Post on 12-Aug-2020
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?