Where does the recent run of local plan failures at St Albans, Sevenoaks, Wealden and Chiltern & South Bucks leave the Duty to Cooperate (DtC)? As well as being bad law it seemed obvious to most practitioners at the time that the DtC was bad planning and a regression from the Regional Spatial Strategies that it sought to replace. What hope is there that forthcoming devolution and planning White Papers will tackle the underlying technical and political issues that undermine the DtC? If they do not, what hope is there for the Government’s aim, as set out in a March 2020 policy paper, for local plan coverage across England by 2023?

In this episode Sam Stafford discusses the DtC with Catriona Riddell (Catriona Riddell & Associates), Zack Simons (Barrister at Landmark Chambers), and Peter French (Senior Policy Officer at the County Councils Network (CCN)).

Twitter handles: @samuel_stafford; @CatrionaRiddel1, @zacksimons and @peterpfrench.

Some associated reading:

Zack's Planoraks Blog:

https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/teamwork-failing-the-duty-to-cooperate

'County Councils & Strategic Planning: A review of current & emerging practice', by Catriona Riddell Associates and the CCN:

https://thinkhouse.org.uk/site/assets/files/1605/ccn.pdf

'Unleashing counties’ role in levelling up England' by Grant Thornton and the CCN:

https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/unleashing-counties-role-in-levelling-up-england/

Some recommended viewing:

Good Neighbours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzaPcIXEoUo