'I'm a planning expert - here's where Labour's 'new towns' could be based in Yorkshire'

This is alongside social and economic infrastructure including schools, healthcare facilities, leisure amenities and places to work, all of which lie at the local level.

So, in an era of strained public sector budgets and rising costs, it’s important to consider how the region’s local authorities and councils will ensure central government’s plans deliver long-lasting benefits.

For too long, strategic planners and urban designers have been forced to view a scheme, its infrastructure needs and associated costs within the red line that they’re developing in.

But the reality is that new developments don’t exist in isolation, and the potential for positive interaction between established and new communities that build on existing amenities and transport links can be local authorities’ greatest asset.  

In Yorkshire, potential new town locations include the land around the proposed tram system between Leeds and Bradford, which has recently secured £2.1 billion in government funding as part of a broader £15.6 billion investment in regional transport infrastructure.

Additionally, the area around the village of Poppleton remains popular, as does South East Sheffield which would offer residents’ easy access to the Supertram stations to the south of the city. The latter would present a ready-made opportunity to integrate with existing transport infrastructure rather than starting from scratch, and the tram system could serve as the backbone of a new development – significantly reducing the cost and complexity that comes with building an entirely new transport hub.

The government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill should help here. It creates an opportunity for a more integrated approach, empowering planners to examine how new communities can tap into and enhance existing transport networks, utility systems and social infrastructure – reducing costs while creating more cohesive and integrated development. 

In a similar vein, this more joined-up approach could unlock the potential for more homes in the new communities by building at higher densities. This doesn’t mean high-rise towers on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, but rather thoughtful, well-designed compact neighbourhoods that maximise land use and support active travel principles and vibrant local centres.

It’s one thing to create new towns that are viable from a community and cost perspective, but to help meet the government’s housing targets, these new developments will need to be delivered at speed.  

We’re seeing these principles put into practice now at Brookleigh, a 3,500-home development in Mid Sussex and at Clotherholme, Ripon Barracks, a 1,300-home development in North Yorkshire. Here, local councils and Homes England brought in specialist partners such as infrastructure consultants, engineers, transport planners and environmental advisers at the earliest stages of these projects, well before planning applications had been submitted or funding finalised.

Frontloading this expertise can dramatically improve the chances of success, enabling local authorities and developers to consider long-term decisions whilst at the same time planning with precision to secure buy-in from delivery partners and de-risk highly complex developments from the outset.

Quite what decisions the government makes on future new towns remains to be seen. It is clear, however, that local authorities will be tasked with delivering on the government’s targets and, perhaps most importantly, shaping vibrant places where people will genuinely want to live, work and belong for generations to come.

A considered approach to new towns will be a good start.

Patrick Clarke is UK & Ireland masterplanning lead at AECOM​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​