Exemptions to prompt a fresh look at planning

The latest pretty significant list of new exemptions will be before the States probably by the end of the year. It is now the third time the authority has made such a significant move over the past 25 years. It has a knock-on impact to the revenue it receives, as it loses planning application fees, but from satellite dishes years ago to more modern changes, such as installation of solar panels and electric car charging points, hundreds of islanders have benefitted and will do so again.

The DPA says its proposals will improve the ‘customer’ experience, free up resource within the Planning Service, ‘enabling it to be more efficient and direct more resource into service improvements and delivery’.

On the counter, it accepts that with no planning application necessary, there won’t be an opportunity for public comment before development is carried out. ‘But the authority believes that the exemptions, with the conditions proposed, provide for development for which planning permission would normally be granted,’ it adds.

Some may view with concern the prospect of the States coming forward with more speed humps, traffic calming measures, bus shelters, cycle shelters and hoops, and water refill points, all specifically mentioned in the policy letter to the States.

What isn’t explicitly referenced is the general direction in which the DPA is heading, and whether islanders see planning in the same way.

Implicit within the authority’s report is that it intends to place more resources on the big ticket developments which so frequently get stuck in planning. This has to be welcomed. Major investment opportunities either run the risk of being lost, or at the very least being a cause of major frustrations, if not handled at an acceptable speed.

As the DPA itself puts it, the ‘customer experience’ is always important.

So in signalling these changes and promoting an attitude of less red tape, is it important that the DPA seeks to take islanders with it? We have evidence in recent months that planning's approach towards new housing developments is at odds with that of many islanders.

So in shaping proposals to take planning forward, can more also be done to influence a change of attitude towards land use planning?