ABSTRACT
This chapter creates a picture of the political climate for community involvement in planning today – be it as a result of legislation or simply political influences and attitudes. Strategic planning powers were simultaneously transferred to local authorities in the form of local plans. Just a year after Localism shook up the planning system, the Coalition government introduced the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in 2012, with largely identical intentions: to create more homes through clarifying and speeding up the planning system. Devolution deals were put forward in 2013 as a means of continuing the theme of Localism by devolving power from central government to local areas in England. During 2013, the Coalition government introduced two further pieces of legislation which were designed to speed up the planning process, in both cases doing so by exerting powers over local planning authorities.
