ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that if the private sector is to be the main provider of development, then the planning system has to be 'market-aware' in regulating the development process. The planning system in Britain is inherently concerned with economic and social development. Development plans are only one part of one mechanism through which public policy affects land and property markets and the development process. A development plan as an 'intervention tool' is primarily an informational document. The development industry, while using the plan inquiry and appeal systems to challenge plans and decisions, nevertheless benefitted from the certainty they provided, which stabilised development conditions. Plans were side-lined if they did not reflect market interests, and development projects were negotiated on a project-by-project basis. While welcoming the greater priority given to market considerations in the 1980s, the development industry has increasingly complained of the lack of certainty provided by the planning system.
