Reform on the Frontline: Reflections on Implementing Spatial Planning in England, 2004-2008

The modernization of governance systems continues to heavily impact the practice of planning in the UK, as in many countries. The UK Coalition government has moved quickly to introduce a programme of planning reform, particularly in plan-making. Yet this was also a focus for major reforms introduced by the previous Labour government, namely, the local development framework (LDF) system which was meant to encapsulate a shift to a spatial planning approach in England. This paper draws on extensive empirical material to consider the views of frontline local authority planners to the new system as it was put into place. Drawing on implementation theory and highlighting differing conceptions as to where the cause of problems enacting the new system lay, I argue that detailed consideration of the frontline is vital if we are to better understand the contours of modernization.