Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0053/00535.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00535}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{United Kingdom
Planning and the Environment in Britain}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC}
$Subject{development
planning
local
urban
areas
inner
new
plans
programme
government}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Title:       United Kingdom
Book:        Planning and the Environment in Britain
Author:      Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Planning and the Environment in Britain

     Through its comprehensive system of land-use planning and development
control, Britain has had considerable success in resolving the conflicting
demands of industry, commerce, housing, transport, agriculture and recreation
and in reducing environmental pollution. The underlying aim is to promote
efficiency, economy and amenity in the use and development of land, respecting
both the needs of development and the interests of conservation. There is a
statutory system of land-use planning applying to virtually every kind of
development, and there are laws dealing specifically with environmental
health, the control of pollution and the conservation of the natural
environment. Most development requires local `planning permission', and
applications are dealt with in the light of development plans (which set out
strategies for each area on such matters as housing, transport, industry and
open land) and of any other material considerations. However, many minor
developments are subject to a general permission under which they do not need
a specific planning application; the opportunity is being taken to expand this
general permission wherever possible. Many voluntary organisations take an
active interest in planning, conservation and the control of pollution.

Planning

     The system of land-use planning in Great Britain involves a centralised
structure under the Secretaries of State for the Environment, Wales and
Scotland and compulsory planning duties for local planning authorities. The
Department of the Environment brings together the major responsibilities in
England for land-use planning, housing and construction, countryside policy
and environmental protection. The Welsh Office and the Scottish Development
Department have broadly equivalent responsibilities. Strategic planning in
England and Wales, excluding London, is primarily the responsibility of the
county councils and the metropolitan district councils, while district
councils and, in London, the councils of the London boroughs and the City of
London are responsible for local plans and development control, the main
housing functions and many environmental health matters. In Scotland planning
functions are undertaken by regional and district councils whose
responsibilities are divided on a basis broadly similar to that in England
and Wales. In the more rural regions and the islands, all planning
responsibilities are carried out by the regional and islands councils
respectively. In Northern Ireland the Department of the Environment for
Northern Ireland is responsible for planning matters through six divisional
planning offices which work closely with the district councils. The councils
have local environmental health responsibilities.

Development Plans

     The development plan system in England and Wales involves `structure' and
`local' plans. Structure plans are prepared by county planning authorities
and require ministerial approval. They set out broad policies for the
development and other use of land, including measures for the improvement of
the physical environment and traffic management. Local plans provide detailed
guidance for development expected to start within about ten years; they are
normally prepared by district planning authorities, although sometimes by
county planning authorities, and must conform generally to the approved
structure plan. In exceptional cases, with ministerial approval, the adoption
of a local plan may precede the approval of a structure plan. Local plans are
adopted by the planning authorities without being subject to ministerial
approval unless called in by the Secretary of State. All plans are kept under
review and may be altered from time to time. In Greater London and the other
six metropolitan areas in England structure and local plans are gradually
being replaced by new unitary development plans, which contain both general
policies and detailed proposals for land use and development control.

     Scotland has a broadly similar system, with structure plans being
prepared by regional or islands authorities, and local plans by the districts.
Regional and islands authorities may also produce a regional report outlining
their priorities and policies. Under Northern Ireland's single-tier system,
plans are prepared by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.

Public Participation

     Members of the public and interested organisations are given an
opportunity to express their views on the planning of their areas during the
formative stages of the structure and local plans. The local planning
authorities must ensure adequate publicity for matters proposed for inclusion
in the plans; representations may be made about them to the authorities. These
opportunities for public participation are additional to provisions for
objecting to prepared plans. In the case of structure plans the Secretary of
State normally holds an examination in public of matters on which he or she
requires more information in order to reach a decision. In the case of local
plans objectors have a right to be heard at a public local inquiry held by the
planning authorities. There are similar provisions for participation in the
preparation of unitary development plans and for making objections to them.
Measures to improve the efficiency of planning inquiries and simplify appeals
procedures were announced by the Government in 1986.

     Where specific proposals for development differ substantially from the
intentions of a development plan, they must be publicised locally. Other
schemes affecting a large number of people are usually advertised by the local
planning authority, and applications seeking permission for certain types of
development-for example, those affecting historic buildings and conservation
areas-must also be advertised. (In Scotland there is a system of neighbour
notification of planning applications, under which the applicant must notify
the proprietors of land and buildings adjoining the site of a proposed
development at the same time as the application is submitted to the local
planning authority.) The applicant has a right of appeal to the Secretary of
State if planning permission is refused or is granted subject to conditions.
Most appeals are transferred for decision to inspectors (in Scotland,
reporters) appointed by the Secretary of State.

     Similar provision is made in Northern Ireland for public participation in
the planning process and for the hearing of representations at public
inquiries. For planning applications which do not give rise to public
inquiries there is a right of appeal to an independent Planning Appeals
Commission.

Major Schemes

     The Secretaries of State can direct that a planning application be
referred to them for decision. This power is exercised sparingly and usually
only in respect of proposals of national or regional importance which give
rise to substantial controversy-for example, proposals for a major new airport
or power station. The applicant and the local planning authority have the
right to be heard by a person appointed by the Secretary of State and a public
inquiry is normally held for this purpose. In the case of development schemes
of exceptional importance the departments concerned have set up procedures to
aid the progress of the inquiry by helping the parties to resolve procedural
matters beforehand. Where highway development is proposed, the government
minister concerned can hold such inquiries as he or she considers appropriate;
these generally relate to the compulsory acquisition of land.

New Towns

     The 32 new towns designated since 1946 represent one of the most
significant achievements in recent British planning. Twenty-one of them are in
England, two in Wales, five in Scotland and four in Northern Ireland. Most of
them had an existing town or village as a nucleus. The new towns programme has
taken account of a number of policy objectives, notably the dispersal of
industry and population from congested cities to the surrounding regions, and
the stimulation of the regional economy in areas suffering from the decline of
old industries or in need of industrial diversification. The new towns have a
total population of over 2 million; several have become regional centres for
shopping and office accommodation. The new town development corporations'
priorities now are to maximise private investment in housing and employment
and to achieve balanced communities able to generate their own growth.

     In England the new towns programme is nearing completion, with the
majority having been substantially completed and their development
corporations (which supervised the planning and development of the towns)
dissolved. It is expected that the three remaining development corporations
will have been dissolved by 1992. When a development corporation is wound up,
its remaining assets are generally transferred to the Commission for the New
Towns, which manages the assets and arranges for their disposal, mainly to the
private sector. The New Towns and Urban Development Corporations Act 1985
provides for the eventual dissolution of the Commission. The dissolution of
the five Scottish development corporations will not begin before 1990. In
Wales responsibility for Newtown rests with the Development Board for Rural
Wales (known as `Mid-Wales Development') while the corporation responsible for
Cwmbran was dissolved in 1988. In Northern Ireland development of the new
towns has been incorporated in a new District Towns Strategy which is the
responsibility of the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.

Enterprise Zones

     Since 1981 the Government has set up 26 `enterprise zones' (see map, p
194). The aim of this experimental policy is to see how far industrial and
commercial activity can be stimulated by the removal of certain tax burdens
and by relaxing or speeding up the application of a number of administrative
controls. The zones, which contain land suitable for development, range in
size from about 50 to 450 hectares (about 120 to over 1,100 acres). Benefits
in the zones include exemption from rates (the local property tax); 100 per
cent allowances for corporation and income tax purposes for capital
expenditure on industrial and commercial buildings; a much simplified planning
system in which many forms of development are automatically permitted; and a
reduction in government requests for statistical information.

Simplified Planning Zones

     The Housing and Planning Act 1986 provided for the establishment of
`simplified planning zones'. They use a simplified planning framework, already
operational in enterprise zones, under which advance planning permission is
given for specified types of development within a zone without payment of a
fee. This removes the need for each developer to make a separate planning
application in these cases. Simplified planning zones are intended to
stimulate investment and regeneration by removing the uncertainty from the
planning system.

Inner Cities

     Revitalising the inner areas of many towns and cities is an important
government priority. Past policies have produced many successes, including the
replacement of most of the slums and the improvement of much old housing, but
other problems remain. They include high unemployment, decay and dereliction,
and population structures with relatively large proportions of the
disadvantaged and the elderly. It is the Government's policy to work out, in
co-operation with the private sector, local authorities, and local voluntary
organisations, a package of measures for the worst affected areas that is most
likely to improve conditions and regenerate local economies.

     In 1988 the Government announced an intensification of its inner cities
policies and programmes. With the launch of `Action for Cities' in March, it
underlined its comprehensive approach to inner city renewal with a number of
new initiatives. The measures involve six government departments in a
co-ordinated effort to tackle environmental dereliction and encourage
enterprise, development and investment by the private sector in the inner
cities; they aim to raise skills and enhance educational and employment
opportunities for local people, to improve the quality of housing (see p 200)
and transport, and to reduce crime. The main contributing programmes are those
of the Department of the Environment, the Department of Employment and the
Department of Trade and Industry. About 3,000 million Pounds is being spent on
urban regeneration in Britain in 1988-89, and this is expected to bring in
several times that total in private investment. Inner city target areas are
shown on the map (p 194).

Urban Programme

     The Urban Programme was the first major public spending programme
directed solely at the inner cities. It gives specific grant through local
authorities to some 10,000 projects a year in the inner cities, and has
increasingly been used to support projects which strengthen the local economy.
Its priorities are to encourage individual enterprise, help local companies,
and improve sites and buildings. In 1987-88 the Urban Programme supported 560
new firms in managed workshops, the improvement of nearly 2,000 hectares
(5,000 acres) of unsightly land, management improvement schemes for over
89,000 council homes and nearly 90,000 inner city jobs or training places.
Spending on the Programme has increased from a 1978-79 level in England and
Wales of under 60 million Pounds to 314 million Pounds in 1988-89. In 1987
the Government announced that, in order to achieve a greater impact with
available funds, resources were to be concentrated on 57 areas with special
problems and needs. The Urban Programme represents only a part of the central
assistance to urban, and other, local authorities. The main contributions are
through the annual rate support grant, housing subsidy and other programmes.

     In certain places, special schemes are in operation. There is a
co-ordinated `partnership' approach in seven English areas (Birmingham,
Liverpool, Manchester/Salford, Newcastle upon Tyne/Gateshead and the inner
London boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Lambeth), in which central and local
government work together to tackle urban problems where they are at their most
severe. Each partnership has a three-year action programme reviewed annually,
which is based on the needs of the area and its particular priorities.
Partnerhips receive allocations of Urban Programme resources ranging from 10
million Pounds to 25 million Pounds a year. Other Urban Programme authorities
also prepare strategic action programmes for their inner areas, but receive
lower allocations of resources ranging from 1.5 million Pounds to 5.5 million
Pounds a year.

City Action Teams

     In 1985 the Government announced the establishment of five `City Action
Teams' (one for the inner London boroughs and one for each of the other
partnership areas) to secure improved co-operation between government
departments in developing and implementing their policies and programmes for
these areas. These teams have special budgets to enable them to develop
collaboration between the private and public sectors in key areas, and to
promote project development. Two further teams-based in Nottingham and
Leeds-were set up in 1988.

Task Forces

     In 1986 `task forces' (see map, p 194) were created to intensify and
bring together the efforts of government departments, local government, the
private sector and the local community in eight inner city areas; Leeds,
Middlesbrough, Leicester, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, and two in London.
A further eight areas were added in 1987: Hartlepool, Rochdale, Preston,
Nottingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Doncaster and the London borough of Tower
Hamlets. Funds in addition to those available under existing programmes are
being provided and the initiative is being co-ordinated by the Secretary of
State for Trade and Industry.

Urban Development Corporations

     In 1981 the Government set up two Urban Development Corporations (UDCs),
modelled on the new town development corporations, in London Docklands and
Merseyside. By the end of March 1988 the London Docklands Development
Corporation had received 390 million Pounds in government grant and secured
private investment commitments of around 3,000 million Pounds. It has
reclaimed 375 hectares (930 acres) of derelict land for housing, commercial
and recreational use. Over 8,000 homes have been completed and over 10,000
jobs have been attracted to the area. The Merseyside Development Corporation
has reclaimed 154 hectares (380 acres) of derelict land and 140,000 square
metres (1.5 million square feet) of buildings have been refurbished in its
area.

     Five new Corporations were set up in 1987: Trafford Park (Greater
Manchester), Teesside, Tyne and Wear, Black Country (West Midlands) and
Cardiff Bay. Three more-in Leeds, Central Manchester and Sheffield-were
set up in 1988. UDCs cover about 16,000 hectares (about 40,000 acres) and
public expenditure on the programme will be around 203 million Pounds in
1988-89. In December 1987 the Secretary of State for the Environment
announced a proposal to set up a UDC in Bristol.

City Grant

     A new grant-City Grant-was introduced in May 1988 to simplify the
grants available to encourage private sector developments in inner cities; it
replaced the Urban Development Grant and the Urban Regeneration Grant, which
had been available since 1982 and 1986 respectively. It also covers projects
that would previously have been assisted by private sector Derelict Land Grant
(see p 207) within urban priority areas. It will be paid on projects with a
total value which exceeds 200,000 Pounds. As with the Urban Regeneration
Grant, City Grant will be paid direct to the private sector for projects which
contribute to the regeneration of an urban area.

Garden Festivals

     National garden festivals, based on the European idea of garden shows,
have been introduced with the aim of rejuvenating inner urban areas and
reclaiming derelict sites. The first festivals in Liverpool in 1984,
Stoke-on-Trent in 1986, and Glasgow in 1988, are being followed by similar
events in Gateshead in 1990 and Ebbw Vale in 1992.

The Enterprise Initiative

     In January 1988 the Government announced measures to foster good business
practice which will involve the private sector further in inner city
regeneration and widen the choice and opportunities open to inner city
residents. Under its `Enterprise Initiative', the Department of Trade and
Industry, among other measures, offers help towards consultancy costs to
advise small independent businesses on marketing, design, quality,
manufacturing systems, business planning, and financial and information
systems; more than 50 millions Pounds is available in 1988-89. Higher levels
of grant will be made in urban areas.

Scotland

     In Scotland, where the Urban Programme amounts to 44.2 million Pounds in
1988-89, a major urban renewal exercise in Glasgow to regenerate the city's
east end (the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal Project) has been organised on
somewhat similar lines to the partnership areas in England, and a further
eight Scottish districts have been designated under the Inner Urban Areas Act
1978. In addition, the Scottish Development Agency operates the Local
Enterprise Grants for Urban Projects Scheme (equivalent to the City Grant) and
is making urban renewal its major priority over the next few years.

Wales

     In Wales one of the most ambitious land reclamation drives in Europe has
resulted in the clearance of 2,690 hectares (6,650 acres) since 1979. Between
1988 and 1991 the Welsh Development Agency will spend over 70 million Pounds
on its land clearance and urban renewal programme. In 1988 the Government
launched a three-year programme designed to improve economic, environmental
and social conditions in the south Wales valleys (see map, p 195). It includes
a three-fold expansion of the Welsh Development Agency's factory building
programme, increased regional assistance to industry, new training and loan
schemes for small businesses, and the establishment of a Centre for Quality,
Enterprise and Design at Treforest (Mid Glamorgan), which will serve the whole
of Wales.

Northern Ireland

     In Northern Ireland inner city problems on a substantial scale are
largely confined to Belfast, where a major housing programme is supplemented
by Urban Development Grants, an environmental improvement scheme and a
comprehensive development programme to regenerate the commercial parts of
the inner city. In 1988-89 these programmes have a combined allocation of
100 million Pounds. Four Action Teams have also been established to tackle the
problems of particularly deprived areas of the city. In July 1988 the
Government announced a new programme to stimulate greater economic activity
and improve the quality of the environment in the most disadvantaged areas in
Belfast. A further 10 million Pound has been allocated to projects in 1988-89
and four more Action Teams will be set up.