Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
A recipe for conflict
02/08/2011 Government attempts to reform the planning system do little to resolve the different interests of developers and communities and may well lead to more court battles, says Nick Raynsford. |
|
Something old, something new
11/07/2011 Local fetes, festivals and concerts have made up the summer season in our communities for generations, so it is troubling that many voluntary groups face cuts to their funding, despite all the rhetoric about the Big Society, says Nick Raynsford |
|
Renaissance cities
01/06/2011 A report by the City Finance Commission sets out an agenda for reform designed to revive our cities as centres for economic growth. |
|
What price now for local referendums?
11/05/2011 The overwhelming rejection of AV last week, coupled with a low turnout, raises a question over the viability of more referendums outlined in the Localism Bill, says Nick Raynsford |
|
Stormy waters
06/04/2011 The flagship Localism Bill is having to steer a course between the rocks of unbridled development on the one hand, and the whirlpool of NIMBY-ism on the other, leading to delays in its implementation, writes Nick Raynsford |
|
Just figure it out
10/03/2011 Government claims that its new housing initiatives will create more homes and bring economic boost to communities are both touchingly naïve and misleading, claims Nick Raynsford |
|
A millstone for ministers
18/02/2011 As the Government’s flagship Localism Bill begins the committee stage in the Commons, Nick Raynsford highlights its shortcomings. |
|
The Localism Bill is full of holes
13/01/2011 Localism looks set to be the hot topic for political debate in the early months of 2011, says Nick Raynsford |
|
This Bill will be a battleground
16/12/2010 By its very name, the Localism Bill ought to command cross-party support, and yet is likely to be mired in controversy and argument, says Nick Raynsford |
|
A ship heading for the rocks
10/11/2010 The current Government’s attempts to make housing policy on the hoof will bring no comfort to the vulnerable people who depend on housing benefit, says Nick Raynsford |
|
An outbreak of foot in mouth
13/10/2010 The uproar over child benefit as well as pronouncements on housing, planning and Building Schools for the Future is symptomatic of ministers’ tendency to make policy on the hoof, argues Nick Raynsford |
|
Stop shouting from the rooftops
16/09/2010 Ministers are undermining confidence among housebuilders by their muddled announcements on housing and planning policy claims Nick Raynsford |
|
Tensions in the partnership
11/08/2010 How will the coalition government come to be defined and judged? Nick Raynsford looks at how public spending cuts could destabilise its equilibrium. |
|
Schools’ agenda gets a caning
14/07/2010 Nick Raynsford says that the secretary of state for education has wielded a heavy-handed and centralist stick which shows scant regard for the role and concerns of elected councils |
|
MPs select their new friends
16/06/2010 Nick Raynsford thinks the revamped select committee chair elections may prove a positive step towards greater accountability. |
|
Will the marriage last?
19/05/2010 Can the new national coalition government survive? asks Nick Raynsford |
|
Let’s get our House in order
25/03/2010 The recent demise of a private member’s bill extending scrutiny powers for local government is typical of the way party executives and their whips control Parliament and MPs, complains Nick Raynsford. |
|
Don’t upset the balance
03/03/2010 Radical Conservative plans to change the planning system could upset the delicate balance between the need for economic growth and the desire to protect the local environment, says Nick Raynsford. |
|
An own goal on spending
27/01/2010 Nick Raynsford pours scorn on Conservative Party plans to increase the nation’s housing stock by match-funding new council tax revenue on developments. |
|
A policy built on warm words
15/12/2009 Nick Raynsford questions Conservative Party policy over incentivising councils to grant more planning permission for housing. |
