It seems to be an infallible rule that new prime ministers disappoint those who supported them. Margaret Thatcher may have said: “You turn, the lady’s not for turning”, but even she was forced by reality into U-turns on things like the poll tax. Nowadays, governments have so circumscribed their freedom of action by neoliberal policies, their cherished ambitions hardly seem […]
It’s time for a national water grid
Thanks to much of England and Wales suffering from yet another hot and dry year, planning and control of water and wastewater has rapidly emerged as a key issue. Despite this, however, there’s a moaning and groaning sound emerging from Whitehall – the noise HM Treasury makes as it resists the now inevitable renationalization of the water industry. And despite […]
Manchester Labour, Liberals and Ism
What exactly is Manchesterism? And will it definitely mean a break with the neoliberal economics which have hurt everyone who isn’t megarich and have alienated so many from mainstream politics? Andy Burnham’s first speech as Labour leader made some big promises, many of them very welcome, so should we be optimistic? Sounding radical, he said Britain took wrong turnings in […]
A media phenomenon
A phenomenon familiar to anyone who’s ever worked in the press and media is some people’s ability to use their contacts to advance ideas that really have no substance. Planning history is littered with them – the “third garden city”, Hook New Town, the Buchanan Report or even the 1937 Master Plan for London which would have knocked most of […]
Election blues + red, green, gold, and turquoise
One can read too much into local election results, of course, but Labour leaders’ response to their electoral pounding suggests that, like the Bourbons, “they have learned nothing and forgotten nothing”. Keir Starmer will cling to power as long as he can, helped by Labour supporters who believe he should stay until Andy Burnham can secure a route to the […]
Sprawl’s Silver Jubilee
Given this country’s propensity for bad policy to flow out of Whitehall, I sometimes wonder if we should have jubilees celebrating the moment long-term destructive policies were launched. It’s coming up to the 25 year Silver Jubilee of John Prescott’s defenestration and destruction of his powerful Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, following the 2001 general election. A […]
When is a “new town” not a new town?
While international analysts pick over the combatants’ ambitions in the Iran conflict, Smart Growth UK has been looking at what the Government imagines it’s achieving with its “new towns” policy. Those inverted commas are significant. Our report examines the New Towns Taskforce recommended sites for 12 “new towns” and finds them to be a bizarre mixture of the greenfield sprawl […]
Another fine mess
The news that MHCLG ministers couldn’t even wait to get their wretched Planning & Infrastructure Bill through Parliament before announcing another tranche of attacks on England’s planning system will surprise no-one who read about the frequent visits of developer lobbyists to the ministry to drink its coffee and to demand more. The latest thousand bomber raid was even graced with […]
Planning’s “real moment” – a dangerous one
“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 […]