Broken planning system must be fixed says Chamber as it backs report calling for overhaul

Richard Blackmore from The East Midlands Chamber

More planning staff, faster processes and clearer timescales are among reforms called for in a new report, backed by East Midlands Chamber.

The British Chambers of Commerce report – Planning for Business and Growth – urges further action from ministers with a ‘fundamental reimagining of how planning authorities operate and interact with the business community’.

Fixing the planning system is one of the policy asks in East Midlands Chamber’s recently published Framework for Growth – the landmark document that sets out how to unlock growth in the region.

The British Chambers of Commerce report calls for Government to:

• Go above and beyond its target of recruiting 1,400 planners by the end of this parliament
• Ensure employment is given the same priority as housing in planning policy and guidance
• Simplify and speed up the planning process for business, through the introduction of National Development Management Policies
• Publish clear, time-bound implementation plans for each major element of planning reform
• Introduce comprehensive fast-track services for priority projects that deliver on its economic growth objectives

East Midlands Chamber Director of Policy and Insight Richard Blackmore said: “Sluggish planning decisions are no good for business and a system where housing, industrial or commercial development has to wait for a painfully slow decision to be made is not only frustrating but stalls economic growth.

“Proposals from Government to shorten consultation periods and delegate routine planning decisions make sense but simply do not go far enough to fix the system and make it fit for purpose, so I welcome the report published by the British Chambers of Commerce and the findings within it, which echo the planning asks we have outlined for the East Midlands.

“The Framework for Growth is a recently launched East Midlands Chamber publication that lays out specific actions that would unlock growth across the region. Fixing the planning system is one of its key asks – that means modernising the whole approach to planning and ultimately speeding it up. Better resourcing, the use of digital tools and regional implementation of some of the solutions put forward by Government would help achieve that.”