From the Financial Times, Monday 5th September 2011.
"PLANNING REFORMS BOOST LOCAL POWER AND GROWTH, by Eric Pickles and George Osborne.
Planning reform is the key to our economic recovery. Opponents claim, falsely, the government is putting the countryside in peril. we say that sticking with the old failed planning system puts at risk young people's future prosperity and quality of life. No one should underestimate our determination to win this battle. We will fight for jobs, prosperity and our countryside,
Since the planning system was established in 1947, it has grown inexorably more complicated. Between 2005 and 2010, Whitehall issued some 3250 pages of guidance. As central prescription has burgeoned, the process has become more and more wasteful.
Today, planning delays cost the country £3 billion a year. It is twice as expensive to get planning permission in London's West End as in Paris., and 10 times more than in Brussels. In a global economy, where skills and capital`are more mobile than ever, our planning system is a deterrent to international investment, and a barriere to the expansion of home grown enterprise.
When planning acts as a break on growth, and on the much needed new jobs and new businesses, reform is imperative. Current policy runs to thousands of pages much written in technical detail. there is nothing democratic about a system that makes it virtually impossible for communities to understand how important decisions are made.
At the end of Labour's tenure, house building rates were at their lowest for generations. the average firast time buyer is already well into their thirties . a lack of new homes is sombre news for every young family waiting to get a foot on the ladder.
The house building slump was due to a range of factors, but a complex and adversarial planning system, which left many communities reasentful, was part of the problem. The aim of a National Planning Policy Framework is simple. The draft brings together the polixcy and principles that guide decisions about how our country should grow. It reduces policy from more than 1000 pages to under 100, and will pave the way for swifter, clearer decisions. In recent years, planning has come to be seen as a tool to say "no" to growth; as a means to delay and block. This goverment will change that. Insteasd of stopping development, we want to suport the right development. At the heart of the framework is a "presumption in favour of sustainable development."
This meanss the answers to proposals for reasonable, careful growth should be "yes," unless there are strong reasons to the contrary. A recent survey showed that a majority of the public support the idea of a simpler planning system and a presumption in favour of sustainable development.
Among the most vociferous in their calls for government to bring forward a growth plan have - surprise, surprise - been amomg the most vociferous opponents to one of its central planks. The goverment is ready to debate the framework based - based on facts, not myths. The idea that presumption in favour means that growth will be able to take place wherever, whenever and however is false. Protections for the green belt, for National Parks and areas of Outstanding National Beauty continue. The framework insists on high environmental standards and good design. Poorly designed and poorly located development is in no-one's interest.
Nor will our reforms give communities less say. On the contrary. We are abolishing the old regional strategies and housing targets. Councils will continue to exercise a vital role, drawing up plans for their areas.
Through neighbourhood planning, a key new right in the Locaklism Bill, communities will soon have the chance to say where they want new shops homes and businesses to go and what they should look like.
Reforming a slow and inefficioent planning system will be good news for the small businerss looking to expand;for the young family hoping for more affordable house prices; and for the community wanting to decide on their own future. this our opportunity to unlock the new investment and new jobs the country needs. We cannot afford to missit."
COMMENT: This is a work in progress. I intend to comment on the content, but I notice the piece is so badly written that, not only will I list all the mistakes, but I will also put forward a copy of the article, as it should have been written. Then I will comment on the content. There is a political reason for pointing out the mistakes. The mistakes indicate contempt for the electorate - any old nonsense will do!
Tom Smith, Monday 26th September 2011.
"PLANNING REFORMS BOOST LOCAL POWER AND GROWTH, by Eric Pickles and George Osborne.
Planning reform is the key to our economic recovery. Opponents claim, falsely, the government is putting the countryside in peril. we say that sticking with the old failed planning system puts at risk young people's future prosperity and quality of life. No one should underestimate our determination to win this battle. We will fight for jobs, prosperity and our countryside,
Since the planning system was established in 1947, it has grown inexorably more complicated. Between 2005 and 2010, Whitehall issued some 3250 pages of guidance. As central prescription has burgeoned, the process has become more and more wasteful.
Today, planning delays cost the country £3 billion a year. It is twice as expensive to get planning permission in London's West End as in Paris., and 10 times more than in Brussels. In a global economy, where skills and capital`are more mobile than ever, our planning system is a deterrent to international investment, and a barriere to the expansion of home grown enterprise.
When planning acts as a break on growth, and on the much needed new jobs and new businesses, reform is imperative. Current policy runs to thousands of pages much written in technical detail. there is nothing democratic about a system that makes it virtually impossible for communities to understand how important decisions are made.
At the end of Labour's tenure, house building rates were at their lowest for generations. the average firast time buyer is already well into their thirties . a lack of new homes is sombre news for every young family waiting to get a foot on the ladder.
The house building slump was due to a range of factors, but a complex and adversarial planning system, which left many communities reasentful, was part of the problem. The aim of a National Planning Policy Framework is simple. The draft brings together the polixcy and principles that guide decisions about how our country should grow. It reduces policy from more than 1000 pages to under 100, and will pave the way for swifter, clearer decisions. In recent years, planning has come to be seen as a tool to say "no" to growth; as a means to delay and block. This goverment will change that. Insteasd of stopping development, we want to suport the right development. At the heart of the framework is a "presumption in favour of sustainable development."
This meanss the answers to proposals for reasonable, careful growth should be "yes," unless there are strong reasons to the contrary. A recent survey showed that a majority of the public support the idea of a simpler planning system and a presumption in favour of sustainable development.
Among the most vociferous in their calls for government to bring forward a growth plan have - surprise, surprise - been amomg the most vociferous opponents to one of its central planks. The goverment is ready to debate the framework based - based on facts, not myths. The idea that presumption in favour means that growth will be able to take place wherever, whenever and however is false. Protections for the green belt, for National Parks and areas of Outstanding National Beauty continue. The framework insists on high environmental standards and good design. Poorly designed and poorly located development is in no-one's interest.
Nor will our reforms give communities less say. On the contrary. We are abolishing the old regional strategies and housing targets. Councils will continue to exercise a vital role, drawing up plans for their areas.
Through neighbourhood planning, a key new right in the Locaklism Bill, communities will soon have the chance to say where they want new shops homes and businesses to go and what they should look like.
Reforming a slow and inefficioent planning system will be good news for the small businerss looking to expand;for the young family hoping for more affordable house prices; and for the community wanting to decide on their own future. this our opportunity to unlock the new investment and new jobs the country needs. We cannot afford to missit."
COMMENT: This is a work in progress. I intend to comment on the content, but I notice the piece is so badly written that, not only will I list all the mistakes, but I will also put forward a copy of the article, as it should have been written. Then I will comment on the content. There is a political reason for pointing out the mistakes. The mistakes indicate contempt for the electorate - any old nonsense will do!
Tom Smith, Monday 26th September 2011.
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