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Improve training of planners and councillors to get better planning decisions, says new report

A new report by leading planning and development bodies is calling for greater training in development economics for planners and others involved in the planning process.  

The need for planners and allied professionals to expand their understanding of the factors influencing development viability is seen as more important than ever, given the challenging economic and development conditions that lie ahead. The strong consensus that has been achieved between the private and public sectors should help ensure that the report’s recommendations are implemented. 

The consortium backing the report, which received financial support from the Department for Communities and Local Government, believes that planners should receive more training in the economics surrounding the development process to enable them to make more informed decisions, both when preparing local plans and considering new housing and commercial development projects. A survey conducted as part of the work showed that 71 percent of planners thought their knowledge and skills in this area required improvement and were keen to improve their knowledge and understanding.

The report carried out by consultants Roger Tym & Partners stresses all planners need to understand the motivations for developing property, in addition to the commercial issues and criteria used by developers to assess projects. The property and planning sectors believe that more training in this area would speed up the system, make better use of resources and enable the quicker delivery of new homes and other vital development.

Better training is needed not only by planners but also by others who need to understand factors that can affect the viability of schemes. These include councillors who take final decisions and those who advise on affordable housing, education and health provision.

John Parmiter, who directed the study, said:

“Most planners involved with deliverability and viability issues need to be able to commission the right advice and to understand the results. The study team hope that our work will lead to a step change in skills across the planning sector in this whole area.”

The report stresses that some planners, such as those dealing with section 106 agreements and community infrastructure levies, will need higher levels of training. It recommends that training be offered at three levels:

Basic – all planners, relevant councilors and consultees/stakeholders should have a basic awareness of the development process; however training for councillors will be necessarily more constrained.

Intermediate – many planners and consultees who regularly deal with deliverability and viability issues should have a good understanding of development viability and project implementation, allowing them to confidently commission an appraisal, understand the variables and engage in detailed negotiations.

Advanced – for those planners and other disciplines regularly involved with complex projects, those routinely involved with 106 negotiations, regeneration, CPO and obligations toolkits, there is a need for specific skills in development economics.

Welcoming the report Francis Salway, chief executive of Land Securities, the country’s biggest developer, said:

“Developers are keen to work more closely with communities to ensure the schemes we deliver are what local people want. But as we work to understand what they want, it is vital that planners and councillors have a firm grasp of what enables us to produce the right spread of amenities and what factors and demands risk undermining projects and making them unviable.”

The consortium are now preparing a plan to implement the report’s recommendations but many of the bodies involved are already taking forward new initiatives to improve skills in this area. This ranges from courses being rolled out around the country by the Planning Advisory Service and the Home and Communities Agency, to CPD courses being developed by the RTPI, and the Planning Officers Society and new guidance on viability issues in development being worked up by the RICS.

Quotes

Liz Peace, Chief Executive of the British Property Federation:

“The need for better planning skills is growing in importance, and the introduction of planning tariffs, and a looming cut in public funding  is pushing it even higher up the agenda. Current economic conditions also mean that if local authorities want development to happen they need to be very aware of the issues that might affect its viability.”

Jackie Sadek, Chairman, BURA:

“Understanding the development process and commercial dynamics of schemes is an absolute priority for all stakeholders. In these challenging economic times, we must maximise the impact of investment in regeneration and development to stimulate employment and benefit local communities. BURA has worked closely with Homes and Communities Agency to develop and launch a new training programme in support of this important priority.”

Amanda Lane, team leader, learning programmes for the place making directorate at the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA):

The HCA sees the development of the skills needed for place making as one of its core functions.  Increasing the level of understanding between the private, voluntary and public sectors is central to this and we have been delighted to support this project. We are now working with our partners to share and exchange innovative and emerging practice to support and strengthen skills and knowledge in development economics.”

Gilian Macinnes of the Planning  Advisory Service, part of the Local Government Association:

“Development economics (viability) is a key part of options assessment for Core Strategies and other DPDs, for CIL/tariffs and for individual site assessment. The Planning Advisory Service has a crucial role to play in implementing the report’s recommendations and has wasted no time  in taking the recommendations of the report on board. Ten two day courses, for local authority planners, have already been arranged between now and the end of the year. The fact that the  first of these was fully subscribed as soon as it was  advertised illustrates the demand that exists for training  of this kind.”

Stephen Tapper, President of the Planning Officers Society:

 “Planning is, by definition, an intervention in the market, so it follows that planners should understand how and why developers make the decisions they do. The need to demonstrate the deliverability of planning policies, coupled with the requirement that any local infrastructure levy should have regard to impact on viability, make it essential that planners have a good working knowledge of development finance. To take this forward the Society has already initiated specialist training.”

Robert Peto, President of the RICS:

The spotlight that this work shines on development economics is something that RICS greatly welcomes, as viability continues to be a pressing issue in the current market conditions. RICS will play an active role  to address this and other key built environment issues, and will look to resource the public and private sectors to enable sustainable development. RICS is producing guidance on ‘Tests of Financial Viability in Planning’ in the autumn  which will set out a more consistent approach to evaluating viability, agreeable to all engaged in planning and development.”

Brian O’Callaghan, Head of Education and Life-long Learning at the RTPI:

“All planners need a certain level of understanding of development economics, if only to recognise when they need to bring in additional expertise.  We are building on the education delivered through the RTPI accredited planning schools and will encourage planners and others to access good quality training that should be available to all who can benefit from it. Our delivery of online CPD resources in development economics and our ongoing partnerships with Higher Education, are just two aspects of the contribution that we are making.”

Notes

1. This report has been sponsored by the following bodies

·          British Property Federation

·          The British Urban Regeneration Association

·          Communities and Local Government

·          Devon County Council

·          The Homes and Communities Agency

·          The Planning Officers Society

·          The Planning Advisory Service

·          The Planning Inspectorate

·          Royal Town Planning Institute

·          Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

·          Valuation Office Agency

with the support of

·         The Association of Chief Executive Surveyors

·         The Home Builders Federation

·         South West Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (RIEP) 

2. Secretariat support for this project was provided by the British Property Federation. For further information contact Michael Chambers on 020 7802 0107.  

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Training in Development Economics report