Planner bashing reality check

Posted 01/11/2012

When launching the consultation to get Britain Building again, there was a lot of rhetoric and headlines proclaiming that local authorities would have to justify their decisions or lose the right to determine planning applications. Having worked on both sides of the fence for the last 32 years I wondered if I had been living in a parallel universe as I was under the impression that either by means of the appeal system or judicial review, local authorities have had to justify their decisions and I was left wondering what further innovations were going to be introduced. I am still wondering.

One other proposed amendment was to increase the permitted development limits for householders. We cannot forever live the future through the past, but sometimes the prism of history provides some clues to the inevitable consequences of certain decisions. The evidence of 1970s extensions is everywhere, but it is hoped that the legislation can strike a balance between economic activity and aesthetics.

As the consultation period ends and the Government will no doubt issue the revised rules as originally conceived, one wonders how many years it will be before we have people bemoaning the legacy of the “Pickles Years”.