Say bye-bye to Green Belts?
Boris Johnson’s “smash the system” approach to public policy is about to reach every street, town, village and field in the country including ‘Your Waverley.’
The Government is preparing to dynamite development controls and unleash market forces on us all , moving power from councils to developers and inflicting great harm on the built and natural environments. Just another step on from giving Inspectors’, not local people a say on what goes on around them.
While No 10 advisers like Dominic Cummins grab the headlines, it is Jack Airey who may well have the more lasting impact on our lives. As Johnson’s new adviser on housing and planning, Airey is leading the charge to strip local councils of meaningful control over local development. Just last month, in his role as head of housing at influential right-wing thinktank Policy Exchange, he published his manifesto, Rethinking the planning system for the 21st century.
Airey is undoubtedly right that the planning system is not fit for modern times. Fertile land is being gobbled up for ugly, sprawling, car-dependent, amenity-free housing developments
In Godalming Tales of the River Bank. New lakeside homes available in Cranleigh?
Poorly planned building on, or close to flood plains, is exacerbating the menace of floods. Sustainable Urban Drainage Schemes have been dubbed as “useless” even by Surrey County Council experts. Too few new buildings minimise their carbon footprint. Developers constantly dodge their obligations to build social housing. Planning decisions can take too long and the rationale can be opaque. But junking democratic accountability and putting developers in charge is not the answer.
Airey claims councils are saddled with too many policy objectives around development, often pulling in different directions. Of course there are conflicts, and it is the role of local and national politicians, accountable to voters, to do their best to resolve them. The outcomes will be inherently imperfect, but still superior to allowing the answers to be determined by those whose primary objective is to maximise profit.
Yes of course they are – They do not want people with local knowledge to interfere with planning – we are obviously too ignorant
They just want to get the numbers and say they are building New homes regardless if they are in the middle of a semi rural community with no Infrastructure to support it or better still in the middle of a flood plain.
It is a load of B****ocks… It is irrelevant if there is no Infrastructure, Schools, Medical facilities or let’s be honest decent transport
And about time someone with a pea of a brain told the Tories that they are WRONG – They will never get my vote again if they carry on with this wilful destruction of OUR countryside… I will have popped my clogs before this becomes an issue for the next generation – But we all have a responsibility to make sure we leave a decent planet for the Next Generation.
Boris should feel ashamed that he doesn’t look at the bigger picture – or in fact any picture that doesn’t include HIM!
I am so fed up of this Tory policy and Don’t get me wrong I am not convinced at the moment there are many other parties that are better.
I now understand why my parents left the UK in the 1970’s to give us a better life in Hong Kong after the mess Labour left us in – The Tories are going the same way.
What a mess…
As ever in Grumpiness
Denise
The Tories won’t be happy until all of our countryside is taken up by housing developments.
Sorry, not all of our countryside as I expect there will be no new housing estates anywhere near where a Tory MP lives.
Or, perhaps near the homes of developers? Perhaps someone should ask the Hon Angela, or the Hon Jeremy, after all they are our Members of Parliament. Representing our interests? Isn’t that what they told us just a few months ago?
The “Hons” ought to pay attention – If they don’t speak up for what locals want they hopefully will never be elected again – I know Boris has a majority but that does not mean he is unaccountable – for goodness sakes??
The lack of any accountability of either of our MP’s makes me wince. Thus far MP Richardson has done nothing to make me think she cares about this area at all – Has she visited the Flooded areas? has she engaged with the issues of over development in Cranleigh? NO – All have have seen thus far is that she talks about SMEs in Guildford – Really Not impressed.