“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, […]
Trebles all round! The Outer M25 is back
Anyone who has watched roads lobby dinosaurs placidly munching on their trunk road contracts even as Comet Climate Change approaches the Earth will not have been surprised by the Government’s decision to approve the destructive Lower Thames Crossing The road will add £9 billion to the country’s pointless debt mountain, investment which could have been used for acutely needed sustainable […]
A cold floodwater of reality
Happy New Year. Well, try anyway – we could do with a little happiness. But it won’t be secured by running away from some of the major challenges and threats that face us, for these are dangerous times. Many people are comparing the 2020s to the 1930s but, while that decade saw the rise of dangerous fascist dictators, we’re now […]
Economic growth – or resilience?
The prime minister’s speech to the International Investment Summit last week assured the wealthy folk who had flown so far in their private jets that he shared an ambition with them. Growth. Whether the “Masters of the Universe” were impressed or not, only time will tell. But just looking at the big shocks coming down the line, it’s at least […]
Just the future of civilisation. No pressure then.
In September 2023, two United Nations agencies published a report which is crucial to the future of both human civilisation and nature on this planet. It received precious little publicity. Synergy Solutions for a World in Crisis proposed we should make a start on tackling both climate goals and the UN’s 15-year old Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) together. Both climate […]