The Communities and Local Government Minister, Eric Pickles, has said he has three priorities; localism, localism and localism, but he is willing to discuss the order of the priorities.

It’s been recognised by Local Government Information Unit that we face a dilemma.

We know that, over the next few years, local government will be shaped by two forces - on the one hand we have a drive towards localism which has political momentum and which offers an opportunity to help communities become more involved in shaping the places they live in and the services they use; on the other, we need a way of looking at budgets and services that allows us to be strategic, to take clear decisions about spending priorities and to generate the efficiencies and savings we so badly need.

Both of these models are attractive, but are they mutually exclusive and can we pursue them both at the same time? To prevent these drivers from pulling us in opposing directions we will need a fundamental shift in the way we think about local service delivery and the relationship between people, places and power.

The Decentralisation and Localism Bill will be used to facilitate the localism agenda, it will devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities control over housing and planning decisions.

This will be a major piece of legislation affecting a wide range of existing housing, planning and local government legislation dating back, in some cases, decades. The Cabinet Office signals that from November this year local planning authorities will be able to work “in new ways” on local plans in advance of the Bill.

According to Planning Minister, Bob Neill, local plans will be more transparent and communities will help develop proposals for their neighbourhoods, rather than be consulted on ‘options’ that have already been prepared. It will mean that local, long-term, plans will become more important and if a new development has local support, then a proposal in line with that plan will be approved unless there are significant reasons against it.

However, there are issues. Communities need some level of strategic thinking beyond the local level to deliver many of the things they want, such as transport links, renewables, waste management and flood protection.

Issues such as the housing crisis, economic recovery, climate change and biodiversity loss, cannot be dealt with solely at a local level.

Some Councils have already halted - or delayed - work on their Local Development Framework documents - including the Core Strategies – because of the policy vacuum following the scrapping of Regional Strategies.

The only clue as to how a broader, perhaps sub-regional perspective might be developed is through the proposed Local Enterprise Partnerships although exactly what status this will have within the planning system is not entirely apparent at the moment.

Regional implications – Postcode lottery fall out from devolved powers

The loss of the regional level of planning could leave some areas in turmoil and almost certainly generate confusion at parish council level. Different decision making matrices will be appropriate in different areas and in relation to different issues, but local authorities will have to work more closely together in order to access resources and provide a coherent approach across district and county boundaries.

Rural Implications

In some rural communities the planning system has been used as a brake on appropriate and much-needed development in the misplaced belief that this supports communities and the environment. The system must be approached in a new way, as a positive, proportionate and flexible instrument to promote the long term sustainability of businesses, communities and environment that surrounds them.

The challenge will be to meet the rural housing need, build thriving economies, deliver good rural services, create flourishing market towns and empower local communities – but just how is the Government going to rise to the challenge of delivering the Big Society in the small places?

A recent report from The Rural Coalition; “The Rural Challenge” addresses these issues head on.

Under the chairmanship of Lord Taylor, the report sets out a comprehensive and challenging agenda with recommended actions.

The key propositions advanced by this coalition are covered by some 38 recommendations. under the following headings: • Creating and maintaining sustainable rural communities • Meeting the affordable housing needs of rural communities • Building thriving rural communities Delivering great local services • Flourishing market towns • Empowering communities The overarching message is that action needs to be taken now and that action needs to be positive and determined to succeed.

At the moment the new localism and decentralised approach to planning raises more questions than answers. The announcements and ideas published to date assume a high level of enthusiasm for engagement by local communities and a shared vision as to what is required and how best to deliver it. Hopefully the publication of the Government’s bill will clarify how these various initiatives will be delivered in a coherent and productive way and will lead to the development of balanced, sustainable and successful communities.

CLA Planning Seminars will give members the opportunity to hear from CLA’s National Planning Advisor, Fenella Collins and a panel of planning experts, we have arranged three events for members early next year, as the coalitions’ plans unfold.

Members can book their places using the details on the events page of this magazine.

The seminars will be on 25 January, Wiltshire / Gloucestershire; 26 January, Dorset / Somerset 15 February, Devon /Cornwall.