smoothly. Against this background, in his critical analysis Mobbs (2000) presents two
significant factors for the regional focus:
- Taking the decision at the regional level, often before local people know what is going on,
avoids public criticism.
- Taking the decision at the regional level cuts out locally elected councillors, and so removes
local political pressures.
One of the objectives of the Planning Reform concerned the transparency of the system. If we
look at the recent changes at the regional level, the delay and maybe even renunciation of a
democratically-chosen regional chamber will cause a marginal role for the counties. Regional
assemblies will assume regional planning body responsibilities, but the existing two-tier
system with counties and local districts will continue to exist. Counties will only retain
matters relating to minerals and waste development; local districts will have the responsibility
for the Local Development Framework. We might argue that a statutory RSS increases
transparency for the private sector. It is laid down legally that the draft RSS is subject to a
public consultation process. The longer-term vision of the RSS creates opportunities for
strategies in the longer term by the private sector. An example of a regional planning body is
the South West Regional Assembly in which all principle councils, the Social Economic and
Environmental Partners (SEEP), and each National Park Authority participate. The purpose is
to promote the economic, social, and environmental well-being of the South-West (“the
Region”) in the interest of all who live and work in the Region and to build consensus and
identity across the Region. One of the explicitly mentioned objectives is to exercise the
functions of the Regional Planning Body for the Region (Constitution South West Regional
Assembly). Through the chosen construction of partnership between local government
authorities and SEEPs there is, however, no requirement for accountability to the citizens. For
the market sector, the Regional Spatial Strategy will form the context for spatial development
in the region. Via the SEEPs, the market sector may possibly introduce points for discussion
in the context of the RSS. But Mobbs (2000) argues that there has been no serious public
debate about the effects of the regionalization on development policy, especially with respect
to the integration of business interests into regional development strategies.
We conclude with the integral capacity of the changes in the English planning system at the
regional level. One of the objectives of the Planning Reform was to convert the traditional
land-use planning system into a spatial planning system that would feature the harmonization
and coordination of policy. This will be worked out at both the local and the regional levels in
the Local Development Framework and the Regional Spatial Strategy respectively. The first
steps have been taken towards a more integrated approach to planning. In this respect, the
emphasis which in England is placed on economic development plays an important part.
8 Similarities and differences between the three countries
In the selection of the three countries for this article, one consideration was that the planning
system in the countries had recently been radically revised or would shortly become so. In
what ways have the changes in the planning system now strengthened the regional level?
Figure 3 gives an overview of the planning competences at the regional level.
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