On the Control of Development by Planning Authorities

The degree to which local planning authorities (lpas) control development is readily measured by the refusal rate. A comparable variable, the strong refusal rate, is proposed to measure the control effected by central government ministers and their inspectors, the central planning authority (cpa), and it is shown how this may be calculated. Data from England and Wales and from the national parks and covering a fourteen-year period are analysed to gauge the control exerted by the cpa and by lpas over different types of development, at different times, and in different areas. It is shown that the cpa and the lpas both relaxed policy (as evidenced by the decisions they took) during the second half of the 1970s and that application quality improved (application quality being the extent to which applications conform to material considerations). This is interpreted as an efficiency change as the various parties sought to make applications more acceptable in the aftermath of the 1974 reorganisation. More generally, the analysis suggests that pronouncements by the cpa in circulars and elsewhere are not the prime determinants of the rigour with which the lpas, nor even the cpa, pursue control in practice. Typically and viewed nationally, lpas take the lead in determining policy tightness and, typically, the cpa follows, at least partially, the lpas' lead. In this regard, planning control is local led, with circulars influencing rather than directing policy.