The Development Management Project: Implementing Change in England

Abstract

In England over the last decade a new approach to planning has been pursued, referred to as spatial planning. Despite being broadly accepted as the country’s progressive theoretical and professional currency, the terminology has become politicised following a change of national government and as a result has fallen from prominence. An often overlooked component of the spatial planning approach is the decision making and implementation function, development management; and yet this concept is potentially very relevant to the challenges facing planning in England today. This paper will consider the current relevance of the development management approach; its impact to date, and the potential for it to support the current government’s agenda, which is based around a concept of ‘localism’ whereby communities and neighbourhoods take on new planning functions. The development management concept, in contrast to the reactive process orientated DC approach of the past, is based around operating a multi-faceted end-to-end delivery and implementation orientated process utilising implementation tools/mechanisms, organisational approaches, front loading, monitoring and feedback with an emphasis upon skills and culture change within the profession. Development management is intended to focus upon outcomes (i.e. meeting needs) rather than outputs (the implications of permitting/refusing development through the determination of a planning application - normatively related to the regulatory development control (“DC”) function. The paper reflects upon the evolution of the development management approach and its theoretical underpinnings. We question the reality of development management, critique its impact in practice, and consider the value of the concept to planning today. The paper will also explore the approach’s significance in the context of proposed neighbourhood planning and participation methods currently being introduced in England.