Planning for impact: why development frameworks punch above their weight

Development frameworks or masterplans are hands down the best forward planning tool we have to make a real impact on placemaking, writes Euan Kellie of Euan Kellie Property Solutions.

I’ve worked as a town planner in Manchester for more than 21 years and have seen the city region transform at an astonishing rate, as I hope my Friday Flashbacks illustrate. It’s not just the city that has changed: the nation’s approach to planning has too.

When I first started out, regional plans set local authority housing targets, relieving local officers of that political hot potato. After their revocation in 2010, forward planning took a distinctly local focus through the coalition government’s Localism Act 2011.

Fast forward to March this year, Greater Manchester now has achieved something of a middle ground in the adoption of the sub-regional Places for Everyone plan.

Whatever the shift in scale, these plans are intended to deliver on town planning’s big mission: achieving sustainable development in economic, social, and environmental terms. But of all these varying scales, it is development frameworks that we love most.

What are development frameworks?

It’s important not to conflate them with Local Development Frameworks. LDFs were “a suite of development plan documents” that replaced local plans to streamline the forward planning process.

Development frameworks are known under many different guises. Sometimes they’re called masterplans. Some areas draw up neighbourhood plans, which are often more popular in rural authorities like Cheshire East. You may also have come across Area Action Plans in the early 2000s.

Confused, yet?

Whatever their name, these planning documents focus on a well-defined, localised area providing guidance on the type and nature of development planning authorities want to see.

Plugging a gap

The planning system is “plan-led”, which isn’t the case in all countries.

In the UK we generally agree it’s better to plan ahead, setting the strategic vision for the next 15 to 20 years for how a place should develop, and then devising proposals that align with the plan.

So far, so sensible.

The problem is, local plans take years to prepare, something that the 2004 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act shake up didn’t solve.

Too often they’re out of date by the time they’re published. A plan can be prepared based on one approach to calculating housing need, and before it’s adopted, the government has changed its approach. Appointing 17 housing ministers in 14 years hasn’t helped.

Development frameworks are quicker to prepare because they’re more focused. They’re not trying to cover everything. They can have a very specific remit, like responding to changes in the market.

They plug the policy gap and are useful resources for local planning authorities and developers alike in their mutual quest to see sites unlocked.

Facing the market

Because they’re quicker to write, development frameworks are a brilliant vessel for capturing the direction and aspiration for an area.

Local plans are important, but the market moves in its own way, not adhering to the vision of a local plan no matter how well thought through.

It might make good planning sense to allocate a large, accessible brownfield site for housing, but if remediation costs or land ownership issues are too high or complex, the site won’t come forward without more intervention. Inevitably, market forces will make clear that a plan B might be needed.

Where more intervention is needed, drawing up a development framework can focus on surmounting specific hurdles. They allow local authorities the opportunity to flesh out ambitions, signposting the scale, massing and land uses they want to see in an area.

In doing so they provide certainty and clarity to developers for land acquisitions and more.

Being responsive

A local plan is like a tanker in the ocean. Once its journey is set in motion, it’s not easy to turn course.

Local plans are not nimble enough to respond to changes in the economy, a new government or market influences. They are resource-heavy to prepare and consult on. And once adopted the only way to make changes is through a formal plan review.

In our sea-faring analogy, development frameworks are the speed boat – agile enough to change course when the weather changes.

Much change can happen in the market, as Salford’s Greengate Development Framework demonstrates. The original historic core of Salford, Greengate was earmarked for transformation and growth but, at the time of the original 2005 guidance, this was envisioned to be largely low-rise in nature:

The redevelopment of Exchange Greengate should [be] generally 8-10 storeys in height, punctuated with the occasional higher tower block… Typically, the generally narrow street widths across the Greengate area lend themselves to predominantly six storey building heights, perhaps rising to over ten storeys adjoining public open spaces.

After the 2008 global financial crisis, the economic landscape was very different and so were the city council’s ambitions.

The updated 2018 regeneration strategy reflects a different set of market circumstances and identifies plots where potential additional height would be welcomed.

Greengate is a great example of how responsive frameworks can be. The updated plan helped to unlock numerous high-profile sites continuing the momentum achieved at sites like Abito and Norton Court. In the coming years, Greengate will be home to several schemes taller than 40 storeys.

Staying ahead of the game

Our plan-led system is complex but crucial.

Undoubtedly the national and sub-regional levels have an important role to play. But it’s at the local level where we see the transformation really happen.

Development frameworks give the right level of detail to provide certainty for investment.

They provide a vehicle for real collaboration between the public and private sectors so matters of deliverability and market pressures can be addressed.

But perhaps most importantly, they help local authorities to stay ahead of the game, proactively shaping their patch and harnessing the energy and enthusiasm of developers to unlock sites.

• Euan Kellie is founding director at Euan Kellie Property Solutions
• If you’re looking for expert planning advice for your next development proposal, get in touch