Strategic planning will exist to create plans that are identifying solutions to problems, coordinating responses from different groups and partners, are capable of being implemented and result in better outcomes for development, people and the environment. The key ingredients for good strategic planning are usually considered to be the following:
- Identifying broad areas for new buildings, such as homes and employment.
- Finding and proposing key locations for brownfield redevelopment for the right kind of use.
- Proposing a realistic framework for implementing the plan, which is then delivered by key organisations.
- Delivery most often includes mayors (where they exist), councils, private sector developers and businesses, NHS, Environment Agency, community and wildlife groups, and a wide range of other service providers.
Strategic plans also sit within a much wide group of other government plans and strategies, such as those for housing, climate change, nature recovery and infrastructure. Coordinating with these in a strategic plan may allow local plans, such as those for a city or district, to be more proportionate and potentially prepared more quickly as the ‘big strategic issues’ have been considered, thus avoiding lots of repetition across each area. For example, a strategic plan could identify solutions to issues facing a particular river, across multiple council areas, or shape new buildings in proximity to a big infrastructure project.
Strategic plans will help to guide one of the main documents of the planning framework, which are Local Plans, which are at the heart of the planning system and a key part of the decision-making framework in a particular area. For example, they set out how much and where new development for housing, business, infrastructure and health should go. Local Plans also identify which areas should be protected, such as specific historic buildings and broader areas such as Conservation Areas. This local information can also be used to shape strategic plans as they are prepared. This could be of some benefit as Local Plans will need to be consistent with national and regional strategic planning policy.