Planners play an important role in regulating and managing development. This module explores the legal, regulatory and policy tools available to planners for managing development. In addition, it explores the various objectives that guide the use of these tools, as expressed through plans and policies at different scales. The module is a particularly valuable one for anyone intending to work in planning practice.

The module is designed to:

1. Provide students with an understanding about the basis of law and the legal principles governing planning practice in England and Wales;
2. Introduce students to the key planning policy instruments used by governments at central, regional and local levels of the planning system;
3. Familiarise students with the range of instruments and controls available to planners to regulate development.

The module is delivered in the Spring semester. The module comprises a series of lectures that primarily address matters of planning law, complemented by some interactive, workshop-style sessions. The material in the later parts of the module is focused on understanding the planning policy framework and the practical operation of the development management system. At the end of the module students will have a good understanding of the British statutory planning system covering both planning policy and development management.

1. Define the legal principles that form the basis for the regulation and control of development by citing relevant statutes and case law in support of reasoned advice given to a client;
2. Correctly identify and interpret different planning policy documents by defining the relevance of different planning policies to a particular planning decision and balancing the significance of those policies against other material considerations;
3. Explain the relationship between planning policy and development control by explaining the role and importance of development plans in development control decision-making.

Learning and teaching comprises of:

• 20 hours of lecture-based sessions addressing planning law.
• 15 hours of lectures, seminars and workshops focusing on interpreting the planning policy framework and the operation of the development management system.

Lectures will include opportunity for interaction and discussion, as well as scope for addressing current issues arising in professional media or live consultations. Visiting speakers from practice also contribute to the module with a selection of case studies.

The skills that will be practised in this module include:

1. Writing clearly and concisely and producing written material to a professional standard;
2. Expressing arguments orally through contribution to informal group discussion in lectures.
3. Correctly identifying and interpreting case law and applying this to a specific case or situation.
4. Application of legal reasoning and argument, including distinguishing between facts and values.
5. Correctly interpreting sources of planning policy and their relevance to particular circumstances, including judgments on the weight to be applied to different policies.

The first part of the module is assessed by an 'open book examination'. This will comprise an assignment issued with a short period for completion and submission (approximately 4-5 days). The second part of the module is assessed by one item of coursework to be completed towards the end of the module.

Coursework.

The 'open book examination' will take the form of an assignment where students will be issued with a task that will need to be completed within a short time period (for example, within 4-5 days of issue). The module also provides the opportunity to complete a formative, in-class exercise designed to support students’ learning and their preparation for the first piece of coursework.

The second assignment assesses students’ ability to interpret the various factors that are taken into account in an individual planning decision. Students review a planning decision to evaluate the significance given to competing considerations. The second assignment is to be undertaken towards the end of the module.

Type of assessment

%

Contribution

Title

Duration
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment

'Open book examination'

50%

Advising a client on a planning scenario

2000 words

February/March

Coursework

50%

Review of a planning decision

2000 words

April/May

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students are permitted to be reassessed in a module which they have failed, in line with the course regulations. The reassessment will usually take place during the summer.

The character of the British planning system: law, policy and practice.

An introduction to planning law for students of planning

Development plans

Definition of development: operations and material change of use

Listed buildings and conservation areas

Permitted development

Enforcement of planning controls

Planning appeals and inquiries

Environmental impact assessment

The role, status and effectiveness of national planning policies

Planning policy at the regional scale

The relationship between national planning policy and the local scale

Supplementary planning documents: uses and status

Case studies of the planning policy hierarchy: residential and retail

Deconstructing a planning permission

Performance management and the development control system

Professional conduct and planning

Current issues, debates and challenges for the planning system

The key textbook for this module is Moore, V. 2012. A Practical Approach to Planning Law. Twelfth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Additional academic reading relevant to individual lectures or workshops will be issued in a separate reading list in that session.

Policy and practice materials will also be used to supplement academic materials. This material is easily accessible via government and related websites and accessed via selected links through Learning Central. References to this material will be issued in individual sessions.

Key additional resources include the Journal of Planning and Environment Law and the Encyclopaedia of Planning Law and Practice. Additional online resources for accessing case law materials will be introduced to students in the module.