Media Enquiries
Cheltenham Civic SocietyCheltenham Civic Society
DonateJoin us
  • Welcome
  • Heritage hub
  • Events
    • Civic Day
    • Heritage Open Days
  • Planning
    • Planning Forum
  • Campaigns
    • Successful Streets
    • Battlefield Crosses Museum
  • About us
    • The Trustees
    • History
    • Join us
    • Corporate membership
    • Policies
  • News
    • Newsletters
  • Downloads
DonateJoin us

Civic Society slams government planning white paper

Posted on October 27, 2020

Cheltenham Civic Society, in its response to the government’s consultation on its planning white paper ‘Planning for the Future’, has strongly criticised the proposed zonal system for planning.

The proposed new system proposes the biggest reform in planning in the last 70 years. If adopted it would introduce a three-zone system allocating all land and properties into “growth”, “renewal” or “protection” areas. Except in protected areas, this would remove much of the development control process with which people are familiar.

In its 30-page response – download here – submitted to the government this week, the Civic Society says that the proposals are “fundamentally mistaken for three overriding reasons”:

  • The absence of supporting evidence for such a far-reaching set of proposals. Tearing down the present system which, for all its faults, is well established and well understood, cannot be justified by the thin arguments offered in the white paper. Nor are the alleged benefits convincing.
  • The focus on housing almost to the exclusion of everything else. Of course there is a national housing crisis, but planning is about more than housing (and housing is about more than planning). The White Paper’s superficial treatment of sustainability and public health issues facing the nation – and which planning can help resolve – is deeply disappointing.
  • The threat the white paper poses to local democracy. Its proposals would deny people the chance to comment on the details of schemes, reduce rather than increase citizens’ rights in the planning process, and weaken the hand of local authorities trying to deal with pressures from developers. Whatever the rhetoric in the white paper, people will be the losers.

Chair of Cheltenham Civic Society, Andrew Booton, said: ‘This white paper is driven by the housing crisis but we must recognise that planning is more than housing and crude zoning will never be able to account for the complexities of planning in towns like Cheltenham, or help to deliver the quality of housing and other developments that are needed.

‘We want to see more democracy in the planning process, but these proposals restrict public consultation to the initial local planning policy stages, which – being quite abstract processes – very few people tend to engage with. But many people engage in response to schemes put forward by developers and those opportunities will disappear if these proposals are adopted.’

Previous Post
Cheltenham’s new form of ‘living above the shop’ – reintroduction of residential accommodation above existing shops could bring new life to The Prom
Next Post
Civic Society says: ‘Nominate Cheltenham’s best buildings for prestigious Civic Awards’

CCS statement in response to a local media enquiry about the lack of progress on CavHouse

1 May at 5:14 pm

Circumspice 18: answer to mini-quiz item in the spring edition of OurTown

28 Apr at 10:24 am

Highway Authority (GCC) agrees to halt its tarmac plan for the Prom

27 Mar at 6:15 pm

Civic Society corrects the myth

19 Mar at 10:05 pm

The Georgian Group adds its weight the Civic Society’s campaign against tarmac on the Prom

19 Mar at 9:42 pm

Archives

Corporate Members

EvansJones
Leckhampton Builders
County To County
Savills
Cape Homes
Everyman Theatre
University of Gloucestershire
hcrlaw
Cheltenham Ladies' College
Willans LLP Solicitors
Bence Builders Merchants

The Society welcomes new Corporate Members – see our Corporate Membership page

Cheltenham Civic Society is affiliated to Civic Voice, the national organisation for the civic movement in England.

Cheltenham Civic Society
Facebook
X
Instagram

Achievements

  • The Gordon Lamp
  • The Holst Statue
  • The Montpellier Bandstand
  • The Battlefield Crosses

Archives

  • AGM and Trustees’ Minutes
  • Planning Forum Minutes
  • Newsletters
  • E-Bulletins

Plaques & Awards

  • Commemorative Plaques
  • Civic Awards
  • Civic Awards Nominations
  • Previous Awards

Parmoor | 26 Cambray Place | Cheltenham | GL50 1JN

© 2025 Cheltenham Civic Society | Affiliated to Civic Voice | Registered Charity No. 1166580

Policies

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}