Planning ahead

"The planning system is becoming ever more challenging." "We all lose out." "Her review rides roughshod over the interests of local people." "It will mean a brighter future."

These were some of the mixed reactions to economist Kate Barker's Review of Land Use Planning report, which was released on December 5.

Its recommendations will form the backbone of a major Government reform of infrastructure planning - and dictate the sort of country we live in in the longer term.

In a parliamentary statement, Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said Chancellor Gordon Brown commissioned the review to consider how the planning system could better deliver economic growth alongside other sustainable development goals'.

Ms Kelly has welcomed the review's findings.

"Kate Barker's final report makes clear that planning is a valued and necessary activity that can deliver positive economic outcomes, alongside important social and environmental objectives," she said.

Ms Barker's review has a host of recommendations. One major proposal is to do away with the need for homeowners to seek planning permission for small extensions such as lofts and conservatories. This, according to Stewart Murray, Barnet Council's director of planning and environmental protection, is particularly poignant in a relatively wealthy suburb like Barnet where house extensions are common place.

Mr Murray said: "Councils are going to be very concerned about that, and so are neighbours when they see developments in their neighbours' back gardens. Effectively, people will be able to erect more than they can at the moment without going to the council for permission and there will be no consulting people on extensions."

The review could also have major implications for Barnet's open spaces. "We could see swathes of Green Belt disappearing," he said, adding that the recommendations would fundamentally challenge Barnet's position on protection of the Green Belt'. Currently, the Conservative-led council is committed to protecting the Green Belt.

Mr Murray did, nevertheless, welcome the recommendation to enhance the quality of and access to green land.

There are other areas of concern', according to Mr Murray.

The Barker Review talks about the importance of maintaining town centres - of which there are 20 in Barnet - but then seemingly contradicts itself by encouraging out-of-town retail parks.

Mr Murray said: "It means the big supermarkets are going to build big stores outside town centres.

"This is a step backwards by the Government. This is a big issue for Barnet and will mean a lot more competition for shops in town centres."

"Kate Barker is an economist. It's an economist doing a planning review and so what you are going to get is an economist's conclusion."

It is also a review commissioned by the Treasury, Mr Murray points out and, as a result, does not find a balance between economic, social and environmental interests.

Mr Murray's criticisms are echoed elsewhere, particularly by environmental groups.

Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said: "This Treasury-commissioned report is an attack on the regulations that safeguard our towns, villages and countryside.

"While Kate Barker pays lip service to community involvement, her review lays the framework for business to ride roughshod over the interests of local people and their environment."

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) called the Barker review radical'.

Shaun Spiers, CPRE chief executive, claims the review has an economic bias'.

He said: "We fear that some of her recommendations, if implemented, would speed up the rate at which new development sprawls over the countryside - to the detriment of us all.

"Whatever the Treasury may think, the purpose of planning is not just to give business quick, favourable decisions. Its purpose is to advance the public interest - not least the protection of our environment and quality of life."

Mr Spiers wants the Government to take time to consider her report carefully'.

He said: "Unless this happens, our fear is that her review could end up shifting the balance of our planning system away from protecting the environment and countryside and towards catering for developers' profits. Long term, we would all lose out."

But not everyone is so critical. Homeless charity Shelter says the recommendation to speed up the time it takes to decide a planning application will mean more affordable and social housing being built sooner - and fewer people consigned to the streets.

Adam Sampson, Shelter chief executive, said: "Some try to scaremonger that this will mean concreting over our beautiful countryside, which simply isn't true.

"In her first report to the Treasury, Barker herself estimated that if we built more homes than currently planned in the South-east, for example, we would still only use less than one per cent of total land in that region.

As if to confirm Mr Murray's assertion the review is a house builders' charter, Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation (HBF), said: "We strongly welcome many of Kate Barker's final proposals.

"The HBF has consistently highlighted the difficulties faced by home builders in delivering the increase in the number of new homes that is necessary to meet our national requirements, and build economically and socially successful communities."