The Scottish Government

UK

Wolman, H and Page, E (2000) Learning from the Experience of Others: Policy transfer among local regeneration partnerships, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation (35pp)

This publication emphasises the value of learning from the experience of others in a climate of evidence-based policy-making. The focus of the research study turns on the sharing of ideas and experiences in the context of urban regeneration policies. The report discusses the importance of avoiding making mistakes and reinventing the wheel. It also highlights benefiting from fresh ideas, whilst responding to the needs of individual localities. The authors draw attention to the need to fully understand the conditions and contexts of successful policy implementation when considering the relevance and appropriateness of transferring or adopting a policy elsewhere. The study calls for greater efforts to be made in the collection, evaluation and assessment of so-called policy successes and best practices, and for their dissemination in a readable and understandable form. A number of practical suggestions as to how lessons may be shared are made.

England

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2002) Makingplans - Good Practice in Plan Preparation and Management of the Development Plan Process London: HMSO

Available on the ODPM website: www.planning.odpm.gov.uk

Makingplans provides advice on putting good development plans in place quickly and keeping them topical. The guide is divided into four sections. Section 1 emphasises the need to believe in the value of the plan and defines certain principles in successful plan-making. Section 2 explains how to scope a review process and examines what this means for its content. Section 3 describes a project management style to plan preparation and considers appropriate approaches to community participation. Part 5 of this section raises some useful questions about the preparation of plans and policies using an electronic format for the web. Part 6 of this section explains how the fixed stages of development plan preparation may helpfully be understood as a never-ending process of managing and influencing change. The guidance suggests that a development plan will serve its purpose better if it is prepared within a culture that sees the process as a continuous one. Examples of practice illustrate the guide. Section 4 deals with each of the specific stages in plan preparation.

This document includes its own useful resource section. Reference is made to the Planning Officers Society (1997) Better Local Plans: A Guide to Writing Effective Policies. This is currently being amended.

Western Australia

(2000) Planning Schemes Manual: Model Scheme Text Guidelines Advice and information to Local Governments and others preparing or amending Schemes based on the Model Scheme Text (65 pp)

The Model Scheme Text Guidelines (MST) is a State-wide model from which local planning schemes are sourced and constructed. It is a statutory device to ensure that planning schemes follow a similar format across the State of Western Australia, but allows for different planning approaches to match the different needs of local governments. The development of the MST stemmed from the perceived need for greater consistency in the basic legal and administrative provisions of planning schemes. Yet, whilst the overall philosophy is towards greater consistency, the MST is designed to provide for flexibility. Thus, the principal objective is greater consistency in the format and basic provisions of planning schemes. Within this overall framework each local government is able to adopt the planning policies, provisions and approaches that most suit its local needs and circumstances. The emphasis is upon writing in a user-friendly style so that the requirements are clear to users.

New Zealand

Ministry for the Environment (2003) Drafting Issues, Objectives, Policies and Methods in Regional Policy Statements and District Plans Report prepared for the Ministry for the Environment by Gerard Willis, Enfocus Limited. (25 pp)

Available on the Ministry for the Environment's website: www.mfe.govt.nz

This guide is written in order to provide advice for public and private sector resource management practitioners who prepare policy statements and plans under New Zealand's Resource Management Act (RMA). Under the RMA, local authorities use policy statements and plans to guide their management of and decisions about natural and physical resources. The guide sets out the principles of a sound policy-making discipline and examines good practice principles for the drafting of the various aspects required under the Act. It does not provide stringent rules. Thus, whilst the RMA is prescriptive about how policy statements and plans must be developed (the process), and what content the plans must include (the provisions), it doesn't say how these provisions should be worded as these details are considered matters of practice. Nonetheless, the process of policy is required to be common. Thus, the same issues, objectives, methods and policies are set out in each plan, whilst ensuring that local authorities may use their discretion, depending on the local circumstances. The guide notes that from a legal perspective, there may be no clearly "right" or "wrong" way to draft provisions, but that some ways may be identified as "better practice" than others. The guide offers direction on what might be regarded as good practice.