Book excerpt: First Published in 1995. This book aims to consider the statutory planning policy system in Britain at the present time (1995) and predominantly takes as a starting point the development of the current processes in the period since 1989–90. The choice of time period for the study is deliberate and has been governed by two main issues. First, it coincides with the publication in 1989 of a government White Paper on the future of development plans. This paper had immense implications for the statutory planning system and effectively precipitated a new era for the future framework of planning policy. Secondly, 1990 marks the end of Margaret Thatcher’s period as Prime Minister and, since we are discussing British planning policy within the context of changing political climates, it is appropriate to assess the statutory planning process under John Major’s administration. The resultant essays which have been assembled therefore take the planning policy changes of the last five years as the focus of study and provide a context within which an in-depth analysis of inter-governmental planning relations may occur.