Environmental Concerns in Local Planning Practice

The town and country planning system has been identified to be one of the key instruments in delivering land use and development objectives that are compatible with the aims of sustainable development. Several areas of actions should therefore be considered in the local planning strategy to achieve a more radical approach to environmental sustainability. These include conservation, shaping the locational pattern of development and accommodating environmentally desirable qualities in all development. This paper considers how far local planning authorities through their development control powers are likely to fulfill this role. Drawing on the content analysis of local plans, this paper identifies the framework for development control particularly on envrionmental matter. It also examines the conditions that accompanied a planning approval to determine the extent of control pertaining to environmental aspects. The results indicate the lack of consideration given to environmental related matters compared to the traditional concerns of land use planning. Finally the paper discusses the constraint of the present system and prospects to facilitate better management.