planners: indispensable to successful local government? or public enemy number one?
DESCRIPTION
Planners: Indispensable to successful local government? OR Public enemy number one?. structure of the presentation. my perspective on what it must be like to be a planner in the present context What skills do we need planners to have in a corporate context and an external context? - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Planners: Indispensable to successful local
government?OR
Public enemy number one?
2
structure of the presentation• my perspective on what it must be like to be a
planner in the present context
• What skills do we need planners to have in a corporate context and an external context?
• Three characteristics make planners valuable contributors to their own organisations and to the wider world; the “boundary spanner” ( or “reticulism’), the entrepreneur and as an “interpreter”
• Look at some case studies relating to these characteristics
• Draw some conclusions 2
55
National Government
Regional Government
District CouncilCity
Council
Town/Parish Council
Community actionteams
County Council
Freedom?
this is our context.....so planners must
be...
globalisation localism reticulists
interconnectedness
fragmentation co-ordinators
transparency complexity communicators
personalisation austerity entrepreneurs
certainty ambiguity interpreters
reticulists...• A reticulist is someone who possesses skills in
creating, servicing and manipulating communication networks, and is astute at identifying where in an organisation a decision in which she/he is interested would be made.
• The role of the reticulist applies to the development of inter-sectoral collaboration.
• They are ‘skilled conveners’ who appreciate the potential for mutual exchange and envision a mission which can be fulfilled through joint participation.
• Reticulist skills are associated too with boundary crossing and strategic thinking. Reticulists identify the key resource holders and fellow reticulists in their own and other agencies. Adrian Davis: Independent health and transport consultant
§
reticulist entrepreneur interpreter
Networking BrokeringInterpersonal relationships
Managing accountabilities
EntrepreneurialListening and
empathy
Appreciates different modes of governance
Innovative and creative
Framing and sense-making
Political skills and diplomacy
Tolerates risk Building trust
“The competent boundary spanner”: Paul Williams:Public Administration (2002) Vol 80
Integrated spatial planning
Manifestation
Horizontal integration
Duty to co-operate
Vertical integration
NNPFneighbourhood
plans
Organisational integration
community plan corporate
planHousing policy
NH Bonus
Local economic growth
local growth plan
LEZs +LEPs
21st century infrastructure
CILAsset
maximisation
Adapted from: “Effective Practice in Spatial Planning.”
Janice Morphet (2011) Routledge
The reticulist at work
Case studyNottingham City Council,
Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling District Council,
Erewash Borough Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council have worked together in a combined joint advisory
committee to deliver over £11m of schemes across the conurbation which promote
growth and green infrastructure under the ‘growth point “ programme. We have also
worked together to produce an “aligned core strategy”
http://tinyurl.com/dykyrk7
§
reticulist entrepreneur interpreter
Networking BrokeringInterpersonal relationships
Managing accountabilities
EntrepreneurialListening and
empathy
Appreciates different modes of governance
Innovative and creative
Framing and sense-making
Political skills and diplomacy
Tolerates risk Building trust
“The competent boundary spanner”: Paul Williams:Public Administration (2002) Vol 80
The entrepreneur at work
Case Study: Vauban Germany
Case StudyChicago
Urban Forest
§
reticulist entrepreneur interpreter
Networking BrokeringInterpersonal relationships
Managing accountabilities
EntrepreneurialListening and
empathy
Appreciates different modes of governance
Innovative and creative
Framing and sense-making
Political skills and diplomacy
Tolerates risk Building trust
“The competent boundary spanner”: Paul Williams:Public Administration (2002) Vol 80
“Planners must accept the value of a
mobilisation effort generated within civil
society, however uncomfortable this might
seem to be. It means appreciating that others
in many arenas and networks in an urban
area may have a better capacity than technical
experts to “summon up” an idea of an ‘urban
region” that has widespread resonance and mobilisation force
within a particular governance context”
“Urban Complexity and spatial Strategies
: (2007) P. Healy P.281
The interpreter at work
Local Perspectives
Managerial PerspectivesPolitical Perspectives
Text
Political Perspectives
Managerial Perspectives
Community Perspectives
Professional Perspectives
Case StudyLoughton Neighbourhood
development plan
• Create allotments OR turn into area for “green burials”, tree planting.
•Create parking/drop off area opposite the school
•Create a wildflower meadow
•Any new development to have adequate parking provision
Case Study contd.• “This area is not suitable for residential
development”
• “No additional dwellings permitted for development within the Conservation Area”
• “No buildings or structures shall be constructed on the paddocks”
• “No building structures will be built on this open land”
• “The open space shall remain green open space and not subject to further residential development”
• “No residential development permitted in the existing area of the park and no other commercial or other buildings”
• “The area will be kept free of any residential development.”
• “The area shall remain free from any residential development”
• “The two churches and the Memorial Hall shall remain as Community facility and not converted to residential development.”
“Flexibility must be built into the masterplan as
unforeseen circumstances are
always likely to arise. An essential function of
a masterplan is to provide a framework for development that will
be delivered over time, incrementally, while
retaining the quality of design principles and
without lowering standards”
TCPA (2011)“Benefits and lessons in bringing forward comprehensively planned new
communities”
Conclusions• Planners must not see themselves as confined to
their own departments, involved in the narrow business of approving/refusing planning applications and creating local plans. They bring strategic thinking, knowledge and visionary capacity to the whole organisation from both inside and outside its boundaries
• Planners must act as inspirational forces for longer term thinking within their organisations - to help their authorities think of future possibilities .
• Planners need increasingly honed communication skills to act as co-creators, challengers, and listeners;to interpret the past , reinvent the present and imagine the future.