An Expert Roundtable convened by the Edge to consider the reform or reinvention of the Planning System in England
To renew the nation after World War 2 the New Towns Act 1946, Town and Country Planning Act 1947 and National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 revolutionised the planning and control of development in England, while aiming to protect nature and the countryside.[i]
Successive governments have tinkered with the 1947 system for ideological reasons and to adapt planning to society’s changing needs. Governments’ goals for planning have also shifted. The 1940s attempt to engender holistic planning has morphed into something more focused. Since 2010, governments have set just two primary goals: to build more homes and the infrastructure for a green energy transition.
To achieve this, the current Labour government is making more changes to the system through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2025,[ii] adjustments to the National Planning Policy Framework,[iii] and an assemblage of other initiatives.[iv] Controversy over Part III of the Bill arose because experts argued that its focus on the government’s goals was at the expense of nature recovery.[v]
We face a polycrisis. The government is right to push for more affordable housing. We must tackle the climate emergency, but we also face a devastating loss of biodiversity. We should ask if the current planning system can deliver on all these fronts, or if it has been patched up too often and is no longer fit for purpose.
This question does not produce easy answers. Libertarian economists have argued for many years for the market to be given primacy.[vi] Meanwhile, three alternatives for systemic reform have come to the fore in the last fifteen years, only to be set aside. The Conservative Party’s 2010 bottom-up ‘Open Source Planning’ proved impracticable.[vii] The TCPA’s 2018 Raynsford Review, advocating working with the market to promote wellbeing and sustainable development, fell on politically stony ground.[viii] Boris Johnson’s 2020 Planning for the Future White Paper’s simple zoning system was scuppered in part by backbenchers fearing voters’ reactions.[ix]
the Edge aims to reignite the debate. Do we continue to make do and mend, or can we create a different, simpler, more efficient and faster planning system that can deliver equally for climate, nature and people?
Downloads:
[i] Yvonne Rydin (1998). Urban and Environmental Planning in the UK. London: Macmillan, pp. 22-23.
[ii] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-planning-and-infrastructure-bill/guide-to-the-planning-and-infrastructure-bill (accessed 18 June 2025).
[iii] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67aafe8f3b41f783cca46251/NPPF_December_2024.pdf (accessed 18 June 2025).
[iv] https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2025-06-02.hcws673.h&s=Land+Use#ghcws673.0 (accessed 18 June 2025).
[v] https://www.rskwilding.com/news/joint-statement-on-part-iii-of-the-planning-and-infrastructure-bill/; https://www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/news/wildlife-trusts-call-out-inaccuracies-commons-debate-planning-infrastructure-bill (accessed 15 June 2025).
[vi] E.g., https://iea.org.uk/publications/research/the-land-use-planning-system (accessed 18 June 2025); Robert Jones (1982). Town and Country Chaos: A Critical Analysis of Planning in Britain. London: Adam Smith Institute.
[vii] https://acert.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/planning-green-paper.pdf (accessed 18 June 2025).
[viii] https://www.tcpa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Planning-2020-Raynsford-Review-of-Planning-in-England-Final-Report.pdf (accessed 18 June 2025).
[ix] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/601bce418fa8f53fc149bc7d/MHCLG-Planning-Consultation.pdf (accessed 18 June 2025).