Neighbourhood Planning and Localism in Action€¦ · Neighbourhood Plans • The coalition government will revolutionise the planning process by taking power away from officials

Neighbourhood Planning and

Localism in Action

Sue Brownill

Oxford Brookes University

Neighbourhood Planning and Localism

• Drawing on research into two aspects of the

localism agenda

– Neighbourhood planning frontrunners in

Oxfordshire and London

– ‘Big Society’ in Oxfordshire

Emerging Themes and Questions

• Tendency to think in dichotomies about localism, but picture on the ground is more complex

– Sink or swim

– Empowerment or abandonment

– Centralisation or decentralisation of power

• In this complexity, what possibilities for voice and agency are there?

• Is a progressive localism possible? How might we think about this without over-emphasising or theoretically foreclosing the positive

So What Is Neighbourhood Planning?A Neighbourhood plan is drawn by a Parish Council or Neighbourhood ForumGoes through ‘light touch’ inspectionBecomes legal if 50% of those who vote in a referendum on the plan support the proposalsBut has to comply with approved plans500+ in progress throughout the countryAlso Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to BidNeighbourhoods with an approved plan get 25% of the Community Infrastructure Levy

Differing Rationales for

Neighbourhood Plans

• The coalition government will revolutionise the planning process by taking power away from officials and putting it into the hands of those who know most about their neighbourhood – local people themselves’ Greg Clarke, Minister for Decentralisation, 2010

• ‘Neighbourhood Planning is about overcoming opposition to growth and getting housing numbers delivered.’ John Howell MP for Henley & South Oxfordshire and author of Open Source Planning

• ‘Neighbourhood planning has the potential to unleash a passion for planning’ Inspector into Thame Neighbourhood Plan

Differing Local Rationales

‘Neighbourhood planning is a potential gift to

all those concerned to secure real evidence of

sustainable social development and the

promotion of community cohesion and

community development.’

The Geography of

Neighbourhood Planning;

Round 5 Frontrunners

Rounds 1-4

Sink or Swim, Empowerment or

Abandonment?• Thame

• Market town with own Town Council wanting to secure its future for next 50 years

• Location of 755 homes in South Oxfordshire District Plan and proposal by Sainsbury's for superstore

• Employed consultants to draw up plan at a cost of £100,000+

• SomersTown ( and Bloomsbury)

• Inner London, growth pressures (HS2)

• Support from Voluntary Action Camden and Planning Aid for London

• History of previous initiatives

• Other current initiatives; £1m Big Local grant, Community Investment Programme

‘Working the Spaces of Power?’

• Stenson talks of a ‘protective shield’ Levitas ‘the just’s umbrella’ operating to mitigate the impacts of ‘unjust’ policies and direct activities and resources to less well off areas.

• Role of LAs and others eg VAC in supporting communities.

• Depends on history of organising and having pro-active agencies.

• But is it enough eg £20,000 to each frontrunner, but DCLG estimates costs at £20-86k and Thame substantially more

• Can wider processes of economic change, gentrification, development pressure be addressed through NDPs?

Agency and Voice

As well as which

neighbourhoods, who in

each neighbourhood is

involved and how and

who will benefit from the

policies?

Decentralisation or Centralisation?

• ‘Localism does not mean

local authorities doing

whatever the hell they

like’ Nick Boles Planning

Minister (Planning 16 Oct,

2012)

‘We will hold CIL going to

neighbourhoods with NDPs and we

won’t let them spend it on anything

we don’t want them to’ LA Planning

Officer

Parish councils with NDPs will get

25% of CIL to spend on ‘what the

hell you like’ Nike Boles,

Newsnight, Jan 2013

A New Topography of Power

• Complex power relations

– National policy sets boundaries (NPPF)

– Local policy – Local Plan (Core Strategy)

– Private sector – landowners and developers

– Local communities - ‘tweaking’ rather than controlling

• Fluid over time and space

• But some evidence of changed relations e.g. between LAs and communities

An Emerging Infrastructure for Localism?

Neighbourhood Development Orders and the

Community Right to Bid

Ivy House pub Nunhead S London was listed as an asset of community value which gave the community 6 months to raise £750,000 to buy it. Architectural Heritage Fund gave them £500k and they secured a grant from the My Community Rights Programme for the rest

St Eval village in Cornwall is

drawing up an NDO to take

over facilities in

neighbouring disused RAF

base

Neighbourhood Plans and Localism

• Reasons to be cheerful• Evidence that local uniqueness and

diversity is being recognised in policy

• Planning is being opened up

• Not just ‘usual suspects’ and greater spread of neighbourhoods than might have been feared

• A passion for planning and a greater understanding of it does seem to be emerging

• Possibilities to link land use , financial tools and plans at the local level

• Some possibilities for a more progressive localism; people are working the spaces of power

• Reasons to be critical• Neighbourhoods aren’t in control

• Resources aren’t enough

• No evidence base – policy on the hoof

• Narrow definition of growth is potentially dominating the planning process and communities can only ‘tweak’ this

• Strategic policy issues potentially ignored

• Not likely to address the housing crisis

• NDPs even if drawn up not likely to protect vulnerable communities

• The future. Legal challenges from developers and others, re-centralisation, impacts of cuts

Some Concluding Thoughts

• Complex picture emerging; localisms

• An ‘infrastructure of localism’ is developing over time, but ranged against an array of counter indicators

• Within this there are limited possibilities for a more progressive form of localism to develop- to work the spaces of power- but contingent in space and time

• Need for theoretical approaches that can capture this complexity

The Fate of All ‘Big Ideas’ or Localism

in Action?