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Magazine of the RtPi West Midlands issue 101 // summer 2019

Tripwire

www.rtpi.org.uk/westmidlands

Beauty and the beast in this instance are notthe characters from Gabrielle-SuzanneBarbot de Villeneuve’s 18th century fairy tale

La Belle et la Bête but rather subjects involved intwo recent publications; design quality (including thevalue and role of beauty) and the behemoth ofdevelopment (the beast).

this is not to imply that development is intrinsicallyugly or monstrous (or indeed that it can magicallybe transformed by the power of love1) but rather adescription of its gargantuan scale and theenormous and profound effect it has upon our lives.

the two publications mentioned above are thegovernment’s Creating space for beauty - TheInterim Report of the Building Better, BuildingBeautiful Commission, July 2019 and the RtPiResearch Paper PLANNING AND DESIGNQUALITY - Creating places where we want to live,work and spend time, June 2019.

the objective of the report ‘Creating space forbeauty’ is to help tackle the challenge of poor-quality design and build of homes and placesacross the country and help ensure we do so withpopular consent.

its purpose is to gather evidence to developpractical policy solutions to ensure the design andstyle of new developments help grow a sense ofcommunity and place’. it contains 5 aims whichincludes identifying the key issues, developing

practical and workable ideas and solutions as wellas championing for and committing to ‘beauty in thebuilt environment’.

the RtPi’s research paper PLANNING ANDDESIGN QUALITY is based upon a survey ofplanners in early 2019 which revealed that while thevast majority of planners want to engage more indesign quality and place making, they consider thatthe current system makes this difficult.

the paper contains 9 key findings from the surveyand presents 15 recommendations for improvingdesign quality in the built environment based on thesurvey outcomes. the survey revealed that themajority (77%) of respondents believed that designis of equal importance to factors such asaffordability and the availability of infrastructure.

it identified that planners believed that creatingquality design goes beyond the concept ofsecuring beauty and that any new definition ofdesign quality should not include reference to styleor beauty, perhaps a rather ironic finding in light ofthe government’s Creating space for beautyreport.

instead the respondents focussed on the holisticmeaning of design quality, objective criteria againstwhich the quality of design can be assessed andhow it should address inclusivity, wider needs andimpacts, security, accessibility, safety and usability.

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Editor’s comment // Beauty and the beastRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


The Wintles, Shropshire.

Whilst this edition of tripwire contains a selection ofdifferent items, the focus is upon urban design anddesign quality, hence these opening editorialreferences to very recent design quality publications.

the West Midlands RtPi would once again thankthe contributors to the magazine and as alwayswould invite readers to submit comments and offerideas and articles for future editions. enjoy. ■

We are seekingcontributions for thenext edition oftripwire which willfocus upon climatechange. if interestedplease contact eitherthe West MidlandsRtPi co ordinator or

the tripwire editor at: [email protected] [email protected]

Michael VoutWest Midlands RTPI Regional Secretary.

Notes1 Perhaps there is something for

urban design in this after all…

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RtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


Creating space for beauty – The Interim Report of the Building Better, BuildingBeautiful Commission, July 2019.

Accordia, Cambridge.

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Inside this issueRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


editor’s comment // Beauty and the beast 2

RtPi West Midlands Chair’s opening remarks // summer 2019 5

the (Re)launch of RtPi West Midlands Urban design forum 6

design Quality assessment at homes england 7

‘design for the Real World’ CPd event // 27th september 2018 9

RtPi futures event 12

the story of tripwire // Celebrating its 100th edition 14

Research questionnaire on the green Belt and housing 16

digital Planning 17

it’s Madness // tripwire Words of Wisdom 18

neighbourhood Planning // an opportunity for all? 19

the 2019 RtPi Regional summit 24

the annual RtPi West Midlands annual Ball & awards Ceremony 25

tripwire magazine is published four times ayear in digital form by the West Midlands regionof the RtPi. the opinions expressed in tripwireare the view of the author and do not necessarilyreflect those of the editor, publishers, or the RtPi.

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What is the Future for Planning?

Since our last tripwire, the call for betterlonger term, strategic and spatial planninghas become louder.

almost unanimously now, planners, and indeedmany politicians, now believe strongly that wecannot continue to “plan” only. We face enormouschallenges both globally and locally – climate crisisimpacts, creating better places, building homes weneed, addressing regional economic and socialinequalities, etc.

the UK2070 Commission published its first report inJune. this Commission, led by lord Kerslake, hasproposed that the UK requires a spatial plan toguide its future development. it highlights thatscotland, Wales and northern ireland all havespatial frameworks that play a “key role” in helpingto shape their future development. But england,though, does not have one – meaning that there is“no common understanding of shared prioritiesbeyond the individual nations”.

the Commission says national and sub-nationalframeworks would help to resolve this problem,“identifying and connecting national economic hubs,providing a firm basis for long-term infrastructureinvestment, identifying priorities for a new urbanpolicy and securing better national management forthe natural and historic environment”. indeed thework of our student futures project with BCU and

the University of Birmingham Planning schools isbeginning to skill up our future planners awarenessof the value of strategic spatial planning.

the Commission has made a number ofsuggestions about regions, and comments arewelcomed on its first report before its final report ispublished in the autumn.

having attended the RtPi Planning Convention inJune down in london, i was encouraged to hear theMinister for housing, Kit Malthouse state that he sawa need for more longer term thinking and that fiveyears for local Plans was too short to ensure effectivestrategic decisions were made. however later in theConvention, steve Quartermain, the MChlg ChiefPlanner, poured a little cold water on the thought that

we might see a return to formal strategic planning andplans, saying that it was only an ambition.

so once again, where do we stand on the future ofPlanning? Well a thought-provoking book publishedby the RtPi at the Convention “a future forPlanning” by Michael harris, demonstrates how, inrecent years, planning has been constrained by“short-termism”. the RtPi has also demonstratedhow planning has been relegated from the toptables of local government. some 80% of localauthorities don’t have a Chief Planner sitting at itstop decision-making table.

given the challenges we are facing, then maybe,just maybe – we are at the dawn of a new era!

i would also like to the opportunity to warmlycongratulate two of our members being awardedhonours in the Queen’s recent Birthday honours.Ray Colbourne, who has just retired from MChlg,and who is a stalwart of our Regional activitiesCommittee and our CPd programme for manyyears, has been made an MBe. and louise Brooks-smith, the UK head of town Planning at arcadishas been made an oBe. louise is well-known forher leadership on diversity and women in bothplanning and in RiCs where she was the RiCsglobal President in 2014. it is so pleasing to seeboth colleagues recognised in this way. ■

Sandy TaylorRtPi West Midlands Chair

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RTPI West Midlands Chair’s opening remarks // summer 2019RtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


Sandy Taylor.

The RTPI WestMidlands Urban DesignForum (WMUDF) Chair,Luke Hillson, DesignDirector at BartonWillmore, welcomesattendees from a varietyof professionalbackgrounds fromacross the West

Midlands for the inaugural re launch of the WestMidlands Urban Design Forum.

Tuesday 2nd July saw the (re) launch of theRtPi West Midlands Urban design forum(WMUdf). the event, the first of regular

planned events, was organised for those with aninterest in urban design and the built environmentfrom across the West Midlands to get together andshare ideas on how the quality of the design acrossthe region can be improved.

luke gave a short (Pecha Kucha style) presentationon the findings of the RtPi survey, Planning andDesign Quality, June 2019 (https://www.rtpi.org.uk/knowledge/research/projects/planning-and-design-quality/), which emphasises the need for contextuallyinformed design codes and masterplans.

the group collectively started to set goals and aims forthe forum. initial ideas have included a design mentor-ship scheme, improving awareness of urban design,lessons learned project crits and local study visits.

forthcoming Urban design events were discussedwhich includes the Urban design group nationalConference in Birmingham on 26-28 september

(http://www.udg.org.uk/content/national-urban-design-conference-2019) and the WM RtPi ‘Urbandesign and Masterplanning for non-designers’ CPdon tuesday 26th november in Birmingham(https://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/events-calendar/2019/november/urban-design-and-masterplanning-for-planners-the-basics/)

the next WMUdf meeting will be on tuesday 1stoctober at 6pm, to be held at the old Joint stock,Birmingham.

the forum will also host smaller discussion groupsto focus on particular issues and make the sessionsmore accessible for those unable to attend eveningsessions. for further information please contact:[email protected] ■

Luke HillsonWMUdf Chair and WMRtPi Vice Chair

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The (Re)Launch of RTPI West Midlands Urban Design ForumRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


The Planning and Design Quality report available at:www.rtpi.org.uk/knowledge/research/projects/planning-and-design-quality

Creating greatplaces andwell-designed

homes where peoplewant to live is at thecore of homesengland’s mission. Weare committed toshowing leadership ondesign in the sectorand are using our

powers, influence and expertise to drive up thequality and pace of development.

the five year strategic Plan, published in theautumn of 2018, sets out the steps the agency willtake with industry to respond to the long-termhousing challenges facing this country. thisincludes a commitment to working with housebuilders and the wider housing industry to promotebetter design and higher quality homes – and tochallenge the traditional norms and build betterhomes faster.

the revised national Planning Policy framework(nPPf) highlighted the importance of high qualitydesign through the planning process. the agency

has made it a priority to work with local Planningauthorities, developers and land owners directly,and through the MhClg, to help them buildconfidence and capacity.

our challenge is to create great neighbourhoods sothat they are well planned, fit with the character oftheir surroundings and, most crucially, serve thepractical needs of their communities. We are doingthis by working with people and organisations fromacross the housing industry – to ensure new homesare designed well, with the green spaces and thefacilities communities need to thrive.

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Design Quality Assessment at Homes EnglandRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


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Dan Roberts MRTPIHomes England.

the agency has adopted the ‘Building for life 12’(Bfl12) principles to benchmark good designthrough activities within our land programmes,embedding them into conversations with ourpartners from the very start and throughout thelifespan of a project. this includes a mandatory self-assessment against the Bfl12 criteria as part of ourtender process. to help us assess design proposalsfrom developers, our land teams have undergone a3 stage Bfl12 training programme. the training willbe on-going in order to update and inform existingand new staff members.

Where our land is being developed by our partners,for 50 or more homes, they will be required todemonstrate how design has been considered andapplied on projects and detailed layouts will beassessed against Bfl12 criteria.

to ensure consistency of approach and to drivedesign quality standards, homes england hascommissioned a Bfl12 design guide. this isintended to showcase some of the very bestexamples to share with the housing industry.

there is a focus of government interest on makingnew build development more distinctive. to thisend, homes england is placing particular emphasison Bfl12 criterion 5, which requires theconsideration of character. With guidance fromdesign for homes, the organisation responsible forBfl12, the agency has formulated some tenderquestions. We will also be asking our partners to

demonstrate other tools and techniques used in thedevelopment of their plans.

each Bfl12 self-assessment will be appraised byhomes england and evaluated against the criteria.Where necessary, we can use independentassessors to appraise proposals. the specific numberof criteria to be met will be set out in the invitation totender. Based on a traffic light system, the aim is toachieve as many ‘greens’ as possible, interrogate andimprove any ‘ambers’ and avoid ‘reds’. the specificscore required may be dependent on market factorsand the scale of development.

homes england issued the latest guidance fortender submissions in april 2019, which includesassessment against Bfl12 with a focus on criterion5 (character). Whilst we are asking particularquestions around character, this reflects – ratherthan sets – government policy.

the agency tested this assessment process withexternal stakeholders and, no doubt, we will bemaking further refinements as our experience andunderstanding develops. at present, 8 green scoresagainst the Bfl12 criteria will be our minimum.however, a threshold will be established for eachsite, to determine what is required, and for somestrategic sites we will expect 12 greens.

We are asking for a focus on the following todemonstrate character but will ask for localdistinctiveness to be evidenced:

• Building arrangement to create strong buildinglines and corners

• Use of gables and terraced roofs to linkcoherently

• Use of different house types and cohesion• Use of materials and local distinctiveness • effective but unobtrusive placement of utilities

and services • Relationship between service strips, back of

pavement and face of buildings• Boundary treatment and public realm• green street landscaping and maintenance • hard street landscaping and maintenance

the agency is also considering the most effectiveways to use design Review within its acquisitionand disposal processes and is inputting to theMinistry’s Planning Practice guidance, which willsupport the nPPf. it is fair to say, design quality is,very much, back on the agenda at homes englandas we try to make better places, everywhere. ■

Dan Roberts MRTPIhomes england

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‘Design for the Real World’ was the title ofthe 8th in the series of RtPi WM CPdevents in 2018. the half-day seminar in

september explored the need, principles andexamples of ‘design quality’ and was introduced byharry Burchill (RtPi Urban design network lead).the programme was organised by Michael Vout tobe thought-provoking rather than necessarilyproviding definitive answers. focal points of themorning were to reflect on the degree of ‘personalpreferences’ in judging ‘good design’; how tobalance different aspects, such as functionality,comfort and aesthetics; and how attention to detailand to the bigger picture both matter and have tocome together in quality design. the recentlyupdated nPPf also highlights design quality whichis not only relevant for housing but place-makingand day-to-day decision-making more generally. Wecan expect to see more discussions and attention todesign in the coming months and years.

Much attention in england is typically directed at newhousing development, especially in light of thegovernment’s White Paper on housing (2017) andthe challenge to build 300,000 new homes inengland per year. Dan Roberts from homesengland (he) explained how he works with localauthorities, sMes and other built environmentstakeholders and injects design quality into wholelife-cycle ‘master-development’ of projects of 50 ormore homes. the emphasis here is not so much onadopting a specific building standard but onplace/place-making and form and function; forexample using the 12 Building for life (Bfl) principles(http://www.builtforlifehomes.org/go/about) as evident inManor Kingsway (derby) and northstowe (Cambridge-shire); or CaBe’s 7 principles of good design(https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118103740/http://www.cabe.org.uk/councillors/principles).highlighting the importance of green infrastructureand nature-inspired design is captured in a relativelynew benchmark/accreditation called ‘Building withnature’ (https://www.buildingwithnature.org.uk/)which won the RtPi’s 2018 sir Peter hall award forWider engagement and sets Wellbeing, Water andWildlife standards.

dan finished his presentation with a good motto(“Building better places everywhere”) and a usefulset of lessons learnt, including:1. Build on existing work and guidance and focus

on implementation;2. try and influence development early using

windows of opportunity;

3. Raise the bar of ‘ordinary’ rather than just focuson ‘exemplary’;

4. Build up momentum and influence;5. Bring in some external validation for credibility.

a brief Q&A session drew attention to the lack oftraining offered to elected planning committeemembers, where concerns get addressed ratherlate in the process and often focus on matters suchas ‘waste bins’ or ‘parking’ rather than place-makingmore holistically. More effective would be to dealwith specific end-user and stakeholder concernsearly on in any development project. in relation toproducing design guidance at a national level, theimportance of locally specific and regionallysensitive in addition to general guidance wasflagged as well as the use of Bfl, and otherstandards or principles, as a process rather than acheck-list. also, the need to be more user-focusedrather than profit-driven was highlighted. anotherimportant point raised was the need for regionalurban design networks and support (seehttps://www.designnetwork.org.uk/) to help promotebetter and more sustainable places and inspire andsupport professionals (which may need somegovernment funding). for example, there is MADEin the West Midlands (www.made.org.uk); Open inthe east Midlands and Design Matters in north-West england. in different regions, expectations ofstandards of design may be pushed to differentlevels; for example, where viability is less of anissue (due to higher profit margins by location /default) attention to design may be much higher and

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‘Design for the Real World’ CPD Event // 27th september 2018RtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


more fine-grained than in regions where viabilityand attracting investment are big concerns.

after the coffee-break, Anthony Clerici RiBafacilitated a highly interactive session elicitingparticipants’ suggestions of ‘cool cities’ (e.g.Copenhagen, Melbourne, new York, edinburgh,liverpool) and a reflective exercise on why we findcertain buildings ‘cool’ or not (on a scale from‘seriously uncool’ to ‘sub-zero’) handing out a rangeof international examples as diverse as shoppingmalls, skyscrapers, terraced houses and iconicbuildings such as the Brandenburg gate, thegherkin, Birmingham selfridges, the eden Projectand the Jewish Museum in Berlin. there was noclear agreement on allocating specific buildings tojust one category but an overall trend wasnoticeable where older, traditional styles generally

scored better than more modern and ‘bland’designs. however, as participants quite rightlypointed out, it is one thing to find a building or city‘cool’ and another whether one would like to live orwork there (also, ‘being cool’ may not necessarily bethe best variable in judging design).

in our own words, what made a design outstandingwas that it was/provoked: emotional reaction,distinct, impressive, iconic, timeless, interesting butnot weird, doing the job, sociable, at a human scale,‘shiny’, open to the public, meaning, symbolic,strong place identity, well maintained, a landmark.at the other extreme, identifiers for undesirablebuildings or designs included: dull, ugly, institutional,bland, pretentious, poor space definition, boring, nonature or natural features, useless, messy, out ofscale, desolate. importantly, the appreciation ofdesign went well beyond ‘like’ or ‘don’t like’ and abetter appreciation of the wide spectrum of factorsinfluencing the judgement about design. thesession was too short to also consider buildings intheir wider context, which of course, is essential forplace-making.

the next perspective on design was by anacademic and practitioner of the creative arts. KateFarley, a Print and Pattern designer(www.katefarley.co.uk) and senior lecturer intextile design at Birmingham City University, sees‘design’ as being everywhere and in everything.excited about design being back on the builtenvironment agenda, she considered a range of

questions: Who determines taste? and whatinfluences taste? (according to grayson Perry“more than age, race, religion or sexuality – one’ssocial class”.) is good design the same as goodtaste? (no!) Who has the right to define what is‘good design’? (Why) does taste matter? WhenKate starts a new design project, she considers theclient profile, purpose and context. her example oftwo lemon squeezers brought home the message ofform and function and good design being able to doeverything it needs to: in this case squeeze thelemon, catching the pips and collecting the juice.

going through different époques (Baroque,Classical, neo-Classical revival, gothic Revival,industrialisation, art nouveau, Modernism,Bauhaus) Kate illustrated how taste is shaped byvarious (borrowed) styles and forms over time andhow in the mid-19th century the Parliamentary selectCommittee on art and Manufactures raised

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concerns over the quality of British export goodswhen compared to those made in france, germanyand Usa. this then triggered government schoolsof design to improve the education of designers.Principles taught included that form is dictated byfunction and materials used; and that theornamental aspect should always be secondary toutility. the presentation also briefly dwelled onaugustus Pugin, an english architect, designer andartist in the first half of the 19th century, who wasconcerned with ‘the beautiful’, the ‘true’ and moralresponsibility; honesty in design here then meansnot to add 3d effects to flat design, or giving wood amarble effect. no fake designs or faux materials. onthe other hand ‘borrowing’ and ‘developinginterpretations’ are common and encouraged, eventhough they may ‘copy’ rather than ‘capture the soul’of a place / the original.

good design often costs more; context and howthings are made are important. for example, naturaldyes are more laborious to produce but they arepart of a specific place and vernacular; not syntheticand from elsewhere. William Morris was veryinfluential here, in terms of good design and localmaterials and workmanship. industrialisation,however, has hugely influenced mass/mechanisedproduction in england and sense of taste of thenation. also, childhood experiences shape taste,preconceptions influence taste. there may be aconnection between materials and taste; we areinfluenced by (and wish to reflect) history and maybe sensitive to integrity. Birmingham’s recent focus

on iconic buildings or landmarks was raised and thequestion posed whether buildings such as theCube, selfridges building and the new central librarywill ‘look good’ in 150 years’ time.

Who are the taste trend-setters today? Who ismaking the decisions? What kind of macro andmicro trends are we currently experiencing andwhat kind of online forums or magazines andadverts are telling us what to have and influencingour decisions? do you decide your taste or are youbeing controlled by others?

there was not much time left for Q&a although wefound out that Kate’s favourite building inBirmingham is the new street signal station.

finally, look out for the forthcoming PPg on designPractice. in the meantime, the 2014 guidance on‘design’ (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/design)provides advice on key points to take into account. ■

Claudia Carterassociate Professor, school of engineering andBuilt environment, Birmingham City University

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The Future of Strategic Planning in the West Midlands – Wednesday 12th MayMillennium Point

On Wednesday 12th June, the West Midlandsfutures Project held an academic-practitioner planning conference at

Birmingham City University on the future ofplanning, in particular strategic planning in theregion. the Conference marked the culmination andcompletion of two academic years’ worth of workand focused on the past, present, and future ofregional planning in the West Midlands. the projectwas run by Sherman Wong as organised jointly bythe RtPi futures network West Midlands,Birmingham City University (drs Beck Collins andProf Claudia Carter) and University of Birmingham(dr Mike Beazley).

the project brought together post-graduate studentsfrom Birmingham City University and the Universityof Birmingham to work together in their own time,outside of the formal curriculum. the Projectinvolved presentations by leading planning relatedprofessionals across a number of disciplines, withgroup project work by Msc Planning students.students studied the history of regional planningduring the project’s first phase and future scenarioswork on the impact of technological, economic,social and environment changes and how planningcan best respond to this in the second phase. at theConference on 12th June, this future scenariosproject work was focusing on transport and mobility,

the environment/ natural capital, climate changeand energy. there was then a series of expertspeakers presenting including Trudi Elliot (formerChief executive of the RtPi; independent Chair ofthe Planning inspectorate and a Commissioner ofthe UK2070 Commission), who spoke on work ofthe UK2070 Commission which aims to researchhow best to address regional inequalities and whichhas recently published an interim Report(http://uk2070.org.uk/). James Harris from the RtPi

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RTPI Futures EventRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


The great and the good of the planning world gathered at Millennium Point!

Trudi Elliot presenting on the UK2070 Commission.

spoke about its ongoing work on the ‘great northPlan’- essentially working with local partners tofacilitate the development of a voluntary spatial planfor the north in the absence of statutory regionalplan - and Councillor Phil Davis (from BirminghamCity Council and West Midlands Combined authoritytransport Committee) spoke on statutory andvoluntary cross-boundary working in the WestMidlands. a very lively panel discussion then tookplace sparked by several questions from theaudience, including how climate change will beaddressed in planning / by planners and the needfor interdisciplinary trained planners to facilitatejoined up thinking and decision-making.

on reflection, this Conference was very successfulat bringing academics, campaigners, retired andpracticing planners and planning groups/ networkstogether to debate, discuss and consider the futurefor the West Midlands and for strategic planning.

Both the authors found the Project useful atdeepening our planning knowledge andunderstanding of planning in the West Midlands but,perhaps more importantly, the Project alsoencouraged us to be visionary, interdisciplinaryplanners or more ‘reflective practitioners’. for moreinformation about the project, including thepublications by the students and presentations byspeakers throughout the project, there is adedicated website:https://www.rtpi.org.uk/knowledge/better-planning/better-planning-smart-city-regions/west-midlands-futures/. ■

Charles GoodeUniversity of Birmingham

Frances KeenanBirmingham City University

Notes1 the student groups for this project were:

Transport and mobility:Charles goode, Robyn Bennett, KaramrhysClair, gary evans, frances Keenan

Environment/Natural Capital:Jennifer Pardon, Kavir singh Mahil, gunpreetBalaghan, Chloe edgington

Climate Change:Meg stewart, sarah Macpherson, sam Miller,immi hopkin

Energy:James dunn, Karina duncan, andrew tew, tim shrosbree

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Students and presenters. The panel - chaired by Sherman Wong and composedof James Harris, Trudi Elliot and Phil Davis.

The Report authors presenting with Gary Evans.

Reflections by the Immediate Past President of the RTPI

Over the yearsthe regionaland national

RtPi have discussedthe value and benefitsof producing a regionalRtPi magazine,particularly in an agewhere we now haveaccess to so much

social media. But we always reach the sameconclusion, that a magazine such as tripwire, isvital as a means of sharing information, promotingregional CPd and events and projecting our identity.

the last issue of tripwire was its 100th edition.Quite a milestone!

the name ‘trip - wire’ is believed to be an anagramof RtPi. it was my ‘baby’ for over 15 years fromJanuary 2001 (tripwire no.1) until the Winter 2016edition (tripwire no. 92) when my responsibilities asVice President of the RtPi, meant that i had to passthe baton into the capable hands of Michael Vout,who has now taken it to a new level.

in fairness, tripwire no 1 was by no means the firstedition. Prior to 2001, tripwire was produced inblack and white on a monthly basis by dr alisonMillward and overseen by an editorial Committee. i

have copies stretching back to april 1990 - almost30 years ago! sadly, i never throw anything away!

the april 1990 edition had a front-page article entitled‘affordable Rural housing inPractice’ heralding an all-dayCPd event at shifnal on thetopic, which demonstrates thatnothing changes in theplanning world. We keepgoing over the same ground.But dig a little deeper and wefind that late 1989 was thebirth of the ‘exceptions site’when planners were lookingfor ways of overcoming theacute shortage of affordablehousing in ruralcommunities withoutopening the floodgates toeveryone who might wantto live in the countryside.the pressures nowadaysare perhaps a littledifferent with decliningrural services on the onehand, the continuedaspiration of some forcountryside idyll living and a desire by youngerpeople to live in towns and cities on the other.

so what made me decide to edit the magazine? in2000, after my first term as Chair of the region

(originally termed ‘Branch’), the editor of themagazine decided to step down and i volunteeredto take it on. after experimenting with the frequencyand format, it was decided to produce a two-monthly magazine, to liven it up a bit and to

introduce a splash of colour –red of course, since at that timei was working for Redrowhomes in tamworth. the new‘red hot tripwire’, as it wasdescribed, was introduced withthe old joke – ‘What is black andwhite and read all over – theanswer of course is Tripwire’.(ed: the old ones are the best) !

What was the big news at thetime? Well, set against thebackground of serious flooding inthe Midlands, the front pageincluded a picture of the Riversevern having burst its banks, withthe City of Worcester under water.despite being only 2 years after thenotorious 1998 easter floods,‘climate change’ it seems, was notblamed for the deluge. the questionposed by the magazine was, ‘Are theplanners to blame?’ Was the flooding

due to development on flood plains or is it causedby changes in farming practices? Perhaps the moreobvious answer; that it had rained a lot didn’t seemto feature as a reason, let alone why.

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The Story of Tripwire // Celebrating its 100th editionRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


An early edition of Tripwire from April 1990.

on the RtPi front, Mike Beazley was just takingover as Chair from a very boyish looking davidChapman and the december 2000 agM had beenheld at the Barber institute at BirminghamUniversity, continuing the practice of incomingChairs hosting a reception on their ‘home ground’.

since then tripwire has gone from strength tostrength, introducing more colour, more illustrationsand more flair (with occasional ‘special editions’ onspecific themes, sponsored by local consultants).this gradual improvement in product andpresentation has continued under ‘new management’so that tripwire today remains relevant as well asresilient. it’s just not produced on paper.

over the 15 years of my editorship, i facedremarkable changes in technology. When istarted, the internet was still in its infancy andearly editions were captured on ‘floppy discs’,which have long since become obsolete,although thankfully every edition still exists inmy files. (ed. John tells me that he gets outmore these days)

it is telling that as i ‘signed off’ in anextended editorial in issue 92 (Winter 2016),i commented on the dramatic politicalchanges going on both in Britain (with thevote to leave the eU) and in the Usa (withthe arrival of donald trump as President).against the background of the movetowards populism and the decline of the‘experts’ it seemed that the plannerswould increasingly find themselves in thefiring line.

for my own part, i devoted a large part of my life, myenergy and my spare time to producing tripwire,something i often found exhausting but always foundrewarding. But in doing so, it gave me a breadth ofexperience, a range of skills and ultimately a wealth ofcontacts, so that when, quite unexpectedly, i foundmyself standing for the Vice Presidency, it stood me ingood stead - and the rest is history…. ■

John Acresimmediate Past President of RtPi (and former editor of tripwire).

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Above left: black and white November 2000 winter issue; middle: issue number 1 of the revised look Tripwire(Jan/Feb 2001); right: issue number 62 (Jan/Feb 2011) where Tripwire became full colour.

Charles goode is a doctoral Researcher inUrban and Regional Planning at theUniversity of Birmingham. he is researching

the green Belt and the implications and issuesinvolved with and related to the housing crisis. theWest Midlands green Belt is the project’s main casestudy. an important aspect of this research is to getas broad a spectrum of views as possible and theviews of planners is a critical part of this.

Whilst Charles is very grateful to the planners whohave already been interviewed as part of the

research, he is seeking a broader cross section ofthe views of planners in the West Midlands and hasproduced a green Belt questionnaire for thispurpose.

this questionnaire provides planners theopportunity to contribute to the project and give theirviews on the green Belt in an anonymous way.Participation is entirely voluntary and thequestionnaire should take only 7- 8 minutes tocomplete (and the data will be only used for thepurposes of this research project).

the questionnaire closes on 8th september.

the questionnaire is accessed via the following link: https://bham.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/green-belt-questionnaire-the-views-of-west-midlands-planners

also, feel free to contact him about the project viaemail: [email protected]. ■

Charles Goodedoctoral Researcher in Urban and RegionalPlanning at the University of Birmingham

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Research questionnaire on the Green Belt and HousingRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


The RtPi West Midlands hosted a digitalPlanning event at the Bond Company inBirmingham on 1st May with speakers from

the RtPi, Connected Places Catapult, Urbanintelligence and arup. the event opened withPlanning smart City Regions (RtPi) exploring howland use planning and infrastructure planningprocesses can be better integrated through the useof digital platforms. the need for better systems ofstrategic governance was highlighted to make use ofdigital tools at a strategic level across boundaries.

Connected Places Catapult recognised theconstraints of current practices with the use of outdated tools and less technological maturity comparedto other sectors. it was recognised that a majorconstraint is data is undervalued and non-machinereadable. the emergence of plan tech presents anexciting opportunity to create a planning system thatis adaptable, flexible and responsive.

this presentation was complemented by Urbanintelligence who presented their automated PlanMaking and site appraisal system showing whatcan be achieved by plan-tech to create efficienciesin planning. data and technology can be harnessedto understand and manage complexity movingtowards the creation of a ‘live plan’ based on currentdata sets rather than dated documents.

the arup presentations on a Virtual future andConsultation and Urban sound design looked to thefuture and the innovation digital technology can bring

to planning. they explored the use and benefits ofVirtual Reality to create sense scapes andcommunicate ideas and concepts. this wasdemonstrated through the arup ilab which combinesvisualisation and soundscapes to bring concepts to life.

the future of planning and digital innovation will beexplored further at the RtPi / Connected PlacesCatapult plan-tech conference in september. ■

Danielle Nevin MRtPiPlanner | Planning, Policy & economics, arup

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Digital PlanningRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


A dubious history of the way in which 20thcentury planning was shaped by modern day pop songs.

The song ‘Our House’ by the group Madnesswas released in 1982. Most scholars1 agreethat in addition to being one of the most

profound observations of socioeconomic planningsince Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of GreatAmerican Cities published twenty years earlier, it isalso an early exponent of the principles of urbandesign. as the planning press remarked at thetime2, they were “one step Beyond”others in this field.

Much of the commentary containedin the song focusses upon issues ofsocial and gender inequality ; ‘Fatherwears his Sunday best, Mother’stired, she needs a rest’ (the father is offto church and probably the pub whilstmum is having to do all the domestictasks). however it also exploreseconomic inequality ; ‘Our house, it hasa crowd’, which is a direct reference to theincreasing numbers of young people living intheir parents’ home due to the unaffordability ofbuying or renting a home.

there is much debate of course aroundthe issue of consistency and apparentcontradiction contained in the text. in thesecond verse it mentions that ‘nothing ever

slows her (the mother) down’ and yet in the secondline of the first verse it states that the ‘mother’s tired(and) she needs a rest’. it also states that ‘the kidsare playing up downstairs’ in verse one. Critics of thetext have suggested that it is unclear whether theywere up or down stairs whilst others state that this isdeliberate rhetorical ambiguity to capture theuncertainty of the times.

it is in the chorus that the particular strength of urbandesign in the song is revealed : “Our house, in themiddle of our street”. this was a radical concept thatplaced the house, centre stage, in the middle of thestreet. the prevailing wisdom of the time, exemplifiedby the department of the environment’s dB 32tended to focus upon the street as a highway corridorprimarily intended for the swift uninterruptedmovement of motorised vehicles rather than as aliving space with homes. indeed, this concept predates Manual for Streets by 25 years.

By adopting a simple and bold device by implying thattheir house was in the middle of the street3, Madnessradically changed our understanding and approach toresidential street design, paving the way (pun

intended) to the renaissance in highway design.

next time on Tripwire Words of Wisdom…… regulatory air quality assessment and

the environmental implications of the2000 sting song ’Every Breath youTake’. ■

Michael VoutWest Midlands RtPi hon.secretary

Notes1 By most we mean none2 See footnote 13 When adopting a grossly simplistic,pedantic and literal approach

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It’s Madness // tripwire Words of WisdomRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


University of Birmingham, 11th July

Neighbourhood Planning continues to attractconsiderable debate, discussion and evendisagreement among planners, academics

and community groups.

on the one hand, neighbourhood Planning seems tobe increasingly embedded in the planning system,especially with the revised nPPf articulating a visionof local Plans setting out strategic priorities andhousing numbers and neighbourhood Plans thenincorporating a vision for place and more detailedpolicies. on the other hand, the growing focus onhousing numbers (associated with issues relating to5 Year housing land supply and the housingdelivery test) and the increasingly rigorous andscrutinised examination process, seem to beundermining neighbourhood Planning.

additionally, there are the broader issuessurrounding the purpose of neighbourhoodPlanning, the future vision and direction for theinitiative, the uneven take-up across the country anddebates about whether it is the ‘right’ andappropriate planning tool for every area with quicklychanging cities and more transient populations.these were some of the fascinating and perplexingissues explored in this very action packed andthought-provoking seminar.

the seminar was organised by Kat Salter of theCentre for Urban and Regional studies (CURs) at

the University. it was chaired by Dr Mike Beazley(director of CURs and senior lecturer) who hashad a longstanding interest in and experience ofcommunity involvement in planning.

the first speaker was Tim Jones (no.5 Chambersand neighbourhood Plan examiner) who provided alegal update and explained that it is has been arelatively ‘quiet’ year in terms of legal challenges toneighbourhood Plans.

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Neighbourhood Planning // an opportunity for all?RtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


Dr Mike Beazley introducing the Seminar.

he began with the important People Over Windcase (see: dempsey, 2018) followed by the recentoyston estates v flyde case where the Court ofappeal upheld a high Court judgment to refuse anattempt by a landowner (oyston estates) to have asite allocated for housing in the neighbourhoodPlan which was made outside of the six weekdeadline (see: donnelly, 2019).

Bassetlaw v sos provided the next example whichstressed that important development Managementpoints in neighbourhood Plans should be placed in‘policies’, not under ‘priorities’/ ‘objectives’, followedby the Crantock Parish Council v Cornwall CountyCouncil and Cheshire east v sos cases where theformer stressed the importance of clarifying phraseslike ‘local need’ and the latter stressed that both localand neighbourhood Plans are not ‘absolute’ but are tobe weighed against other material considerations.

tim explained that the revised nPPf (2019) isclearer on neighbourhood Planning with strategicpriorities to be set out in local Plans and thepossibilities for neighbourhood Planning to amendgreen Belt boundaries.

he also drew attention to the PPg on affordablehousing although he questioned how muchneighbourhood Plans could secure affordablehousing given that they predominately allocate sitesfor under 10 homes. tim finished by saying that it isunwise for neighbourhood Plans to have too manyredactions due to the general data ProtectionRegulations (gdPR).

there were a number of questions on green Beltbeing released through neighbourhood Plans, Plansexamined under the ‘old’ nPPf, the decline in legalchallenges this year and Plans seeking to restrictsecond homeownership like st.ives and st. Minver.

Kat Salter provided an overview of key issues inneighbourhood Planning, including experiences todate. By august 2018 there were 2,450neighbourhood Plan area designations, 81% ofCouncils have at least one designatedneighbourhood area and by february 2019 51%had a ‘made’ neighbourhood Plan.

Kat also highlighted that the averageneighbourhood Plan takes much longer to ‘make’,

from designation to adoption, at 27 months than theMinistry expected, which was 18 months. notable‘hotspots’ of Plan activity include herefordshire,Cornwall, Wiltshire and districts in West sussex.

as part of Kat’s Phd research, which explores theresponse of Councils to neighbourhood Planning,she has categorised local authorities ‘response’ intothree main types:

• Integrative: these councils integrate or embedneighbourhood Plans with their local Plans/Core strategies e.g. West sussex, herefordshireand Cornwall.

• Reactive: councils that support neighbourhoodPlans as a response to interest expressed bygroups.

• Deflective: councils that try to steer potentialneighbourhood Planning groups towards otherforms of planning policies like supplementaryPlanning documents (sPds).

Kat explored some other key issues such as the‘north/ south’, ‘rural/ urban’ division in the take-upof neighbourhood Planning, the representativeness

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“ By August 2018 there were 2,450 Neighbourhood Plan area designations,81% of Councils have at least one designated neighbourhood area.”

of designated bodies and how we evaluate thebenefits of neighbourhood Planning beyond anarrow focus on housing supply numbers1.

Questions then focused on conflicts of interest andhow these are dealt with through declarations ofinterest, whether neighbourhood Planning meritsthe resourcing given to it and how neighbourhoodPlan groups could better consult with business.

the final morning presentation was by MartinDando (Birmingham City Council) who gave anurban perspective on neighbourhood Planning.

Martin highlighted that while there areneighbourhood Plans progressing in BirminghamCity Council area, such as Balsall heath, the 3’Bs(Beechs, Booth and Barr) and the Jewellery Quarter,it can be questioned whether neighbourhood Plansare always the ‘right’ planning policy tool for large,fast growing and quickly changing cities.

Martin identified that the neighbourhood Plan areaswere those with already established communities, likeBalsall heath or those with specific planningchallenges such as protecting the heritage andindustry of the Jewellery Quarter. he then exploredalternative, perhaps more flexible planning policieslike the Moseley sPd and Castle Vale’sneighbourhood Plan by its Community housing trust.

Martin outlined a vision for community/neighbourhood led planning in the City, even if this

did not mean formal neighbourhood Planning.Questions then focused on alternative approachesby other large cities, such as neighbourhood Plansin leeds, and the success of the Moseley sPdcompared to if those areas had followed aneighbourhood Plan approach2.

after the break the focus moved to rural areas withSamantha Banks presentation (herefordshireCouncil) on neighbourhood Planning inherefordshire. she outlined the fascinating set ofcircumstances or ‘perfect storm’ that led to thegrowth of neighbourhood Planning in herefordshire:

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Kat Salter discussing key issues in Neighbourhood Planning.

the localism act, growing public distrust in theplanning system and a new Core strategy.

the county is a unitary authority and is almostuniquely fully parished, which has enabled the Corestrategy to set out strategic priorities, a settlementhierarchy and proportional growth targets for eachparish. the neighbourhood Plans then drawsettlement boundaries and allocate sites with thecounty having a dedicated neighbourhood Planningteam (matching Kat’s category of being an‘integrative’ council). so far, herefordshire has beenvery successful with 61 ‘made’ neighbourhoodPlans and only 20 parishes without designatedneighbourhood Plan areas (for example, herefordCity was deemed too big an area to develop aneighbourhood Plan for).

despite this, samantha outlined some of thesignificant challenges to neighbourhood Planning,especially the need for the plans to be renewedrelatively frequently and since the arrival of a newadministration at herefordshire Council, thepossibility that this could lead to a change indevelopment strategy and approach.neighbourhood Plans are therefore being ‘paused’until after the new Core strategy is published.

Questions then focused on how best to resolvecommunity conflicts in neighbourhood Plans andwhether renewed neighbourhood Plans could be‘fast-tracked’.

the final presentation by Helen Metcalfe (Planningwith People) was focused on communityengagement, who shared her extensive experienceof engagement training and running engagementactivities.

helen discussed the importance of setting out thebasic conditions and frontloading engagement toresolve conflicts early in the process. althoughsome people initially get involved to ‘stop’ things,helen said that these usually ‘drop-off’ quickly and,in general, local knowledge is very useful resource.

helen acknowledged that, while occasionallyneighbourhood Plans go ‘wrong’, like the swanickPlan (which failed referendum), in generalneighbourhood Plans are successful and open upother opportunities in urban areas in need ofregeneration like the stanton hill and gainsboroughneighbourhood Plans.

helen concluded by making the case for moresupport for neighbourhood Planning by central andlocal government as well as by developers.

the Q & a Panel provided a fascinating debateincluding the extent to which neighbourhood Plansgroups engaged with developers, how they areimplemented in practice3, whether neighbourhoodPlans were ‘easier’ to develop in unitary authorityareas compared to district council areas and whatthe future of neighbourhood Planning is.

on reflection, it appears that neighbourhoodPlanning is becoming increasingly embedded in theplanning system, especially given the move in thenPPf to set out more strategic policies in localPlans and give neighbourhood groups housingtargets. however, there are clearly a number ofsignificant challenges to neighbourhood Planning,including the government’s housing ‘target’ of300,000 homes per annum and maintaining themomentum of neighbourhood Plan groups,especially given the time and resources involvedand the limited resources of local authorities.

Ultimately, the longevity of neighbourhood Planningdepends how its wider benefits, such as moreengaged and informed local communities and thewider focus on place, are weighed against the aimof increased housing delivery. Moreover, there is thecrucial issue of whether it can be reinvented andreinvigorated. two key issues are that planningpolicy needs to better reconcile strategic, local andneighbourhood priorities in a clear governanceframework and whether neighbourhood Plans couldbe better integrated into local Plans (to avoid thecomplicated situation of a neighbourhood Planbeing ‘made’ in the absence of an up-to-date localPlan). additionally, are there ways that the processof neighbourhood Planning could perhaps becomemore streamlined to reduce the time and resourceburden on local communities but also not jeopardiseboth the enthusiasm/ ambition of local communitiesand housing supply?

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Wargent and Parker (2018), have set out some veryhelpful criteria for what neighbourhood Planningcould be:

1. More equitable plan-making (distribution). 2. deeper co-production (better integration

between community and localgovernment).

3. greater social inclusion within plan-making.

4. improved quality of neighbourhood Plans(recognising the ‘value added’ – e.g.nuanced housing provision, place-shaping,environmental protection etc.).

5. Reconciliation of hyper-local and strategicconcerns.

6. enhanced community control andneighbourhood Planning ‘authority’.

there also needs to be critical reflection by policymakers and the profession about whetherneighbourhood Plans are always the mostappropriate planning approach for every area.Clearly, the concept of community involvementbehind neighbourhood Planning is a good one butwhether it is the best approach everywhere andhow neighbourhood Planning could be improvedremain interesting and complicated questions. ■

Charles Goode doctoral Researcher in Urban and RegionalPlanning at the University of Birmingham

ReferencesdClg (2016) Neighbourhood Planning: progress on

housing delivery, Department for Communitiesand Local Government. available at:http://mycommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/neighbourhood-planning_-progress-on-housing-delivery-.pdf(accessed: 7 June 2018).

dempsey, M. (2018) The Fall-out of People OverWind, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. availableat: https://www.bclplaw.com/en-gB/thought-leadership/the-fall-out-of-people-over-wind.html(accessed: 12 July 2019).

donnelly, M. (2019) Appeal Court Blocks Landowner’sFresh Effort to get Lancashire Site Allocated forHousing, Planning Resource. available at:https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1590382/appeal-court-blocks-landowners-fresh-effort-lancashire-site-allocated-housing (accessed: 12July 2019).

lichfields, n. (2018) Local choices? Housingdelivery through Neighbourhood Plans. london.

Parker, g. and salter, K. (2016) ‘five years ofneighbourhood Planning. a review of take-upand distribution’, Town and Country Planning,85(5), pp. 175–182.

Parker, g. and salter, K. (2017) ‘taking stock ofneighbourhood Planning in england 2011–2016’,Planning Practice and Research, 32(4), pp. 478–490.

Parker, g., salter, K. and Wargent., M (2019)Neighbourhood Planning in Practice. lundhumphries.

salter, K. (2017) Time for change? Modifying aNeighbourhood Plan available at:https://www.theplanner.co.uk/opinion/time-for-change-modifying-a-neighbourhood-plan(accessed 12 July 2019).

salter, K. (2018) ‘Caught in the middle? theresponse of local planning authorities toneighbourhood Planning in england’, Town andCountry Planning, 87(9), pp. 344–349.

Wargent, M. and Parker, g. (2018) ‘Re-imaginingneighbourhood governance: the future ofneighbourhood planning in england’, TownPlanning Review, 89(4), pp. 389–402.

Notes1 for example, the dClg (2016) claim that

neighbourhood Planning had increased housingnumbers by around 10% higher than local Plansand the lichfields (2018) study that counteredthis claim.

2 the sPd process was begun beforeneighbourhood Planning was introduced. draustin Barber, director of Moseley Communitytrust, also attended the seminar so was able toadd his perspective on the sPd process.

3 in particular, whether development Managementare ‘using’ them in planning decisions andwhether neighbourhood groups are engagingwith and commenting on planning applications.

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Responding to current and future planningchallenges – Perspectives from Europe

To celebrate World town Planning day 2019,the annual RtPi West Midlands Planningsummit is going international!

hear from international planning experts, not onlyon what we can learn from practical examples inother countries but also on how our approaches canbe applied internationally.

the summit will take place on tuesday 5 november2019 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Birmingham from9.30-16.30.

Click here to purchase your ticket:

https://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/events-calendar/2019/november/rtpi-wm-planning-summit-2019-responding-to-current-and-future-planning-challenges-perspectives-from-europe/ ■

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The 2019 RTPI Regional SummitRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


Join us for an evening of celebration at theannual RtPi West Midlands awards Ceremonyand Ball, to be held on friday 18 october at the

Macdonald Burlington hotel, central Birmingham.

the evening includes:

• 7:00pm drinks reception• 7:30pm three-course dinner including wine• Presentation of the RtPi West Midlands awards

for Planning excellence • live music, dancing (not compulsory) and

socialising

dress code: Black tie

individual tickets are available for purchase, howeverplease note that those purchasing will be seated atmixed tables.

With thanks to our headline sponsor no5 Chambers,and to our additional sponsors: avison Young, WYg,dla Piper and Kings Chambers.

Book your table here:https://www.rtpi.org.uk/events/events-calendar/2019/october/rtpi-wm-annual-award-ceremony-and-ball/ ■

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The annual RTPI West Midlands Annual Ball & Awards CeremonyRtPi West Midlands // summer 2019


Trip wire - Royal Town Planning InstituteRegistered Charity number: 262865 • Registered office...

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