process and
reducing the length of Local
Plans,
standardising the approach
towards devising the Objectively
Assessed Need,
defining Local Plan requirements
more clearly,
●
●
improving the Duty to Co-operate
across LPA boundaries,
devolving powers within
metropolitan areas to combined
authorities.
The Panel have suggested
establishing a Technical Working
Group from representative sectors of
the planning world to assist with the
implementation of detailed
recommendations.
Ministers have received the detailed
report from the Local Plans Expert
Group and it is now open to the public
for representations until 27 April 2016.
In addition, the Local Plans Expert
Group website <http://lpeg.org/>
contains a volume of appendices and
a series of discussion papers.
Representations on the report can be
made via www.surveymonkey.
co.uk/r/WRN6HHV n
2016 RTPI West Midlands Regional Awards
T
he RTPI West Midlands
Regional Awards are designed
to showcase the Region’s best
planning achievements of the year.
The prestigious Regional Award for
Planning Excellence offers the
opportunity to promote the most
successful planning projects from the
Region; these can range from
physical development schemes,
strategies and guidance, processes to
important research documents.
Entering the awards will raise the
profile of your project and ensure it is
promoted to a wide audience. The
Young Planner of the Year award
offers the opportunity to recognise the
outstanding contribution that young
planners make to the profession
within the Region.
Nominations received will be
assessed by a panel of high calibre
professionals from across the Region
and entrants recognised at the
presentation of the awards at the
Summer Ball on June 10 at Villa Park
Birmingham, where over 200
professionals from the public, private
and academic sectors are expected to
be in attendance. The winners and
runners up will receive additional
publicity via Tripwire and social media.
We strongly encourage you to submit
a nomination for the awards!
Details of the awards and how to
make nominations are on the RTPI
website at http://www.rtpi.org.uk/thertpi-near-you/rtpi-westmidlands/awards/
The closing date for nominations is
Monday 25th April 2016. n
Sue Griffith Jones
RTPI Regional Co-ordinator
Three West Midlands Planners shortlisted for Award
T
hree of our own colleagues in
the region have been invited to
attend the RTPI National
Awards in London as candidates for
the Volunteer of the Year.
Paul Harris, who has been the
Honorary Secretary of the West
Midlands Region of the RTPI for as
long as anyone can remember has
been nominated for the award by the
region. Paul who works as a Forward
Planner at Stratford on Avon DC was
previously honoured with an Award for
Special Achievement by the RTPI
some years ago as a mark of his long
service to the institute.
David Thew, has been nominated by
the West Midlands Futures Group,
which he has steered as its Hononary
Secretary for the last 5 years since he
retired from the West Midlands
Regional Assembly when the body
was disbanded in 2010 when regional
planning was abolished.
Richard Hammersley, has been
nominated for his long service to
Planning Aid and in particular his
close professional involvement in
advising and writing the Balsall Heath
Neighbourhood Plan, which together
with Joe Holyoak and an active
Neighbourhood Forum has been
brought to a successful conclusion.
All three are worthy nominees for the
award and we wish each of them
every success. n
spring
5
New ‘Ambassadors’ needed for the future of planning
I
f you are proud of planning and keen to
inspire the next generation of planners
then why not sign up as a ‘Future
Planners Ambassador’? Our Future
Planners education initiative encompasses
school presentations and, in selected
areas, new Apprenticeships for young
people. The aim of the ‘Future Planners’
campaign is to excite young people about
planning and to provide a flavour of the
range of career opportunities it offers…
We need ‘Ambassadors’ who have the
confidence and presence to engage young
people and spark their imagination. Any
RTPI member can become an
‘Ambassador’ – young planners and
experienced practitioners alike – and
remember, ambassador activity can
contribute to your CPD…
If you already have contacts at a school,
and could easily arrange a visit then we
particularly would like to hear from you.
The visits will be of special interest to
geography teachers. However, the themes
of heritage, citizenship and dealing with
political challenges or debates may be
useful to other curriculum subjects too…
which might be at a school, college or
university. Perhaps you know of an event
in your area that you would like to attend?
Again, we have careers materials, and
guidance that we can supply you with…
If you don’t have a school in mind don’t
worry …we have also produced a helpful
series of very simple ‘how-to’ guides which
can assist you in identifying and
approaching schools. Just contact your
Regional Co-ordinator, Sue Griffith Jones,
and sign up for a presentation, materials
and video…
Andy Levene
RTPI Education & Careers Officer,
RTPI, 41 Botolph Lane,
London, EC3R 8DL
Tel: 0207 929 9451
Additionally, we need ‘Ambassadors’ to
represent the RTPI at careers events
We look forward to hearing from you and
creating the future of planning with you… n
or Jenna Langford,
Future Planners Co-ordinator
for the West Midlands,
[email protected]
Tel: 0121 569 4115
Young Planners’ Update
I
t has been a very busy and successful
start of the year for the Young Planners
West Midlands, kicking off with a CPD
Seminar on the Development Consent
Order process hosted by Matthew Fox and
Jonathan Leary of Pinsent Masons.
Following this we were once again delighted
to co-host an inter-professional speed
networking event with our respective sister
professions for architecture, engineering,
landscape, architecture and surveying. The
event was very well attended and provided
an opportunity for young planners to build
useful relationships with fellow young
professionals.
Our most recent event was a networking
drinks event that provided members of the
Young Planners with an opportunity to
meet Phil Williams, the current RTPI
President. Phil, who is Director of Planning
and Place at Belfast City Council, spoke
passionately about the future of the
profession to members and provided an
insight to his experiences over a
successful 35 year career to date. We
would like to thank Phil and RTPI West
Midlands for providing this opportunity.
Looking forward to the next couple of
months we are currently finalising
arrangements for an APC Seminar and the
RTPI Quiz Night, both scheduled to take
place in May. We are also looking forward
to attending the RTPI West Midlands Ball
in June.
On a final note, we would like to say a
massive thank you to Mott MacDonald who
are kindly sponsoring Young Planners
West Midlands for 2016. Mott MacDonald
are a global management engineering and
development consultancy, and are
committed to developing technical
excellence including town planning. They
have a growing capability in the town
planning sector and they are looking
forward hosting a number of events for the
group over the next year. n
Luke Coffey
Chair of the Young Planners West
Midlands
New clearer Professional Code of Conduct published
I
n February the RTPI, published an
updated and much clearer Code of
Professional Conduct (the Code), which
is effective immediately.
The RTPI’s 5 key principles that govern
professional behaviour, ethics and the
practice of planners remain in place and
are strengthened by additional clauses.
Importantly, the fundamental requirement
for members to “exercise fearlessly and
impartially their independent professional
judgement to the best of their skill and
understanding” remains a central part of
the Code.
To help members use the revised Code,
the RTPI is preparing consolidated
supporting guidance and illustrative case
studies on its application which should be
available shortly.
The key changes to the Code are as
follows:
6
spring
Introduction - A new section explaining
the reasons and benefits of a Code of
Conduct to our customers and giving
greater prominence to the five core
principles: Competence, honesty and
integrity; Independent professional
judgement; Due care and diligence;
Equality and respect; and professional
behaviour,
and impartially is retained following support
from Members during last year’s
consultation. RTPI’s Code is unique
amongst professional institutes in this
regard.
Competence, honesty and integrity Existing clauses have been reordered and
new practice includes: responsibility of
managers to support the CPD of other
professional employees; undertaking work
within scope of competence; and not
offering or accepting inducements to
influence decisions or professional views.
Equality and respect - Existing clauses
have been reordered for ease of use and
terms updated.
Independent professional judgement Existing clauses have been reordered and
new practice includes disclosure of RTPI
membership as a mark of professional
standing. The expectation to act fearlessly
Due care and diligence - Existing clauses
have been reordered for ease of use and
terms updated.
Professional behaviour - Existing clauses
have been reordered and new practice
includes upholding the reputation of the
Institute reflecting the requirement in RTPI
Bye-laws.
The updated Code together with the
updated Complaints procedure and the
RTPI’s professional standards can be
viewed on the RTPI website. n
Supporting Community Planning in the West Midlands
A research project which conducts a review
of Planning Aid by Dave Marr.
R
eaders of Tripwire will already know
that the RTPI West Midlands Branch,
in partnership with RTPI HQ at Botolph
Lane, last year commissioned research to
examine both the issues faced by, and
opportunities for taking forward, Planning Aid
in the West Midlands.
This project was undertaken by Professor
Gavin Parker and Dr. Emma Street from the
University of Reading and the final report was
presented to the last Regional Activities
Committee in January.
The research examined the views and
experiences of local communities and Local
Authorities in the West Midlands and also
others who have been actively involved in
Planning Aid in the region. This took the form
of a series of focus groups as well as
telephone interviews and a desk study.
●
●
●
●
Some of the key recommendations for the
region were:
●
The research revealed a number of issues,
including:
●
●
●
●
The fact that Planning Aid England (PAE)
has developed a widened volunteer capacity
and skill-set but this is currently underused;
Proactively generating new work is limited
by the amount of core funding available to
Planning Aid.
The activity undertaken by PAE in the West
Midlands spans educational to advocacy
style work and is generally highly regarded.
The awareness of PAE in the region is low
in many communities and is variable across
Local Authorities. There is a consequent
need to raise the regional profile of PAE.
LAs are undertaking considerable activity
with communities, but PAE’s pursuit of
opportunities to work with LAs has not
taken off.
In looking at the potential for supporting
community planning activity, prioritisation is
needed to match supply with demand.
Some targeted activity e.g. demonstration
projects, would be well received by
recipients / clients and also serve to raise
the profile of PAE in the WM. These could
be built on for future activity and be used as
learning materials for other communities and
PAE regions.
In the longer term, volunteers might assist
with a wider range of tasks, including
organisational support, but priorities also
need to reflect types of activity volunteers
are enthused by.
●
●
We need to raise the profile of PAE
regionally and improve the network of
relations with each Local Authority in the
region as well as with other nongovernmental / community groups;
A stronger network and intelligence
gathering effort, or ‘RADAR’ approach,
would help PAE to anticipate new /
emergent needs to scope and therefore
better understand demand in the region.
Regular liaison with LPAs about possible
activity for PAE is essential, and the RAC
sub-group might be refocussed with key
members who could maintain these links
and intelligence from across the region;
In the short term, we need to embark on a
small number of demonstration projects to
raise our profile and re-establish the core
●
●
activity that PAE wants to continue in the
longer term. The researchers suggested
that at least one such project should be a
proactive advocacy project and one an
empowering educational project.
In the longer term, communities identified a
range of types of activity and particular
issues and interventions that PAE could
help with, including new issues such as
viability and longer standing questions
centring on basic understandings of
planning.
Materials, training, promotion and issue
familiarity need to be kept up-to-date
amongst planning aid practitioners.
There were also some recommendations for
central funding and organisation of planning aid,
and for regional support for, organisation and
use of volunteers.
The research was comprehensive in scope,
and the above is, of course, only a summary
of the main issues and recommendations. The
Regional Planning Aid Sub-group will continue
to work through the implications, but is
expecting to develop an Action Plan setting
out specific ideas and actions which can be
implemented within the region, which will need
support from Botolph Lane. It will also
consider whether we need to engage further
support to identify and instigate an early
demonstration project which will be effective in
developing our potential to work with
disadvantaged communities.
We will keep Tripwire readers in touch with
progress. n
Dave Marr
Planning Aid Sub-group
Call for volunteers – RTPI Educational Activities
W
ould you like to help shape the
educational standards of planning
education by contributing to the
Institute’s work with accredited Planning
Schools? We are recruiting for RTPI Dialogue
Members, Representatives and Chairs of
Partnership and Accreditation Boards. The
RTPI is also looking for a member with a
good knowledge of planning education
experience to volunteer for the role of Vice
Chair for the RTPI’s Partnership and
Accreditation Panel (PAP).
Read more about the vacancies and how to
apply on the RTPI website. n
Hayley Boyes BA (Hons) MSc
Higher Education Officer
RTPI 41 Botolph Lane, London, EC3R 8DL
A tribute to George Goodall
G
eorge Goodall was a stalwart of the
RTPI for longer than most of us in the
planning profession can remember.
Records show that he joined the Regional
Committee in 1982. Indeed, he was the only
planner left on the Committee from when I
first joined it back in 1986.
George has always been well known for
offering his wit and wisdom at our meetings
when we’ve deliberated on a wide range of
issues around the running of the Institute, and
the role of planning and our profession.
Over the years George has held a number of
key positions in the RTPI at both national and
regional level:
●
West Midlands RTPI Regional Chairman
in 1989
●
●
●
●
RTPI Membership Panel (chairing it for a
number of years)
Regional representative on the RTPI
Council
Regional Membership Secretary (for many
years)
Chair of the West Midlands
Planning Aid Group (a service
he was especially passionate
about)
Many plaudits have been made about
George. Here are a few:
●
●
‘We will miss his considerable
contribution to our debates’
‘George never failed to offer
a different angle – often
provocative but always
perceptive’
●
●
‘He was admired, not least because of his
consistent championing of planning and
what it could do for people’
‘He will be remembered with affection and
respect by planners across the West
Midlands’
So, thank you, George for all you have
done for planning, and for what that
meant to us as planners, the planning
profession and its Institute.
We hope to hold a Special Event
later in the year to celebrate George
Goodall linked to his role in
promoting Planning Aid over the
years. n
Paul Harris
Honorary Regional Secretary
spring
7
Places and Spaces. The Midlands Big Meet
I
t was quite an achievement! Staged
at Glen Howells impressive
office/showrooms in Digbeth, the
‘Places and Spaces’ event was
organised by Emily Walsh and chaired
by Matthew Cormona as the first of a
string of regional events around the
country intended to draw together
designers, planners and local
authorities to spread the word on the
importance of ‘design’ in space and
place.
Mike Best, from Turley, opened the day
by putting the issue within its strategic
context. He described the power of the
‘Big 3’ – Birmingham, the Black Country
and Coventry – and the potential impact
of the new Combined West Midlands
Authority. The loss of strategic planning
had created major tensions in the
conurbation with Birmingham needing
to find 38,000 houses from surrounding
authorities but with no formal
mechanism to secure them. Unlike
Greater Manchester which had agreed
to tackle strategic planning through its
combined authority, the West Midlands
CA seems to have rejected this
approach. ‘It’s all become a bit of a
game’ was probably the understatement of the morning.
David Rudlin, from Urbed urged us to
look at the capability of provincial cities
to take more new housing, pointing out
that European cities, for example
Barcelona, are much larger, denser and
arguably more vibrant than most
English cities. He suggested that cities
should ‘bid’ for more homes and that
there should be more urban
intensification rather than
suburbanisation. He used the example
of Sheffield where Urbed had made
themselves unpopular with members by
suggesting substantial concentration of
development in the City – instead of the
urban extensions proposed by the
planners – the planning system makes
no sense to me – he said.
Laura Shoaf from the Strategic
Transport and Infrastructure Authority
8
spring
underlined the importance of
connectivity and the role of ‘centres’,
supporting the idea of increased
densities around transport nodes.
Perceptions of transport are really
important, she said. The role of local
journeys are critical. She said that they
were aiming for 10% of journeys to be
by cycle by 2033. Of course this is the
region which invented the bicycle.
John Worthington from High Speed
Rail continued the strategic theme,
arguing that we need to think on a
wider scale and from a longer term
European dimension (subject to a proEU vote presumably). He highlighted
the key role of the proposed
Birmingham International interchange
in Solihull which would emerge as a
‘real place’ and used the example of
Schipol in Holland which acts as a
genuine airport hub for Europe.
Stations can become destinations as
well as exchanges he said. On
planning, he described the city as a
constantly evolving phenomenon.
Urbanism is about constantly renewing
the City he said – it’s an organic
system – it’s rarely about more of the
same. He pointed out that Birmingham
and Manchester were the largest cities
in Europe without underground trains –
food for thought maybe.
Kathryn Moore Professor of
Landscape at BCU argued that we
need to use landscape as a
‘Framework for change’ using the
examples of river valleys and
landscape features to shape urban
form. She described how design
should be innovative, predictive,
creative and accessible.
Opening the afternoon session, Geoff
Wright from his experience in
Birmingham and elsewhere described
the tensions in developing cities and
argued that often local authorities are
not ambitious enough in shaping their
urban centres. In Birmingham we have
moved from 10’s of people living in the
centre to 1000’s of people in the last 20
years, although he pointed out that the
first canal-side scheme by Crosby
Homes wouldn’t have happened
without Council intervention. The
influence of retail regeneration is vital
he said, something Coventry and
Wolverhampton still hadn’t yet
achieved.
Phil Jones – from Phil Jones
Associates reminded us that we must
make places attractive otherwise those
who have choice will not choose to live
there. He saw the re-birth of our cities
as being about streets, places and
movement. He saw Design Review as
a positive initiative and gave examples
of practical schemes where urban
areas had been rejuvenated through
traffic management and street design,
including one at Clapham Old Town I
recognised myself from my formative
years.
David Tittle, until recently CEO of
MADE and now Design South East,
gave a fascinating insight into the Black
Country Garden City proposals
(coincidentally launched the day before
in MIPIM in Cannes). He had
previously proposed a ‘tongue in cheek’
Black Country Garden City plan called
‘Albion’ in response to a Government
competition for new settlements. The
new idea was to draw attention to the
opportunities urban areas can provide
he said. Was it a question of half-full or
half empty? He pointed to the amazing
array of infrastructure and heritage in
the Black Country and the opportunities
open to developers. Why wouldn’t you
build there? he challenged. He insisted
he wanted to change the image of the
Black Country from a vicious circle of
low value and low price and where one
can only sell what one has already
sold, to a place where there are real
opportunities.
Graham Woodward – took us on a
fascinating photographic tour of the city,
looking at examples of civic pride
where buildings are deliberately elegant
and where on occasions it is the upper
parts of buildings which display the
wealth and status of the place. He
explained that we need to interpret the
city by looking at the junctions, the
streets and the alleyways as well as the
enclosures. Birmingham is not
especially green in its centre – it is a
young commercial city. But the city is
about making places and not just
spaces – the theme of the day.
Noha Nasser reminded us that we had
been through the strategic level, the
City level, the local level and we were
now ending up with the individual level.
Birmingham is a multi-cultural city. How
do we bring people together and create
a cultural diverse community? In short
how do we create happiness and social
bonding? She pointed out that society
is losing its ability to interact. TV and
on-line communication is replacing
conversation. In days gone by, buildings
faced each other and people
communicated. Now it is all about
speed of movement she said. But
without social contact we lose trust.
Finally, Laura Alvarez a Phd
researcher reported back on her
community based research on what
makes places. Her conclusion was
very simple – it’s about bringing people
together, sharing places, belonging,
making connections and creating
cohesion.
The day ended with a useful interaction between delegates and the
suggestion by Paul Watson that we
should send our ideas to the new
mayoral candidates if we want
something done.
Congratulations to Emily Walsh for
putting together such a lively and
action-packed day. n
Housing Supply: more than just numbers
A report on the RTPI seminar.
T
he perennial problem of housing
supply (and more important
housing delivery) has always
proved a popular topic for our seminar
series and this event was no exception.
A sell-out audience of almost 50
delegates were treated to an
experienced and entertaining team of
speakers in Birmingham’s Bond
Warehouse in Digbeth – with the
occasional distraction of a canal boat
floating by.
The opening speaker, Roland Bolton
from DLP Planning, with a long
experience of presenting housing needs
and demand evidence to Public
Inquiries and EIP’s, made a complicated
topic seem very simple. ‘Measuring
true need’ was his key objective, which
he admitted is not always easy. Whilst
houses stay in one place, people have
a habit of moving around. But housing
demand is about peoples’ aspirations
and therefore he argued it is ‘more than
just numbers’. In the last 25 years we
have never matched the scale of
projected needs or demand for that
matter. But sadly the impact of the
shortfall is not evenly spread. Whilst the
property owning classes manage to
help their children get on the ladder, the
property underclass are losing out,
confined to dwindling levels of
affordable housing and a rising trend of
private market renting.
Alex Roberts, also from DLP planning
explained how local authorities should
tackle the task of defining their
‘objectively assessed need’ now an
essential pre-requisite for determining
their housing requirement.
Leenamari Aantaa Collier and Louise
Portman from the Wilkes Partnership
(solicitors) then explained how the
paragraphs of the NPPF weave
together to trigger the ‘presumption in
favour of sustainable development’.
This has helped to shift the balance of
weight in appeals where authorities
lack an up to date plan or fall short of a
5 year housing supply – resulting in the
assessment of housing need and
supply now becoming a fine art as a
well as a science. They stressed the
significance of the recent Court of
Appeal case between Richborough
and Cheshire East which had widened
the scope of policies which were
‘relevant to housing supply’, putting
even greater pressure on local
authorities without a 5 year supply.
Andrew Crucifix and Sharron Gough
from Stonewater (formed in 2015 from
a merger of Jephson and Raglan
Housing Associations) then gave the
delegates some home truths about the
impact of Government changes in
affordable housing policy. Andrew
explained the practical effect of the 1%
reduction in rents which he said would
reduce the income of the business and
limit the scope for further investment –
as well as losing income from Right to
Buy. It also meant that developers
would be less prepared to offer the
same level of subsidy, so that
Stonewater now focused on a broader
range of tenures including home
ownership and starter homes models.
Sharron underlined the critical role of
the Government’s welfare reforms,
indicating that many of their traditional
clients can no longer afford to rent or
purchase shared ownership. The
‘bedroom tax’ has also changed the
type and size of homes which people
can afford, with a 14% reduction in
housing benefit levels and a £20 k total
benefit cap.
Finally Charles Robinson, Director of
DLP Planning and our Chair for the
morning, gave a very heartfelt
presentation on the changing age
patterns of home buyers and especially
the changing needs of the elderly in
the market. His explanation of the
property life cycle was helpful in
showing the mis-match in homes to
households which underlies much of
our housing problem. ‘Right-size’
housing was his solution to the issue,
giving people what they want rather
than what is available – meaning that a
new type of senior-citizens’ housing
was what was needed.
By the end of the seminar, it was
abundantly clear to everyone that
housing supply was indeed more than
just numbers. It’s about producing
housing on the right scale, in the right
locations, of the right types and at the
right price. Not an easy task – but then
who said planning was meant to be
easy.
Thanks again to Charles Robinson and
his team and all the speakers for a very
worthwhile seminar. n
John Acres
spring
9
Planning Law Update
A report of the CPD Seminar
held on 2nd February 2016;
by Mike Vout.
‘In politics, there is no use in looking
beyond the next fortnight.’ Joseph
Chamberlain 1886.
T
here was a full house for the
first of two very popular events
in the annual CPD calendar on
planning Law (the next is Thursday
10th November 2016) kindly hosted
by DLA Piper and chaired by our very
own Sandra Ford.
Whether you subscribe to the
quotation ‘a week is a long time in
politics’ or the Joseph Chamberlain
quotation above, what is evident is
that the landscape of planning law
continues to shift and change – even
in the short time since the last update
in late 2015.
The session was led by the DLA Piper
Planning Team of Trevor Ivory, Amy
Truman and Emma Rodican- Jones
with the following three aims:
●
●
●
To Identify the implications of
recent case law
To help understand Development
Consent Orders and the
implications of the application
process, and
To summarise the current position
on the Community Infrastructure
Levy.
First, Sandra Ford and Trevor Ivory
reminded us of the current plethora of
consultations and the minefield of
changes and prospective changes,
many of which have quite substantial
implications on topics as wide ranging
as Green Belt, the NPPF, fee
charging, New Hones Bonus,
Devolution, …… to list but a few. The
main cluster included:
●
●
●
●
Cities and Local Government
Devolution Act 2016
The Custom and Self-build Housing
Act 2015 (Commencement)
Regulations 2016
The Self –Build and Custom
Housing building (Register)
Regulations 2016
Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing
(Protected Areas Regulations 2015
The Housing and Planning Bill (then
in the House of Lords) has been
described as ‘making it up as they go
along’ whilst the issue of Starter
Homes is being placed on a
10
spring
dangerous statutory footing with
proposals opening a ‘Pandora’s box’.
There were moments when one
wondered if we had stumbled into a
recording of Countryfile, as Trevor
presented the audience with various
quiz questions relating to British fauna
and flora (featuring some of the usual
suspects eg. Great Crested Newts).
Trevor took us through 9 significant
cases covering; how and when a
condition can be imposed, monster
basements, when development is
deliberately concealed eg. by hay
bales (to qualify for time expiry) and
asked ‘when is a tree not a tree’ (for
replacement purposes)? Examples
also covered procedural and timing
issues such as those relating to the
Barnwell case, when one should seek
a SoS screening decision and a
German case involving Habitats
directive issues where a designation
was introduced after permission was
granted. Of course any legal update
would not be complete without at least
one Gladman example where
distinctions were made between
NPPF paragraph 49 (out of date) and
paragraph 215 (weight to be given).
Emma Rodican-Jones took us
through the process of and legislation
behind Development Consent Orders.
Amongst other things, one has to
keep track of the various initialisms
involved (DCO, NPS, NSIP, etc.).
There are a number of key features to
the process:
●
●
●
●
●
●
DCO’s are enshrined in The
Planning Act 2008, the same act
which provides the framework for
the procedures regarding the
making and consideration of an
application.
DCO’s are made in the policy
context of National Planning
Statements
Public consultation is key
The process is front-loaded to
provide ample opportunity for those
affected to have their say and
influence things.
It is meant to be consultation
friendly
What is important and relevant is
up to the inspector
Emma explained the definition of
NSIP (contained in Section 14 (1) of
the PA 2008) which lists the many
different types of infrastructure project
including generating stations, highway
and airport related development, rail
freight facilities and water facilities. It
also includes ‘associated
development‘ such as access roads
and bridges.
The DCO regime was originally
intended to bring forward major
infrastructure projects but the G&I Act
2013 has amended this for certain
types of commercial and business
development and housing is creeping
in as a result of the H&P Bill.
The application process is too long to
describe in this short article but is
broken down into 4 stages:
1. Pre application (sometimes known
as “s42 stage”)
2. Application/submission; and
3. Examination
4. Decision (within 3 months) with a
further 3 months for the SoS to
grant an order.
Amy Truman was the final speaker.
She took us through the CIL
regulations which she said were
‘unclear’. Amy explained the latest
position regarding Regulation 40
(demolition deduction), using a recent
Shropshire case as an example,
clarifying continuous and lawful use
followed by the various aspects
relating to NPPG paragraph 99 (and
the related paragraph 102) regarding
restrictions on pooling Section 106
contributions from 6th April 2015
onwards. Affordable housing is not
affected. We were also reminded of
paragraph 104 of the NPPG that
contributions for highway works that
are secured through section 278
Agreements (of the Highways Act) are
not subject to pooling restrictions.
The presentation included a section
on how things worked in practice
including clarity on Regulation 123 (3)
restrictions and the nuances of
section 73 obligations (links between
original obligations and a new
permission).
Finally, we were reminded that the
findings of the recent CIL consultation
will be released in April this year.
This should be an interesting read as
the report is intended to cover
questions such as ‘Is CIL meeting its
objectives?’, ‘the relationship between
CIL and s.106’ and the impact of CIL
upon viability. n
Michael Vout MRTPI
The West Midlands Region of the
RTPI is pleased to invite you to our
Summer Ball
AND Awards
Ceremony
2016
WHEN
Friday 10th June 2016, 7pm, carriages 1am.
VENUE
The 1874 Lounge, Villa Park, Trinity Road, Birmingham, B6 6HE.
DRESS CODE
Black Tie.
TABLES AND TICKETS
Book your ticket now and enjoy this exclusive event at £45 per
ticket (including VAT) or £450 for a table of 10 (excluding VAT)
or £495 for a table of 11 (excluding VAT) or £540 for a table of 12
(excluding VAT).
To reserve your place, please visit www.rtpi.org.uk/events/eventscalendar/2016/june/rtpi-west-midlands-ball-and-awards-ceremonydinner/. Please book early to avoid disappointment, we anticipate
demand will be high for this event.
PROGRAMME FOR THE EVENING
• 7pm drinks reception in the McGregor Suite
• 7:30pm three course dinner in the 1874 Suite
• Presentation of regional awards over coffee
• Dancing and socialising
spring
11
2016 RTPI WM Season Ticket CPD Programme
:::::::::: events Calendar ::::::::::
REGIONAL EVENTS
Non-members of RTPI welcome to attend.
FRIDAY 22 APRIL
The Future of Green Belts:
Maximising their contribution to
Sustainable Development
Green Belts countrywide are facing
D
unprecedented pressures from
KE with
O
development needs associated
BO growth, not
population and household
Y
L Midlands. Drawing
least here in theUL
West
F
on the insights
of a range of speakers
OW and private sector
coveringNpublic
perspectives, this seminar provides an
opportunity to scrutinise how Green Belts
can help deliver sustainable development
through effective plan making and
development management decisions.
Venue: Offices of Pinsent Masons,
Birmingham
Time: Morning followed by lunch
Cost: £50 + VAT (£60) for RTPI
members, £60 + VAT (£72) for nonmembers.
£20 + VAT (£24) for full-time students
and the unwaged
Reduced rates if purchased as part of an
annual multi-buy
£220 + VAT (£264) for 5 places and
£415 + VAT (£498) for 10 places
Details & booking:
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/eventscalendar/2016/april/the-future-of-greenbelts/
WEDNESDAY 4 MAY
RTPI West Midlands AGM
After the AGM there will be a short
presentation by Mark Middleton from the
Futures Network West Midlands on the
importance of strategic planning for
providing housing, jobs and
infrastructure, and a discussion on how
to promote this with the West Midlands
Combined Authority, Local Enterprise
Partnerships and other channels. A light
buffet will be provided.
Venue: Upstairs function room at the Old
Joint Stock pub, Birmingham
Time: 6.30pm
Cost: Free of charge
Enquiries to Sue Griffith-Jones
[email protected]
WEDNESDAY 25 MAY
Neighbourhood Planning:
Rhetoric or Reality?
Neighbourhood planning remains high
on the planning and political agendas.
How well is the process working? Are
they enabling communities to influence
the nature and location of local
development to meet their needs? Is
there evidence of increased community
engagement over planning issues? Have
local authorities fully embraced the
neighbourhood planning agenda
particularly in the context of massive
public sector cuts? How is
neighbourhood planning changing
practice at the local plan level and what
are the implications for governance?
How are neighbourhood plans being
implemented?
This seminar is designed to explore
these and other questions. It will draw
directly on the experience of those at the
coalface who have made their
neighbourhood plan or who are actively
engaged in the process of producing
one.
Venue: Venue (tbc) in Birmingham
Time: Morning followed by lunch
Cost: £50 + VAT (£60) for RTPI
members, £60 + VAT (£72) for nonmembers.
£20 + VAT (£24) for full-time students
and the unwaged
Reduced rates if purchased as part of an
annual multi-buy
£220 + VAT (£264) for 5 places and
£415 + VAT (£498) for 10 places
Details & booking:
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/eventscalendar/2016/may/neighbourhoodplanning-rhetoric-or-reality/
FRIDAY 10 JUNE
RTPI West Midlands Ball and Awards
Ceremony Dinner
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham
Time: 7pm – 1am
Cost: Individual places £45 incl VAT.
Tables £450 - £540 + VAT
Details and to book:
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/eventscalendar/2016/june/rtpi-west-midlandsball-and-awards-ceremony-dinner/
TUESDAY 21 JUNE
Ethics, Mediation and Negotiation
‘Ethics remains the distinguishing feature
of the planning professional, whether in
the public or private sector. The Code of
Professional Conduct does not just
regulate planners but also requires an
understanding of the moral issues likely
to be faced’. Martin Willey FRTPI.
Planning requires a combination of many
skills and abilities, not least of which is
the ability to maintain professional
integrity, to help resolve conflict and to
navigate often complex, powerful, costly
and passionate demands.
The purpose of this event is to explore
the values and principles which lie
behind our approach to ethics, mediation
and negotiation, including the concept of
fairness, and to understand their
application in planning.
Venue: The Bond Company, Fazeley
Street, Digbeth, Birmingham
Time: Morning followed by lunch
Cost: £50 + VAT (£60) for RTPI
members, £60 + VAT (£72) for nonmembers.
£20 + VAT (£24) for full-time students
and the unwaged
Reduced rates if purchased as part of an
annual multi-buy
£220 + VAT (£264) for 5 places and
£415 + VAT (£498) for 10 places
Details & to booking:
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/eventscalendar/2016/june/ethics,-mediationand-negotiation/
OTHER EVENTS
MONDAY 6 JUNE
The Future of Social Housing
Venue: International Convention Centre,
Birmingham
Time: 10am – 5.30pm
Cost: £50 incl VAT
Organisers: Housing & Care 21, Housing
and Communities Research Group and
the University of Birmingham
Details and to book:
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/soc
ial-policy/departments/social-policysocial-work/news-andevents/2016/06/06-06-2016-future-ofsocial-housing.aspx
TUESDAY 28 JUNE
The Planning Convention
Better planning solutions: the
challenge of growth
Venue: London
Time: All day plus evening reception
Cost: £99 – £295 + VAT
Organiser: RTPI
Details and to book:
http://www.theplanningconvention.co.uk/
Charity Registration Number: 262865 • Scottish Charity Registration Number: SC 037841 • Registered Office Address Royal Town Planning Institute 41 Botolph Lane London EC3R 8DL.