“Planning,” said RTPI chief executive Victoria Hills at the Labour conference, “is having a real moment.”That moment included an Institute roundtable with planning minister Matthew Pennycook which discussed things like the need for more planners and planning skills. But it also heard that “planning is an economic enabler”.Planning, of course, should be a key component in co-ordinating our sustainable economic, […]
New towns – a big threat to the countryside
New towns have always been a bit of a dangerously addictive drug in planning. Like narcotics, they initially promise a sweet, heavenly paradise, only to turn into destructive addictions that prove almost impossible to escape from. Any day now (it’s already late), the Government’s New Towns Taskforce will deliver its report on a fresh generation of mega-sprawl blobs. Its recommendations […]