Friday 20 January 2012

Trains, Planes and Internet Technology

Town planning is going to have to get to grips with a fundamental shift in the way we undertake and travel to work in the foreseeable future. This will knock-on into how we will live and play in the future and will significantly alter some of the long held planning precepts that still colour today's economic development and infrastructure initiatives. 

Well, what a week for transport planners. The Government gave their support to new rail travel proposals with HS2 (High Speed 2) and a new London Airport in the Thames Estuary resurfaces for consideration (again). Both have naturally attracted considerable public comment - both positive and negative - and in either case, the benefits are likely to be long in gestation and delivery. 

The first phase of HS2 linking London with that distant provincial settlement of Birmingham is not likely to receive its first fare paying passenger until 2026 and the track wont reach the northern wastes of Manchester for 21 years or so.

The business cases for each are largely formulated on the basic premise of, "more of the same". The economic justification reports highlight the extrapolation of past growth as a justification of need. And what is more it's all about enabling speedier business and economic growth. The fact that HS2 acknowledges the likelihood of modal shift from plane and car does cause an eyebrow to be raised momentarily, but perhaps this is inevitable.

We have a growing population, with increasingly footloose aspirations for work and play, so it would seem that such schemes are all to the good. Right?

I wonder.

21 years ago the height of modern business practice would see your average office operating with electronic typewriter/wordprocessors and fax machines. Top executives might have a wired-in carphone and at the very upper limits possibly a ticket on Concorde. The 'New York for Breakfast' meeting was the height of business sophistication and apparent success. The colour of the  travel tag on your hand luggage was your mark of progress. Whilst telephone conferencing was emerging, in order to run your business, face to face meetings were still the norm, as they had been for millennia. 

But just look today at what has happened with technology in that short period of time. The rapid and revolutionary emergence of the Internet has led to a fundamental shift in the way we do business. 

Mobile and smartphones, reliable video conferencing/ skypeing, texting, Google, working in the Cloud and 24 hour around-the-world team operations are the norm. A year or so back I was impressed knowing that I could dictate a report in the afternoon, send it by email for formatting to a dedicated service in Australia overnight and have it back in my inbox ready to go the following morning. Tame. I now dictate straight into my PC using voice recognition software, print out as a pdf and email in one seemless operation. I can work anywhere using my iPhone and can access my client files in the Cloud without needing to lug them around. The days of stupefyingly repetitive copying of documents for planning applications has been replaced by the Planning Portal. The paperless office finally begins to emerge. 

Manufacturers can convene meaningful real time meetings between teams with interactive video and online graphical interfaces to discuss product development without needing to pour over drawing boards (now replaced by CAD) or oily lathes and never leaving their offices. 3D models of almost anything can be emailed around the world and precisely reproduced in laser 'copiers'. Feature films are now regularly produced between UK and Hollywood studios online. I'm sure there are lots of exciting things about which I have no knowledge. 

So if all this can occur in such a short time period, just think how technology is going to evolve further over the next 21 years. The question is, will we really need to travel for business in the way that we used to, and secondly, is speed crucial?

From the standpoint of aviation the equivalent to high speed trains would be a replacement Concorde. But forgetting any environmental consideration for a moment, the market began to feel that such speed was not essential. Cost effective, comfortable and reliable business travel was the way ahead. For the rest, cheap, mass travel is now the watchword. Why otherwise build the double-decked Airbus A380 or the truly massive Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.

There is already anecdotal evidence of firms beginning to encourage employees to 'work from home' or from satellite hubs using modern telecommunications to interact between employees. And this is beginning to affect the demand for and structure of workspace. Hot-desking is becoming the norm. Why spend a fortune commuting to an office an hour or more away if you can work locally or from the kitchen table - at least part of the week. We don't even need to go down the shops for our purchases. 

The students of today - the next generation of employees and entrepreneurs - have a wholly different approach to the way they interact with others. Much of their learning will have been 'online' with podcasted lectures and 'webinars'. 

We are in a transitory phase so the real impact of these technological advances have yet to hit home widely, but rest assured a work revolution is evolving faster than we can imagine.

So I return to the point. Why do we need to shave an hour off the travel time between Manchester and London? How is this going to better enable business? Does a 30 minute time saving from Birmingham REALLY help?

I can see that a European network may have more credibility, given the distances. But in the UK? 

Regularly travelling on the West Coast line from Preston to London I can now do the journey in just over two hours. Not bad really for 250 miles. If it were non-stop - as HS2 will be - this would be even quicker. I doubt it would pay me to travel into Manchester first just to save an hour, which would be largely used up in transfer times anyway. I might perhaps want to use it to get to Heathrow for an overseas flight (if it were linked there), but Manchester already has a well connected International airport. Perhaps if Manchester became the UK hub then some reason for HS2 might be more arguable, but otherwise it seems unnecessary. 

Equally, HS2 wont be cheap; as HS1 isn't. If I can put the ticket on business expenses then all well and good, but as a tourist I would be happy to put up with an extra hour or so at an off-peak time to save some money. Why otherwise do so many people use the budget airlines in preference to the rapidly declining mainstream operators? 

I could go on. But it seems to me that technology developments and working practices in the future could well negate the business case for ultra fast intercity travel. This is yesterday's thinking. Yes, of course we all want to go places quickly and efficiently. But should such travel 'luxury' be at the expense of the limited countryside through which we will travel - not seeing much of it anyway. In aviation the 'need for speed' era of Concorde (wonderful though it was) didn't last long. And this at a time when 'being there' was still vital in business.

Lets not kid ourselves that HS2 is really vital for business. Certainly not based on the economic case that has been presented to date. The money might be better spent properly enabling high speed broadband in rural UK to achieve a meaningful, deliverable (and probably faster) economic benefit. 

Town planning is going to have to get to grips with a fundamental shift in the way we undertake and travel to work in the foreseeable future. This will knock-on into how we will live and play and will significantly alter some of the long held planning precepts that still colour today's economic development and infrastructure initiatives. 

The future's bright. The future's online.

Monday 9 January 2012

Ten Things You need to know about the UK Town Planning System

The British town planning system is a complex beasty at the best of times, but if you are considering development proposals or changing the use of land or buildings you may need to bear in mind one or more of the following key elements:

1.  Check to see if you need planning permission. You may not!
    • Does your existing permission already allow your intended use? It’s always worth checking
    • Is there an outstanding consent that can be implemented
    • There are certain Permitted Development Rights available for minor activities and land use
    • There are also specific Use Classes for development between which you can change without the need for planning permission

2.  Development in the Green Belt is rarely allowed
    • Very special circumstances have to be argued
    • Generally avoid high environmental and ecological areas (SSSI’s, AONB etc)

3.  Always arrange a Pre-application meeting with the Council
    • It can save you a huge amount of time and money

4.  Work through the Validation Checklist(s) and make sure you have all the relevant information
    • There is nothing worse than putting your application in and then finding you need to submit more information; that you don’t have!

5.  Statutory Planning Fees are chargeable, based on area and/or type of application
    • Careful attention to the exact application boundary can save money
    • Householder applications are separate and generally cheaper

6.  Development related to Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas will normally require additional permissions

7.  Securing your planning permission is just the start. Make sure you satisfy all the conditions 
    • And don't forget Building Regulations either
8.  Advertisement Consent may be required for both illuminated and non-illuminated signs etc
    • The regulations are complex and you will need to take care in erecting signs without permission

9.  Local Authorities have extensive Enforcement powers. They can and do take action against unlawful development
    • But always check to see if you can obtain a Lawful Development Certificate for works or uses that meet the relevant time limits. Retrospective planning applications are going to be much harder to make in the future 

10. Do your research, take advice, ensure you have all the information required and allow plenty of time
    • You can rush planning, but all that tends to happen is that you receive a refusal on a technicality and have to start all over again. Plan ahead. It can take a lot longer than you might think

For further information and advice contact:  Ian Butter FRICS MRTPI
                   ianbutter@ruralurbanplanning.co.uk
            www.ruralurbanplanning.co.uk

Saturday 7 January 2012

Welsh Planning Policy Update - Rural Enterprise Dwellings

It is longstanding planning policy in both England and Wales that the countryside should be safeguarded from uncontrolled and sporadic development. This remains the central policy concerning residential development in the countryside.

In July 2010, the Welsh Government published revised planning policy concerning its approach to the development needs and aspirations of rural communities in a revised Technical Advice Note TAN6: Planning for Sustainable Rural Communities.

It has always been recognised that, within this policy of restraint, there are particular housing needs that can only be met through the provision of individual dwellings in the countryside; primarily these have related to the operational needs of farming and forestry, where an essential need for workers to live at or close to their place of work has been established.

As a consequence of a review, the scope of exceptions have been extended to a wider range of workers in rural enterprises. This extension applies primarily to land-related businesses which, directly or indirectly, need to be located in the countryside rather than in existing settlements.

One particular problem that has been identified by the Welsh Government concerns the passing-on of farm businesses to a younger generation in the context of an ageing agricultural community. In order to encourage younger people to take on farm businesses, particular provision has been made in this guidance note to allow for additional housing on existing farms to enable the transfer of management.

The purpose of this guide is to assist applicants and their advisers in outlining the nature of the Rural Enterprise Dwelling exemption; set out the process whereby proposals will be justified and assessed; provide practical advice relevant to planning applications; and indicate sources of assistance. This guide will also assist local planning authorities in the determination of Rural Enterprise Dwelling applications.

The scope of the new policy provision is as follows:

“--- qualifying rural enterprises comprise land related businesses including agriculture, forestry and other activities that obtain their primary inputs from the site, such as the processing of agricultural, forestry and mineral products together with land management activities and support services (including agricultural contracting), tourism and leisure enterprises.” TAN 6 paragraph 4.3.2

The five groups of enterprises which are covered by the new TAN 6 policy are therefore:
  •  agriculture and forestry;
  •  activities which obtain their primary inputs from the site;
  • land management related activities;
  • land related tourism and leisure; and 
  • support services related to rural-based activities

Local planning authorities may include a broader definition of qualifying rural enterprises in their development plans where this can be justified by specific local circumstances and evidence.

This is a valuable addition to Welsh Planning Policy which English policy makers would be well advised to adopt in the same way. The NPPF may appear to offer a more flexible approach, but the real issue will be its interpretation in LDF’s at the local level. 

At a time when the rural economy is suffering as much if not more than urban areas, a more flexible but controlled approach to housing provision for rural businesses is very welcome.


or from the latest news section at www.ruralurbanplanning.co.uk