We, the undersigned persons and organisations, having participated in a conference convened by the Town and Country Planning Association on 13 July 1996, or having subsequently considered these matters, hereby declare in the public interest that planning principles and procedures must accord with the following Charter. We call upon all relevant community, political and professional organisations to endorse this charter and to commit themselves to comply with it.

Ecological sustainability must be a primary criterion for the establishment of planning policy.

Planning policy must seek economic efficiency, in the sense of returning the greatest possible good to the community, to the extent that this may be consistent with ecological sustainability and other agreed objectives.

Planning policy must aim to give all members of the community equal access to benefits and facilities, to the extent that this is practicable and consistent with their own desires and capacities.

1.3 This is applicable to transport, parklands, health, educational, cultural and all other facilities.

Planning policy must aim to provide quality of life through social interaction, variety of experience, cultural depth and aesthetic satisfaction.

Planning policy must aim to maximise the amenity enjoyed by the relevant property owners and occupiers, neighbours, and the community at large.

Planning policy must foster good landscape, urban and architectural design.

Planning policy must protect natural assets including parkland, rural land, coasts, creeks, rivers, wetlands, flora and fauna.

Planning policy must ensure the conservation of the cultural significance of all places.

The planning process must serve the common interest.

The planning process must treat owners and occupiers of land in an equitable manner. The planning process must give equal weight to the interests of current and future generations.

Changes of planning philosophy must occur in an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary manner. Individual planning decisions must be made on a consistent and, so far as practicable, a predictable basis.

The planning process must be responsive to the needs and views of the community. It must provide for public participation and be open to the scrutiny of the community at all stages.

Individuals or groups must not be prevented by technical, administrative or financial barriers from exercising their legitimate roles in the planning process.

The reasons for planning decisions, the evidence upon which they are based, and the principles applied, must be readily accessible to the public in an easily comprehensible form.

Planning administration must be independent of political interference except where policy decisions are superimposed at the behest of democratic government, or in cases of genuine emergency.

Planning decisions must honour national and international commitments, consistent with this charter.

Planning decisions must not curtail or remove the existing rights of owners or occupiers without compensation.

Planning decisions which accord development rights to property owners should include a betterment tax which captures the unearned increment and returns it to the community.

• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites (The Venice Charter) (1965).
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) (1971).
• WCED Legal Principles for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (1987).
• Vienna Convention on Ozone Layer (1985) including the Montreal Protocol (1987).
• Charter on the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Areas (The Washington Charter) (1987).
• European Charter of Pedestrians' Rights (1988).
• Delhi Declaration on the Safety of the Vulnerable Road User (1992).
• Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) and the associated Agenda 21.
• Biological Diversity Convention (1992).
• Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992).

Planning legislation must provide an effective and democratic mechanism for the management of all changes in land use, consistent with the goals of this charter.

Planning policies should be framed at a state level, having regard to all applicable national policies, treaty obligations, and related state policies already in existence, and these policies should be developed at a regional and a local level.

The purpose of a plan is to provide a just and effective mechanism by which policy objectives are implemented in relation to specific local conditions.

The decision-making process must allow for public input where any social, environmental or material effect is likely to result, and the assessment and the decision must be taken by a body independent of the proponent, user or developer.

A planning proposal must be properly notified to those who may be affected; adequate information about it must be readily available; and sufficient time must be provided for response.

The appeal process must enable any interested party to be satisfied that planning decisions are made in accordance with the principles of this charter.

The environmental or social effect of a planning policy or action must be evaluated before a decision is taken. Where the effect may be significant, the evaluation must take the form of a comprehensive and objective environmental and social impact assessment.

Government intervention in the decision-making process may occur under only two conditions. The first is where the actions of other authorities or parties threaten to delay, frustrate or bias planning decisions, in which case the intervention must be challengeable at law. The second is where government is willing to offer mediation, financial or other assistance which may help to resolve an issue without disadvantage to the principal parties.

The financial consequences of acquiring land, rezoning land, and of other such planning decisions, must be the subject of competent, independent and publicly accessible assessment as the basis for any financial compensation, assistance, betterment tax, levy or similar transaction which may ensue.

Public assets should be disposed of only when not required by the community concerned, and with due recompense to that community.

Environmental standards must be defined and enforced objectively, for the good of the community at large.

Realistic targets must be set for the achievement of economic, environmental and social objectives.

The administration and regulation of land use must be based so far as is practicable upon performance standards which take into account the real effects of the use in terms of economic, environmental and social impacts, and of amenity, where these can be measured.

Planning policy must seek to conserve and rehabilitate natural areas.

Planning must seek to limit the spread of urban development onto rural land, and more especially to land of high economic, natural or cultural value.

Land uses should be arranged to minimise the need for travel.

Land use and development must be integrated with the necessary systems of transport for people and goods, and on the basis that these systems must be in turn compatible with the ecological and other principles identified above.

Planning must proceed upon the basis that urban areas are provided with appropriate and sufficient open space for the provision of light and ventilation, psychological relief, aesthetic enjoyment, recreation, nature conservation and other community requirements.

Planning decisions must accord with the objectives of long term strategy plans.