Conditions: a better way? - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

At the Roundtable on conditions in September there was much discussion about current challenges in making things work and the councils who came along shared what they were doing - We'll be publishing a note on this shortly.

Part of the day was also spent doing some creative thinking on conditions. Our notes from this part of the day are below. Be good to hear other's thoughts - more ideas - or why the one's below will or won't work!

A proportionate approach:
No conditions on small scale development. Everything that needs to be shown should be shown on the submitted plans. Provide good guidance detailing what you need to know. Don’t make applications valid until they are.

Stop trying to control the details. Trust people to make good choices about their property when they are given appropriate guidance on what is acceptable or desirable.Use design codes. Control only that which has a demonstrable impact on neighbours.

Consider cumulative impact. Only control matters where a cumulative impact will be significant e.g. permeable surfaces. This needs to link to the annual monitoring report (AMR).

Staging the planning permission:
Issue a 'minded to grant permission' subject to provision of additional details. Final decision letter would only include continuing conditions. Draft decision letters would provide sufficient certainty for developers to invest in the additional design work necessary to gain a full planning permission. A final decision letter would be issued before commencement.

Phasing permissions. No occupation before all relevant conditions have been satisfied.

From regulation and control to evaluation and monitoring:
Quality rating certificates for largest developments. The largest developers have a team of professional advisors. We should rely more on their skill and talent. The market place would favour those developments that have the best quality ratings.

The mechanism for assessment would be through following outline planning permissions, or perhaps for sites that are identified through the core strategy and subject to masterplanning or AAPs. Leave the detail to the developer to deliver within the context of the masterplan and design code.

The quality rating certificate would be based on the council's assessment of the success of the scheme relative to criteria set out in the masterplan. This would include the quality of design and outcomes from the development.

Discharge of conditions:
Self certification by the developer and their professional advisors. Some existing practice in that most developers require a certificate of completion from their professional advisors or contractors for the purposes of insuring themselves against negligence etc. Under this system the developer would be asked to certify that all the conditions had been discharged or satisfied. Presumably the future purchaser or occupier could sue if this certificate was wrongly given.

Certification by private certified assessors. Similar to above but placing the onus for certification on an independent expert who would then bear the liability.

Role for national guidance:
Traffic light system to accompany model conditions. To broadly indicate the circumstances in which different types of conditions should be used.

Guidance to statutory consultees on conditions. Specific guidance for statutory consultees on when to use and the form of planning conditions.

Guidance on statutory consultee conditions replaced by Grampian style conditions. These would require the developer to provide certification to the council that the statutory consultee has been satisfied with the details submitted. This places the burden of discharge back on the body that has required it and has the appropriate skills to assess the submission.

Clarification of use of conditions for matters covered by other legislation. Add an extra criteria to the existing five tests for a condition.

Incentives:
Reward the council for meeting performance targets. Councils suggested they would be more likely to either scrutinize the use of conditions more closely or assign resources to the activity if there was a cash incentive to do so.

Reward the council for contributions to quality place outcomes. Important to ensure that planning delivers quality outcomes. If conditions are necessary to achieve these quality outcomes, then effective use of the conditions system will be reflected in the successful assessment of the place.