An organisation representing professionals in town planning jobs has criticised a government proposal to scrap regional spatial strategies.
The policy forms part of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill laid out in the Queen's Speech yesterday (May 25th 2010), which aims to give local communities a larger say in housing and planning decisions.
But the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has warned the government not to be hasty in introducing the measures, warning that strategic planning policies between national and local authorities are necessary to ensure "proper co-ordination across council boundaries".
Ann Skippers, president of the RTPI, said: "The hasty abolition of regional planning will leave a vacuum in terms of the policy needed to give the certainty to take major investment decisions."
The Bill also contains policies such as abolishing the Infrastructure Planning Commission, the Standards Board and Home Improvement Packs.
It also requires public bodies to publish details of the salaries and expenses paid out to senior members of staff.
