Opening up planning further to local communities could help tackle “Not In My Back Yard” or NIMBY-ism, an often cited obstacle to housebuilding according to a leading think tank.
The report by cross-party think tank, Demos, states that communities often become antagonistic to large planning applications because of a “significant lack of trust” in the planning process.
However the report, titled Community Builders, states: “With greater control, residents might become active supporters for new development, rather than exhibiting the antagonistic behaviour often characterised as ‘NIMBYism’.
“Financial interests play only a limited role in motivating local opposition to new housing developments. Rather, concern for collective, community goods such as local aesthetics, green spaces, community facilities, infrastructure and access to public services is essential.
“Many people think extremely locally. Addressing needs on a local authority-wide basis is often too large for people to feel that local needs are being addressed.
“Part of the lack of trust derives from an inherent tension between the technocratic and democratic elements of the planning system. On the one hand, residents are encouraged to attend consultations and provide their views, with elected councillors making final decisions. On the other hand, decisions are ultimately made on technical grounds.”
The report also shows that in England, southern-based councils and authorities are often the slowest to approve compared with their counterparts in the north, despite the fact that the south of England, and the South East is the area most in need of more housing stock.
“Local authorities in the north grant a higher proportion of applications for large residential developments than those in the south. Between January 2010 and March 2015, 75% of applications in the South East were granted compared with 89% in the North East.
“In the same period the total figure of applications granted in England as a whole was also 81%, as it was for London. Local authorities in the North East (68% of major decisions), Yorkshire and the Humber (65%) and the West Midlands (65%) met the 13 week target for decisions most often, while the figures for South West (57%) and South East (59%) were below average. London (58%) and the North West (57%) were also below the national rate of 60%.
