"London's planning sector is over-reliant on Australians"

Ever Spoken to Haringey Planning? Then this story will ring some bells....... from BD - The Architect's Website, 20th May:

Developer and former Cabe chairman Stuart Lipton has warned MPs that London’s planning sector is over reliant on short-term agency staff from Australia — a situation he claimed is creating a “stop-go” development culture.

Speaking at a Parliamentary debate on Monday hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Built Environment Group, Lipton said: “Temporary Australian planners are very popular in London at the moment. We are relying on these Aussies…We’re in a stop-go planning world.”

In a wide ranging critique of the UK planning system, Lipton added: “[the planning system] should be a force for positive change rather than a dead hand of bureaucratic intervention. We don’t have enough planners with skills… success in planning [seems to be marked] by the number of reviews rolled out.”

Lipton, who made his comments to Conservative MPs Alistair Burt and shadow minister for regeneration Stuart Jackson, was backed by senior planning officials in London and by the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Speaking after the debate, Chris Berry, who is head of planning at Watford Borough Council, claimed continuity on key projects was difficult to maintain in London boroughs such as Ealing, Hillingdon and Southwark because up to 60% of planning staff were agency staff from Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.

“It’s a well-known issue on the London borough’s circuit,” said Berry, formerly head of planning at Southwark and Hackney councils. “Aussies are, by their nature, temporary — they’re financing their world trips. Some stay, but the average for agency staff is six to 12 months.

“This can cause problems for architects but also for the local authorities. Sometimes architects take advantage of the break in continuity.”

RTPI director of membership, education and lifelong learning Sue Percy said: “Clearly we would like planners in the sector to be full time and long term, but we have to support agency staff too as that is the reality at the moment.”

n Communities secretary Hazel Blears has announced the appointment of Steve Quartermain, currently executive director of Hambleton District Council, as the government’s new chief planner. Quartermain will lead an overhaul of the planning system.