Industry body the Design in Construction Alliance has written to the government urging it to implement five key principles in its forthcoming planning green paper.
Signed by leading figures from eight industry bodies, including the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and the Construction Industry Council, the paper calls on the government to speed up the planning process and improve public consultation. Research from think tank the RICS Foundation shows that financial returns are influencing planning decisions on major developments. It argues that planning gain is having a "damaging impact", leading to intensive development in the South-east and little elsewhere.
The letter, addressed to Stephen Byers, secretary of state for the DTLR, says there should be greater community involvement in site masterplanning. But the group warns that pursuit of third-party appeals to planning decisions would clog up the planning process.
It said: "This would represent a sledgehammer to crack a nut and would atrophy the development process even further."
The planning process could be sped up, the paper argues, by rooting out poor quality schemes early on. The alliance believes that, if a scheme's land use is consistent with a local plan, it should receive a smooth passage through the planning process.
