The left must embrace planning as central to the achievement of its goals , says John Healey
For most people, planning is a dry and complex issue – the remit of professionals who understand its technical nuances and legal consequences. By letting it remain such a special interest, we miss the politics. Planning is highly political and something that should not be overlooked by the left. After all, our planning system is how we balance economic, environmental and social objectives, and where potential conflicts are reconciled.
I’ve had my Tribune subscription for more than 15 years and I can’t recall the last feature on planning. It’s not standard material for readers. And the same can be said of almost all the national news media. The notable exceptions are the Daily Telegraph stable, whose readers expect the regular whetting of their Nimby appetites, and The Guardian’s resident “Mr Localism”, Simon Jenkins, as he urges opposition to a wind farm at the top of a valley near you.
Perhaps there is something in the left’s collective consciousness that makes us reluctant to champion planning – a fear that every strategic intervention will be caricatured as some sort of statist five-year plan. In response to actions I’ve taken elsewhere – to build more affordable homes across Britain and to help revive the house building industry in recession – this accusation was levelled by the Adam Smith Institute. Its faith in unfettered individualism and the market’s ability to deliver is, apparently, undiminished.
Alongside parochialism and short-term self-interest in the unholy trinity of the right’s views of development is the belief – personified by John Redwood – that all regulation is bad and therefore ripe for abolition. One might think that global economic events would give even Redwood pause for thought. However, as recently as September, he offered the view in The Guardian that: “We need to reduce the claims on the markets made by the Government – before the markets protest.” He then set about identifying public sector specific activities and bodies that should go. Unsurprisingly, they included “housing and planning quangos”.
Given that planning stirs up such emotions among the anti-state brigade, the left has perhaps been rather slow to stress its potential benefits for the greater good of society – especially as market failure has clearly illustrated why active government intervention is necessary. We need to give more emphasis to the opportunities that proper planning creates to deliver our progressive ends for and on behalf of a broader collective interest. And nowhere is this more pressing than with our desire to tackle climate change.
Of course, planning alone cannot deliver change. However, allied to fairness, justice and the innovative use of science and new technology, it can and must have a major role. It can ensure we get the renewable energy we need and take us more rapidly towards zero carbon homes, businesses, public buildings and transport.
Our Labour Government has put climate change at the core of what we expect from developers, through key Planning Policy Statements, building regulation and our pioneering Climate Change Act in 2008. A Renewable Energy Strategy means Britain is now committed to producing 15 per cent of total energy from renewables by 2020.
The Infrastructure Planning Commission, established in the Planning Act earlier this year, replaces an outdated system – in fact, eight different systems – which tied up applications while carbon dioxide continued to pour into the atmosphere. Wind energy projects sufficient to power 1.5 million homes are stuck in the old system.
Launched just over a month ago, the IPC will take the tough decisions on infrastructure projects necessary for the sustainability of our country. While there will be more and better opportunities for public opinion to be heard at further stages in the process, red tape will no longer stand in the way of a greener future.
Allied to the work of the IPC, this week saw the launch of the first draft National Policy Statements for energy, covering fossil fuels, nuclear power, renewables, transmission networks and gas pipelines. Contrary to claims in the media, the degree and depth of consultation that will be involved in each of these and the ministerial approval required at sign off will ensure that the final frameworks are democratic, transparent and more accountable. The new planning system will be faster but also fairer.
Gordon Brown has said, in relation to the pending Copenhagen summit: “Concluding a climate change deal will also drive investment in the low-carbon economy and speed up world economic recovery. And it will demonstrate that, as at the G20, the world can come together to address the great global challenges we face together.”
Just as we believe in the progressive power of public investment to tackle economic challenge, using the power of government to tackle climate change with a progressive planning system and regulation is something the left should openly embrace.
John Healey is the minister for housing and planning and Labour MP for Wentworth
