Budget 2009: Government 'must ring-fence planning cash'
Government funding for local authority planning must be ring-fenced if the government’s budget announcements on homes are to me met, according to the RTPI.
The RTPI says The Housing and Planning Delivery Grant (HPDG) should ring-fenced to ensure planners can deliver the government’s ambitious housing plans.
It says that currently councils can use the money as they see fit and some are not prioritising planning and some are laying-off planners in response to the downturn in planning applications and reduced planning fee receipts.
RTPI president Martin Willey said: The planning process is an essential part of any market recovery. Local authority resources must be applied to projects, accelerating necessary social and physical infrastructure and housing and - above all - engaging the community and taking them with us.
The chancellor must engage in the planning and community engagement process if he is to deliver the green, housing and jobs agenda. The planning process looks at the evidence, reviews the options and impacts on society and then secures the framework for secure public and private investment.