Planning's response to Covid-19

Friday 03 April 2020

Editor, NLQ and New London Weekly

Breaking news: The comments from the NLA Sounding Board were made on March 27th. On Friday April 3 Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State Robert Jenrick responded to local planners’ requests and confirmed that public meetings can be held remotely by video or telephone and that the requirement for physical attendance at meetings has been removed. He said that the public should still have access to public meetings although it will be up to each local authority to decide how such meetings are to be conducted.

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Local authorities across London are mobilising to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with ‘pragmatism and leadership’ – to keep business moving by harnessing virtual planning and other technologies.

Speaking at a recent meeting of the NLA Sounding Board Sarah Cary of Enfield said that the Council had held a virtual planning meeting but would not have been able to deal with any contentious issues. She would like to see guidance on how to deal with consultation in order to avoid potential legal challenges. On a similar note, Carolyn Dwyer said that the City of London faced a problem of how to post site notices and send out letters to local communities. Stewart Murray said that Waltham Forest’s planning was going smoothly. At this week’s meeting the Committee approved the 750-home Coronation Square designed by PTEarchitects.

Planning advisors Iceni Projects have been monitoring the way that authorities have acted swiftly rather than waiting for new regulations to be published, against the background of the publication of amendments to the Coronavirus Act allowing virtual meetings. That is according to property consultants Iceni projects, which has been monitoring the way that planning authorities have acted swiftly rather than waiting for new regulations to be published, against the background of the publication of amendments to the Coronavirus Act allowing virtual meetings.

“They are mobilising, yes; some quicker than others, but yes, that’s the word’, said Iceni director Kieron Hodgson. But virtual meetings are here to stay for the foreseeable future at least, he believes. ‘The most surprising thing was how quickly everyone appeared to have got into their groove. We weren’t expecting that’.

Iceni prepared a diagram (below) showing the different strategies each borough has already installed to get through this period, Hodgson saying it had been a surprise how quickly authorities had grappled with challenges that technological adjustments have thrown up. ‘We were quite pleased with that. Even in situations where local authorities were reluctant to use the video technology because they had not heard of it or done it or it wasn’t an accepted practice Iceni was encouraged by just showing them what could be done.

Some local authorities had been quicker off the bat than others, such as LB Merton and RB Windsor and Maidenhead, which prepared emergency powers and resolved to give officers full delegated authority to determine planning applications, meaning that planning committees are not required. Others like Westminster and Epping have confirmed that meetings will be held by video-link. But others still have been less technologically enabled or more cautious, said Iceni, ‘fearing the risk of judicial review amid concerns about public transparency, the delivery of public speaking and deputations and the potential prejudicing of stakeholders without access to the requisite technology’. It is these authorities that the development industry needs to support in order to ensure that the wheels of local government, and in turn, the economy, keep moving, Iceni believes.

All planning teams are now working from home and are open for enquiries, with the majority being proactive in enabling video links for their staff, including with Iceni’s team. Site visits, though, have been more challenging, and in most cases have been cancelled. However, even here there is scope for technology coming to the rescue, with Iceni hosting its first version by drone. ‘We believe this could be an important tool in not only maintaining pre-application and post-application meetings, but, crucially, public and stakeholder consultation’, said the company.

Ultimately, Hodgson said, it was good to see five authorities already doing virtual committee meetings, and more generally this virtual working may be here for good, with only the most important meetings run on a face to face level.

‘I don’t think we will ever go back’, he said. ‘Whilst video conferencing has been a useful tool it hasn’t replaced those face to face connections and all the different things you can pick up in a meeting – the body language, the posture, the tone of voice, the volume, the nuance. But I think it’s really effective enough. The likelihood is that people will still want to use video conferencing as much as they did, and focus the face-to-face meetings on the really important stuff’.

David Taylor

Editor, NLQ and New London Weekly

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