Cornwall

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL:

MATTHEW TAYLOR'S RURAL REPORT

CPRE welcomed Matthew Taylor's much anticipated report to the Prime Minister ^[1] on rural communities today (Wednesday, July 23rd).

‘It is so refreshing to read a report which puts long term planning ^[2], local distinctiveness, and community consent at the heart of its recommendations,' said Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE.

The report, commissioned by Gordon Brown, suggests practical ways of providing more permanently affordable housing for rural communities. Crucially, it recognises the wisdom of carefully planned and well designed settlements.

‘Matthew Taylor has raised the level of debate about the development of our market towns with an inspiring call to put master planning centre stage.  ‘CPRE wholly supports the identification of the planning system as the key to high quality, attractive settlements and surrounding countryside.  ‘CPRE thinks there may be potential in the report's proposal for Community Led Affordable Housing which could secure urgently needed affordable homes in perpetuity in rural villages,' Tom Oliver continued.

Key recommendations in the report include:

• A commitment to the role of the planning system to deliver affordable housing in rural communities;

• An inspiring recommendation that significant extensions to market towns ^[3], where justified and needed, should be master-planned with long term quality of building at the top of the agenda;

• Concentration on high quality long term outcomes, rather than short term targets for local authorities ^[4];

• Putting the consent of local communities at the heart of delivering affordable housing in rural settlements ^[5];

• Support for home working for those living in rented or part-owned accommodation ^[6];

• Strong commitment to the importance of local distinctiveness and local design and design guidance for local authorities in planning policy ^[7];

• Making it easier for local authorities to insist on a proportion of affordable housing in small scale developments ^[8].

Tom Oliver continued:

‘CPRE does not agree with every recommendation in the report.  In particular, we oppose relaxing planning rules ^[9] which at the moment attach great importance to the presence of public transport in deciding the location of new business development.  Especially with a likely long term increase in fuel prices, we should be working towards more public transport provision for rural communities, rather than seeking to rely on it less.'

‘The challenge for Government is to take the many wise and important recommendations in the Taylor Report and act on them.  In so doing, they should be clear that the quality of rural towns, villages and the countryside are a vital ingredient for success ^[10]. Commitment to long term planning, community consent and high quality design will be at the heart of successful policies for the countryside,' Tom Oliver concluded.

NOTES

1    In 2007, the Prime Minister asked Matthew Taylor, Liberal Democrat MP for Truro and St Austell to conduct a review of how land use and planning can better support rural business and deliver affordable housing. This is the Matthew Taylor Review on rural economy and affordable housing.

2    ‘The planning system has a crucial role to promote and deliver sustainable communities, ensuring development occurs in the right place at the right time', Matthew Taylor Review. Also Recommendation 6 of the Review: Local Strategic Partnerships ‘to develop a long term vision for their community including physical shape'.

3    ‘Without a clear strategy we risk repeating the mistakes of the recent past that have too often produced "doughnut development" characterised by bland or ugly housing and unsustainable retail estates ringing the traditional towns', Matthew Taylor Review.

4    Recommendation 5 of the Review: ‘Review regulatory burdens and incentives placed on local authorities which focus on short term delivery targets.... to ensure that addressing these short term requirements is more strongly supplemented by support for planning for communities in the longer term.'

5    ‘The process (of providing more rural affordable housing in perpetuity) should be based on community involvement from the start', Matthew Taylor Review.   Recommendation 13 also declared that closer relationships between Local Development Frameworks and each settlement should be based on local consultation.

6    Recommendation 28: Support for home working and live/work arrangements from National Housing Federation for those in rented accommodation.

7    Recommendation 10: Development of an exemplar programme to develop best practice for local authorities in master-planning, with a focus on rural areas. Also, recommends the launching of a competition and a best practice toolkit to inform national policy.

8    Recommendation 38: Thresholds for housing developments where local authorities can require a proportion of permanently affordable housing to be adjusted where local evidence suggests this would help provide affordable housing.

9    Recommendations 22 and 23: Recommend removal of public transport test from Planning Policy Statement 4 (now in draft)

10   Two extracts of the Review state that (a) the planning system has played a decisive role in retaining settlement patterns and protecting open countryside, and (b) the importance that careful planning can make to the impact of development on the countryside'.