What has happened to the planning system recently?

Once we had a weighty document called the Local Plan, which told us all we needed know if we had a query about development in the countryside.

Tim Perkins

The problem was that the consultation required to create the plan took rather longer than its design life, so the Local Development Framework was conceived to replace the Local Plan. No longer were we to have a weighty single document to consult but now a whole suite of documents.

Soon we were talking about a Core Strategy, hubs and clusters and site allocation documents, not to mention the Community Infrastructure Levy and affordable housing – all especially important in rural areas.

Just as we were getting to grips with all this we got a few more issues to throw into the mix. The Government’s National Policy Framework with a stated presumption in favour of sustainable development, and a few weeks ago Royal Assent to the Localism Act 2011. No matter that we don’t have a definition of ‘sustainable’ or ‘affordable’.

It seems that very little is certain in the planning world at the moment. What can we do to influence what happens in the communities around us?

The answer is to get involved at a local level.

Planning authorities will now be able to set their own housing figures, and parish councils or local neighbourhood forums will be encouraged to draw up plans setting out what development they would or would not like to see locally. Taxes on new housing will be put back into the community.

For those of us living and working in the countryside this is the best and perhaps the only invitation we will receive to put ideas forward and influence local planning policy

While there is still a great deal of uncertainty, what is clear is that Government want local people to have a stronger voice in determining the future development of our own communities, and for those of us with an interest in either protecting our countryside or creating opportunities for those who live and work here, or both, we need to get involved.

Tim Perkins is a parish councillor and partner in Balfours LLP