Introduction

The British planning system essentially comprises of a tripartite administrative arrangement, between the political, the judicial and the professional (Regan, 1978). The professional component rests on the assumption that planning is a technical and rational activity, involving the development and application of policies by qualified planning professionals and the deployment of skills gained through formal education and training. Indeed in Britain, membership of the planners’ professional organisation, the RTPI, is only awarded to an individual following the successful completion of an accredited university programme, a period in planning practice and peer group assessment of credentials.

The judicial component features the laws or rules of the planning process, which are – to some extent – rigid in their application. Therefore, parliamentary statutes and case law determine how the planning system is to be operated by professional officers. Judicial influence also ensures a greater degree of consistency and predictability within the process and little room for flexibility. The political element rests on government agencies carrying out the planning function, and relies on democratic representation and the encouragement of public opinion. Frequently this results in a conflict between the political and the professional, since politicians can usurp the planner's advice and relegate his or her judgement to one of less importance. This is particularly true of the development control process where decisions on future development are usually considered by planning officers and determined by local politicians, partly on the basis of the professional's advice. Although this is intended to give rise to a stable partnership in the local planning process, it also encourages the possibility of politicisation as politicians refuse to accept professional guidance.

Conflicts between the two parties are difficult to resolve; democratic representatives rely on popular support for their views, planners seek legitimacy from laws, policies, professionalism and good practice. Over the years and in times of problems, it has frequently led the professionals to retrench behind a protectionist guard and to emphasise the role of the expert in local government, or even to deploy tactics themselves to ensure their advice is acceded (Tewdwr-Jones, 1995, 2002). As Hillier (1993, p 90) has remarked: