Negotiated, approved … ignored? Regulating development after approval in England and Germany

McClymont, Katie; Hickman, Hannah; Dembski, Sebastian

Abstract

Delivery and enforcement have received comparatively less attention in planning practice and research than plan making and the granting of development rights. Once planning permission has been granted or a binding land use plan has been approved, the planning process is usually considered complete. However, most planning systems allow for adjustments after this stage. Research on planning practice post approval is particularly scarce: both theoretically and empirically. This paper explicitly addresses this by defining post-consent planning: an arena for action after a plan or permission has been granted. It draws on empirical evidence from studies of development management practice in both England and Germany to explore how and why schemes change post-approval, the relationship between key players at this stage, and the differences and similarities between zonal style and discretionary based planning systems in handling post-consent change where they occur. Whilst there are far more deviations from binding land use plans in Germany than would be expected, these changes were more modest than in the English discretionary system, where renegotiation of consents is the norm. However, questions about planning culture and the perceived legitimacy of the changes arise, adding complexity to debates about the relative efficacy and operation of these two types of planning systems as well as highlighting the importance of further research into this ‘post-consent’ space.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 8, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 9, 2025
• Print ISSN: 0251-3625
• Electronic ISSN: 2166-8604
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14414244
• Additional Information: It might be possible to make this open access but I have not yet had proofs etc. I will update.