Recently in CPRE Category

Scrupulous followers of this blog (and yes, there are some - nearly 3,000 of you, I understand from my NBF at EG) will have seen that Alex Kendall has written to say that there is a bit of a barney breaking out (yet again) in the planning community, with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Council for Protection for Rural England (CPRE), among others, up in arms about changes to s70 of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act where she says "it seems that 'cash for sprawl' is the driving dynamic for the British Planning system".

She follows this up with a somewhat - uh - intemperate statement: "There is another name for selling favours for money!" This makes me smile. Gawd love her, since she always makes me look shy and retiring.  And she's been trying to bring this to my attention for some time.
 
And, indeed, it is widely reported that the RTPI  is "appalled" (another strong word) at the idea of a "cash for permissions measure" that could arise as, apparently, communities secretary Eric Pickles has taken the "controversial" step of tabling an amendment to the Localism Bill that would allow councils to accept government money for saying "yes" to development.   

Blimey! "Right to Build" is a novel idea alright!

What on this earth do you make of Grant Shapps this morning, announcing that the government plans to enable "villages" in England to build homes without seeking council planning permission?

The initiative aims to "provide small numbers of affordable homes in rural areas where high home prices are driving people away" and is "part of David Cameron's Big Society idea of allowing more decisions to be made locally".

Under the plan, villages would be able to form local housing trusts, and hold a referendum to decide if house building should go ahead.

A "large majority would be needed" apparently and on Radio 4 this morning, Mr Shapps said it would be "80 or 90 per cent" in cases of small developments of fewer than 20 homes. The Council for Protection for Rural England (CPRE) is, of course, up in arms (as far as I'm concerned this usually augurs rather well for any policy).

But I am frankly amazed. In this age of austerity, is this government seriously sanctioning (yet more) "rights" without responsibility. This is simply astonishing. Even more astonishing is that (it would appear from the press release) the policy has been cooked up entirely on the basis of the views of those in Essendon, a village in Hertfordshire, which, of course, happens to be in Mr Shapps's constituency.

Nobody is disputing that things need to be done differently in villages to shore up their vitality. But we all know how villages work. "Villages" will not make the decision.