Contrast:

The introduction of local development frameworks

Through the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the government introduced a new system to manage how development takes place in towns and in the countryside. This system has two tiers: a regional spatial strategy (RSS) sets out broadly how a region should look in 15 to 20 years’ time (for example, the London Plan produced by the Mayor of London); a local development framework (LDF) is made up of local development documents outlining the spatial plan for a local area. The LDF must include a core strategy – the overarching development plan for an area – and a proposals map. Reflecting the up-to-date spatial plan for the area, the proposals map must show all the adopted policies in map form as well as identifying areas of protection, such as green belt.

The local development scheme (LDS) outlines the timetable for production of the documents incorporated into the LDF, including:

• Local development documents – all the documents produced in the LDF
• Development plan documents – these set out a local authority's main planning strategy, policies and proposals. They are subject to a public examination run by an independent planning inspector whose recommendations are binding on the council. In London, together with the Mayor’s London Plan, they make up the development plan for the borough. The development plan is the prime consideration when determining planning applications
• Supplementary planning documents – these give more detailed guidance explaining policies and proposals set out in development plan documents (for example, a development brief setting out in detail how a site should be developed).

Tower Hamlets’ first Core Strategy (2005/06)Top of page

In 2005, Tower Hamlets was one of the first London boroughs to prepare their Core Strategy under the new regime of LDFs. The Core Strategy was a key part of the LDF that would replace Tower Hamlets’ unitary development plan adopted in 1998. Submitted in 2006, the Government Office for London and the Planning Inspectorate raised issues about the structure and style of the document. They felt that the Core Strategy was not spatially specific enough and did not bring out local distinctiveness as much as it could. While the objectives were taken from the existing Community Plan (now the sustainable community strategy – SCS) these were in reality quite generic and non-spatial. As a result, Tower Hamlets withdrew their Core Strategy and it did not proceed to an examination in public. However, the policy and approach in the first Core Strategy has helped to guide the planning permissions granted over the last two to three years.

Step one: Revising the Community Plan for the LDF (Jan 2008–Jan 2009)

At the end of 2007, Tower Hamlets’ Corporate Team reviewed their Community Plan and included council planners in this process. A new Community Plan, with much greater local distinctiveness, was produced with the LDF identified as a key tool for delivery. Its production has changed how Tower Hamlets developed their revised Core Strategy. The planners used the consultation programme for the Community Plan as a starting point to engage local residents and stakeholders in the development of options for the revised Core Strategy.

While a local authority produces many strategies, the LDF (including the Core Strategy) is a statutory document that affects the location and extent of major developments and investments. As a result it has to be produced with a high level of rigour and is subject to detailed external scrutiny.

To be able to link the Community Plan to the LDF, the Community Plan had to become much more specific about its vision for the development of the borough in the future. The LDF would then become the document that explained how these plans would be achieved through development and planning activities in different places in the borough.

Step two: New Core Strategy (options and alternatives) (July 2008)

Drawing from the new Community Plan, Tower Hamlets published its revised Core Strategy (options and alternatives) for consultation in July 2008. In revising the Core Strategy, the planners looked to integrate research across disciplines (especially urban design) to allow Tower Hamlets to understand how their local places functioned.

As the name suggests, Tower Hamlets is made up of a series of distinct hamlets that formed along old movement routes and connections between the east of England, the City of London and the Thames. However, following the bombing during the Second World War, comprehensive redevelopment programmes removed the traditional street and movement patterns and shifted the emphasis away from these existing places. This lost ‘sense of place’ has contributed to communities becoming more isolated over time and has created a further barrier to addressing the pressing social cohesion and deprivation issues facing the borough. Tower Hamlets remains the third most deprived area in the UK.

Despite having an area of just eight square miles, Tower Hamlets has also been the centre of some of the most intensive physical development in the last 30 years with the development of Canary Wharf, the Isle of Dogs and other Dockland areas. Future development levels are also planned to be high (for example, adding 31,500 homes across the borough and 100,000 new jobs at Canary Wharf by 2016). As a result, Tower Hamlets probably has some of the greatest extremes of wealth and poverty and a range of social and physical diversity greater than any other similar sized area in Europe.

The key aim of the Community Plan was to improve social cohesion and focus more on local distinctiveness to develop its vision of ‘One Tower Hamlets’ through four themes:

• a great place to live
• a prosperous community
• a safe and supportive community
• a healthy community.

This gave the LDF a mandate to focus more strongly on local places as the current physical environment was felt to reinforce some of these social divisions.

As a result, the council made much more effort to understand the role and function of different areas in the borough, as they each require different responses. The revised Core Strategy developed two main options for the future development of the borough: either a concentration of development on town centres (which is more challenging to deliver) or development spread more evenly across the entire borough (by accepting market forces and making it less challenging to deliver).

Step three: Core Strategy for Places (options and alternatives) (February 2009)

Building on the first round of consultation, the Core Strategy for Places (options and alternatives) was published in February 2009. It was designed to consult on the options and alternatives for the development of places in Tower Hamlets over the next 15 years. However, to become the delivery plan for the new Community Strategy, the Core Strategy for Places is distinctly different to earlier planning documents produced by Tower Hamlets.

• The Community Plan sets the vision for the borough to 2020 and clearly defines the priorities for change for the Core Strategy for Places.
• Drawing from a substantial research and evidence base and an improved understanding of the different areas of Tower Hamlets, the key spatial idea in the Core Strategy for Places is to reinvent the 24 hamlets in the borough. These hamlets are the ‘places people know’ rather than administrative boundaries or wards.
• The preferred strategy is to develop a hierarchy of interconnected town centres that are vibrant hubs for shopping, commerce, housing and civic uses. These will be accessible locations and will ensure that the scale of town centres corresponds with their transport accessibility and the population they service.
• With strong links to the Community Plan, the spatial themes that will apply across the borough are: strengthening neighbourhood wellbeing, enabling prosperous communities, designing a high-quality city and tackling climate change.
• Development of ‘place plans’ for the 24 hamlets in the borough. Following feedback from the Tower Hamlets Executive team and the local strategic partnership (LSP), these hamlets were grouped together around the four paired Local Area Partnerships structure used by the LSP. The place plans are flexible frameworks that include visions, objectives and principles, and aim to bring together physical, social and management issues. Forming part of the LDF evidence base, they provide a guide for the council, its partners and developers for the development of each of the hamlets over the next 15 years (see example below). These place visions come together to build up the overall spatial strategy and visions for ‘One Tower Hamlets’. While the council is currently embedding these new place plans in their corporate and planning processes, their short and long-term objectives are already being used to inform planning decisions
• The progress with implementation is measured though the Annual Monitoring Report, which is a statutory requirement under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A number of indicators are aligned with the local area agreement (for example, net additional homes) and the Olympic Legacy Multi-Area Agreement.

What is included in a Place Plan?Top of page

The Place Plans for the paired Local Areas Partnerships 1 and 2 include:

• Description of the history of the four hamlets making up the area: Shoreditch, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green and Globe Town.
• Overview of the demographics of the area and current functions and roles of the area.
• Statement of the Local Area Partnership priorities from the Community Plan.
• A context aerial map highlighting key issues.
• A summary emerging spatial strategy map that outlines the opportunities to deliver the spatial strategy (for example, location proposed mixed use developments).
• An emerging live delivery programme that outlines the projects that will deliver the strategy grouped by the four themes of the Community Plan.

For each of the four hamlets:

• Description of the emerging vision and the opportunities that exist including a vision diagram.
• Presentation of short-term (0-5 years) and long-term objectives (5-15 years).
• Statement of development and design principles (for example, respecting the traditional street pattern).

Step four: Finalising the Core Strategy (Autumn 2009)

Following the current round of public engagement on the Core Strategy for Places, the Core Strategy is expected to be finalised by autumn 2009 and adopted in 2010 after the examination in public.

LessonsTop of page

While only part of the way through the development of their new LDF, Tower Hamlets point to a number of valuable lessons:

• Engagement rather than consultation. There is a need to ensure the right people are engaged in the process of developing the Core Strategy and Community Plan. Consultation approaches are often not intensive enough to identify key issues that need addressing and to build an agreed consensus on the best way forward. However the costs of engagement should not be underestimated.
• Adapting to different timescales and areas. There is a need to accommodate different timescales and spatial areas when integrating the Core Strategy and Community Plan across local partners. Going forward, the challenge will be to ensure this integration continues to occur across service delivery plans that will aim to align with the coordinated implementation outlined in the LDF.
• Power of a common language. By bringing together the LDF with the Community Plan, Tower Hamlets have a clear narrative and vision about how they see the development of their local area over the next 15 years. This ‘golden thread’ helps staff in the authority and partner organisations to easily understand the direction of travel.
• Securing internal buy-in. The new approach to developing the Core Strategy for Places has engaged the Executive Team and increased their interest in planning. The lead member has been excited by the new approach and offered invaluable support.
• Multi-disciplinary team required. Rather than being developed by a team of town planners, the Core Strategy for Places has been developed by a much broader team that has included urban designers and an in-house graphics team able to deliver to short timescales.
• Building the evidence base is expensive. There are significant costs in building the evidence base to the breadth and standard required to develop the Core Strategy for Places. Few council strategies are subject to the same level of statutory and external scrutiny as the LDF.

Further informationTop of page

Jennifer Richardson, Interim LDF Coordinator, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
telephone: 020 7364 5375
email:jennifer.richardson@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Jamie Ounan, Strategic Planning Manager, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
telephone: 020 7364 5414
email:Jamie.ounan@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Tower Hamlets Core Strategy - Options and Alternatives for Places