I was interested to hear this morning’s reports that the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and National Trust are saying they could urge their millions of members “to take to the streets in demonstrations” over the Government’s attack on nature. It strongly takes me back to 2011-12, at a time England was threatened with having its planning guidance scrapped and replaced with […]
Time to work together
Much of the country is still reeling from Friday’s not-really-a-budget which also launched a disastrously unsustainable growth plan and an even bigger deficit on the nation. Nature conservation bodies, with their vast memberships, were quick off the mark expressing their surprise and anger and it’s great to see them returning to the fight. There are threats in all of this […]
Yes, It Maximises Builders’ Yields
It’s sometimes said the most effective conspiracies are those where all involved know what they need to do so well, they don’t actually need to conspire. I’m beginning to feel something of the sort is going on with the “yimby” movement, much of which has degenerated pretty much into a media campaign in support of the building and development industries […]
Crying all the way to the (land) bank
If the Government really was hoping the volume house builders would come to their aid, actually build-out the many homes for which they enjoy planning consent and deliver the promised 300,000 new-build homes a year, they are in for a nasty shock. It looks as if the approaching recession has forced builders back into land-banking mode. Much ink has been […]
The end of abundance
French president Emmanuel Macron made a speech on Wednesday that was little reported on this side of the Channel – which is a shame, because it may mark the beginning of a tidal change in western politics. Speaking at the French Cabinet, he warned that the tough economic times to come could mark the world facing a possible “end of […]
A planning puzzle
In a recent blog, I compared some decisions of the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) regarding zero-carbon development to an illness – Easter Island Syndrome – which drives a society towards its own degradation, or even destruction. The Planning Inspectorate has an Environmental Policy dated October 2021 which, under the heading “Reducing our emissions”, says: We will work to reduce the carbon […]
Green belt blues
Well, you live and learn. Did you know that, although around 12.4% of England is designated as green belt, it’s mostly poor quality scrubland? Did you know that building on green belt land is only unpopular thanks to a misconception that it involves concreting over the countryside? Did you know the Government has no desire to build more homes? That, […]
Emergency? What emergency?
We’re living in a time of emergencies – national and international – but you really wouldn’t think so from the way we’re going on. Now, accuse me of opportunism to pick a day like today to talk about emergencies if you like, but when would be a good time to talk about them given that they aren’t going to go […]
Brownfield-first just won’t go away
If vested interests are still attacking an environmental policy 10 years after it was abolished, you can be fairly sure it’s on the way back, whether they like it or not. I was struck by this thought when I read the new report from the Land Promoters and Developers Federation entitled Banking on Brownfield. And in case you’d like to […]
Urgent health warning!
This warning is being issued to alert the public to an acute and potentially lethal case of Easter Island Syndrome that has been identified at the Planning Inspectorate. For those of you unaware of the symptoms of Easter Island Syndrome, it involves the myopic rubber-stamping of activities and policies which, in combination and unless reversed, lead to environmental catastrophe and […]