Changing spatial planning systems and the role of the regional government level; Comparing the Netherlands, Flanders and England

Figure 3 Overview of the planning competencies at the regional level

Flanders: planning competencies for the regional level: Provinces____________________________________________
strategic plan_____________________	binding land use regulations______	other competences_______________
-spatial structure plan (ruimtelijk Structuurplan)	- spatial implementation plan Iniimlelijk uitvoeringsplan) - general applicable land use regulations (stedenbouwkundige verordening)__________________	- approval of local spatial structure plans - approval of local spatial implementation plans
-has to be approved by the Flemish Region	- has to be approved by the Flemish Region - a building permit and a subdivision permit can only be given if these regulations are met________________________

The Netherlands: proposed planning competencies for the regional level: Provinces_________________________
strategic plan_____________________	binding land use regulations______	other competences_______________
- structure Vision (structuurvisie)	- land-use plan (b estemmingsplan) - project plan (projectprocedure) - general applicable land use regulations_____________________	none
	- a building permit can only be given if these regulations are met______________________

England: (proposed) planning competencies for the regional level: Regional Planning Bodies________________
strategic plan_____________________	binding land use regulations______	other competences_______________
regional spatial strategy____________	none_________________________	none_________________________
-has to be decided on by central government -one of the material considerations when a planning permission is decided upon__________________

Motives underlying the changes

In all three countries both the subsidiarity principle and the concept of multi-level governance
have proved to have played a part in the reconsideration of which government level should
have which competences at its disposal. In all three countries, the planning competences at the
regional level were relatively weak or totally absent with respect to central and local
government authorities. In both Flanders and the Netherlands, the subsidiarity principle was
expressly mentioned as one of the motives for strengthening the regional level. What is
striking is the difference in accent: the changes in Flanders and in England have strengthened
the role of the regional level to achieve some decentralization, while in the Netherlands the
strengthening was primarily motivated by the need to strengthen the supralocal scale level
(because planning tasks were often too much for the local level). In the Netherlands, the
province already had important competences in spatial planning; in the event, no extra level
has been added. In Flanders that is indeed the case; the province has moved from nowhere to
an important place in the area of spatial planning. That is also the case for the English region.

Competences

The competences allocated to the regional government levels differ in the three countries. The
allocation is closely related to the character of the planning system. In both Flanders and the
Netherlands, the regional level has or will have the competence to draw up legally-binding

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