Ecological planning - Ecological Governance - page 166

planning and governmental decision-making would take place within,
and be assessed for its compliance with, an overarching framework
that requires observance of common goals, principles and rules. This
all-embracing approach would best be provided by the establishment of
a national planning framework. A formal capacity for national planning
has been absent from the planning system for England and Wales since
its inception, although devolved administrations have introduced stra-
tegic planning for the whole of their territories. 75 However, it has been
argued that a framework which engenders a shared sense of purpose and
broader spatial perspectives amongst governmental bodies, and between
central government and regional and local authorities, would signi

-

s ability to pursue its policy goals. 76
The systemwould need to be comprehensive in four respects. The

cantly enhance the state '

rst
is that the legal framework should encompass all governmental minis-
tries and agencies in a horizontally comprehensive process that provides,
from the outset, for a commonality of approach between the disparate
bodies. For consistency with the policy-making process I proposed in
Chapter 5.3, a whole of government approach to preparing and review-
ing strategic plans should be employed and coordinated, as far as possi-
ble, with policy formation. 77 This is necessary to reduce scope for the
fragmentation in governance which, if unaddressed, would impair the
state

'

s ability to pursue goals of national importance. Ministries should
be required to prepare plans for policy implementation that are designed
to advance ecological objectives and which respect ecological constraints
in their formation. I envisage that these would feed into a central
institution for reviewing and coordinating plan proposals of the type
that, in any event, would be required to take an overview of local and
regional planning processes. In this regard, Cullingworth and Nadin
refer to the need for a forum where national spatial development issues

can be discussed and their consequences understood

'

as a key reason for
introducing a national spatial planning capacity. 78 To promote cohesion

'

75 Cullingworth and Nadin,

' Town and Country Planning ' ,pp.96 - 9.

76 Blowers,

' TheTimeforChange ' ,p.16;CullingworthandNadin, ' Town and Country

Planning Scenarios for the Future of the British Planning System:

The Need for a National Spatial Planning Framework

' ,pp.96 - 9; J. Alden, '

' (1999) 70 Town Planning Review,

385; C. Wong, Is There a Need for a Fully Integrated Spatial Planning Framework for

the United Kingdom?

'

' (2002) 3 Planning Theory and Practice, 277; D. Stead and

V. Nadin, Environmental resources and energy in the United Kingdom: The potential

role of a national spatial planning framework

'

' (1999) 70 Town Planning Review, 339.

77 Chapter 3, Section 3.4.1 .
78 Cullingworth and Nadin,

' Town and Country Planning ' ,p.99.