The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) recently produced a policy note entitled ‘Strategic Planning: Beyond “Cooperation”’ dealing with ideas on cross-Authority working in England and suggestions for the roles and methods of Local Authorities, Central Government and Local Enterprise Partnerships in dealing with strategic issues such as regional housing provision and city regions economies.
The RTPI writes:
The RTPI has published proposals for strategic, larger-than-local planning in England. They draw on existing arrangements but require much stronger incentives to cooperation and making plans for the future.
Trudi Elliott, Chief Executive of the RTPI said: ‘Across many parts of the country and within many parts of society there is a growing recognition that many matters require effective agreement among local authorities if more and better homes and jobs are to be secured in the right places in the future. I commend the proposals to you.’
The RTPI believe these proposals can enhance better homes and employment in England:
- Local authorities to form voluntary groupings in geographic areas of city-region or county scale
- Local authorities in these groupings to agree housing numbers and other strategic matters in alignment with Strategic Economic Plans and City Deals
- Central Government to drive this forward with strong but conditional incentives in transport, health and skills/education spending
- Local Enterprise Partnerships to align economic growth plans with strategic housing provision plans
