This resource outlines the TCPA’s response to proposed plan making reforms. The TCPA acknowledges the need for an effective plan-led system which reflects the aspirations of local communities to secure a sustainable future. We believe that the key barrier to these goals remains the need for the system to be adequately resourced. These proposals will likely exacerbate, rather than alleviate this problem.
To achieve the goal of beautiful and sustainable development, local plans must reflect the aspirations of local communities as well as finding solutions to the health, housing and climate crises. Plans should be well-evidenced and clearly expressed but they must also reflect the complexity of how real places work as interactive systems.
The TCPA is concerned that at no point does this consultation recognise the complex reality of place-making but instead implies that simplification will deliver effectiveness. Unless carefully handled, simplification can produce precisely the opposite effect. Read our full response to these plan making reforms below.
