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Sunday 14 August 2016

Brexit: and Cranbrook >>> or how "council planners must inspire public sector development in Brexit aftermath."

Post-referendum, there are worries that private construction projects aren't happening:
Futures Forum: Brexit: and commercial property in East Devon
Futures Forum: Brexit: and housebuilders in East Devon: part two
Futures Forum: Brexit: and infrastructure projects

Perhaps local government can help - and yet the way in which this has happened over the Cranbrook project is seriously open to question:
Futures Forum: Of Cranbrook and Greater Exeter
Futures Forum: Happy news coming out of Cranbrook... churnalism and the partnership between developers and politicians.

The East Devon Watch blog has been asking these questions for some time now:
What mainstream media isn’t telling you about that DCC Cranbrook Report! | East Devon Watch
Hug a planner? Maybe not in East Devon … | East Devon Watch

Professionals think otherwise, of course...

The Royal Town Planning Institute praises the 'stronger public sector leadership' demonstrated at Cranbrook which 'can encourage private investment by making sure the right infrastructure is in place':

Council planners must ‘inspire public sector development’ in Brexit aftermath

Fears are paralysing private construction projects, according to new report from Royal Town Planning Institute



Strong leadership is urgently required by council planners to inspire public sector development as post-Brexit uncertainty continues to paralyse private developers, a new report warns.
Compounding the message are the findings of a new poll showing that three-quarters of planners believe cumulative changes to the planning system have seriously eroded their ability to deliver quality developments.
The report, published by the Royal Town Planning Institute, says budget cuts and changes in planning policy over the last 30 years have undermined the powers of public sector planners to perform strategic leadership.
The RTPI, which represents 23,000 professional planners, says the situation is most acute in England where the changes have created a complicated and uncertain system that has undermined the potential for new developments to be well-planned and connected to transport infrastructure, alongside a reduced number of affordable properties to rent or buy.
Phil Williams, president of the RTPI, said: “For too long, planning has been relegated to a reactive, bureaucratic function instead of being able to plan strategically to drive development, jobs and growth.”
He added: “Public sector planners’ ability to be proactive is especially important in these uncertain times. It is absolutely crucial we resource councils’ planning teams properly, so that planners can operate strategically.”
The report says: “It is time to recognise that successive waves of change mean that we now have planning systems which struggle to deliver widely-shared economic, social and environmental goals. There is an urgent need to take stock of the planning systems we have now, what they can deliver, and to debate alternative futures for planning that might produce much better results.”
After examining case studies across England, researchers found that stronger public sector leadership can make more land available by clearing up contaminated sites and encourage private investment by making sure the right infrastructure is in place.
Among the developments the report applauds are Brindleyplace in Birmingham, a large-scale, carefully planned urban renewal which preserved the area’s heritage while revitalising it to attract new business and leisure uses. Others include Cranbrook in East Devon, effectively a new community created by proactive planning that aims to create more than 7,500 homes over the next 20 years.
The report also calls for a stronger private sector role in development partnerships, based on the experiences of enterprise zones and urban development corporations, set up in the early 1980s to target deprived areas such as central Manchester and London’s Docklands.Rob Groves, regional director of Argent LLP behind Birmingham’s Brindleyplace development, said: “As many of our projects tend to be ‘problem’ sites in underperforming parts of cities, new thinking and imagination are needed to unlock their potential.
“These sites benefit from the clear overall policy framework provided by a local authority – which supports the type of transformative mixed-use development in which we specialise – combined with the experience and innovation of a developer.”

Council planners must ‘inspire public sector development’ in Brexit aftermath | UK news | The Guardian
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