Is this possible? I mean Labour’s housing plan? Can it work? Labour is to announce locations for new towns and large urban expansions within a year of becoming the government. What happens when they do publish the new town sites? All hell will break out in these locations. Local councillors, especially the non-Labour ones; local … Continue reading Making Labour’s housing policy work

Wishing them success. Supporting the objective. Admiring their courage. All positive responses are not enough to endorse Labour’s plan to publish a list of new town sites within its first 12 months in government, in partnership with local people.The locations will selected by an expert independent task force appointed to ‘help choose the right sites’ … Continue reading Labour new towns policy. It is naive.

A rare event happened in the House of Commons today. The Prime Minister, in responding to the Langstaff report on the contaminated blood scandal covering a period twenty years, until around 1991 has offered the victims and their families an unequivocal apology for what he called a day of shame for the British state. Significantly … Continue reading Needs Thought?

The recent decision by the government to remove Lewis District Council’s planning powers and the reaction of the local council to this decision is a stark illustration of a deep rooted fracture in our planning system. Whose authority is paramount? The government whose legitimacy is they act in the national interest. Or local councillors who … Continue reading Local opposition to change