The value of strategic planning

At a time when planning is again under scrutiny in the UK, with a view to possible further 'reform', I reflect on the importance of strategic planning in a blog for the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). This tendency to reform is partly derived from a drive to deliver housing and partly to support economic recovery. However, the need to build housing at scale requires an approach that is greater than looking at individual sites or even groups of sites (for example, see p.60 of the final report of the UK2070 Commission). Strategic planning cannot simply be about amalgamating a group of small-scale plans or initiatives. As the Raynsford Review concludes in respect of the existing patchwork of organisations in England: "a logical planning system is hard to achieve in the absence of any sense of a logical local government organisation in England." It goes on to say:  "It is hard to imagine a more complex and diverse institutional structure in which to try to conduct strategic planning" (p. 28). In the TCPA blog I emphasise the need for a proper framework in which politicians can consider their options on the basis of professional advice in a way that commits them to an outcome.

Recent studies by organisations such as the County Councils Network have highlighted the value of strategic planning in place-making and creating communities. As the UK transitions out of a corona crisis period, the absence of a National Spatial Plan, as found elsewhere in the UK and Ireland; and a proper regional/strategic framework, will in my view, continue to be an Achilles heel in attempts to achieve economic recovery. Details of my TCPA blog post can be found here: https://www.tcpa.org.uk/blog/blog-the-science-and-art-of-strategic-planning