Planning, Growth and Regeneration in England

Planning in England, and particularly in Southern England (an area stretching from the South East to Cheshire, albeit that some places in between are excluded !) is particularly problematic at the present time. This Government labours under some fallacious assumptions about the relationship between planning, growth and competitiveness which have proved remarkably resilient thus far to reality check. These assumptions have, by and large, been imported from the United States, and are based on the belief that the domestic economy can be continually grown through increased access to mortgage and other forms of consumer credit. The current crisis in the world's financial markets, itself largely brought about by the implosion of the US sub-prime home loans sector, is evidence that this is not a prudent fiscal strategy. However, our government's plans to increase housebuilding in the South of England are substantially founded on it. Another assumption imported from the US is that economic competitiveness is the beneficiary of a planning system which accommodates high vacancy levels, especially in the commercial property sector. Although again, over-supply of commercial, and residential, property in this country and the United States were important contributors to the previous global recession of the early 1990s.

In the above context, the current predicament of the West Midlands Regionals Spatial Strategy (WMRSS) Revision Preferred Option, which has in fact been hi-jacked by Central Government, provides an interesting point of reference. The Government believes that the West Midlands Regional Assembly's (incidentally WMRA is due to be abolished) plans for house-building in the period 2006-2026 are too low. Although, WMRA's risk assessment for its own proposals suggest that over-supply is more likely to be a problem than under provision. Moreover, the Government's intervention is not restricted to housing. The WMRSS Revision also covers employment land, transport and distribution and waste provision, all of which will have to reflect the increased numbers of housing proposed for the region. The outcome of all this is that the WMRSS Revision Preferred Option is unlikely to be sustainable in either economic or environmental terms. Furthermore, the WMRSS core strategy of "Urban Renaissance" (ie the regeneration of the 2 major conurbations in the West Midlands) is likely to undermined through excessive release of greenfield sites in counties such as Worcestershire, and even here greenfield sites may increasingly be developed before brownfield. In this scenario, the region would revert to the dispersal of economic activity and people away from the older urban areas. Isn't this also happening in the United States by a not-so-funny co-incidence ? So much for evidence-based policy making.

Please see also my blogs @

• http://limits-2-growth.blogspot.com (subtitled : Deconstructing the New Labout Project)
• http://smartlimits2growth.wordpress.com

One the Benefits of Health, Marriage and Family etc

In an interview with Channel 4 News's John Snow, an Islamic Cleric, since deported although his large family remain here, had the candour to say that he had enjoyed the benefits of living in Britain, including state benefits. Let's face it, at least he was being honest !

Now the Conservative Party have become very vociferous on the benefits of marriage and the family recently. I seem to remember that Ian Duncan Smith had to resign, in part, for employing his wife's administrative services, and, more recently, Derek Conway MP for paying his two sons (handsomely) as research assistants, although it wasn't clear that they had done any work.

Let's face it, Britain is a nation on the make where "state benefits" are concerned, whatever form these may take. Those in high office are just as culpable as those they regard as "the underclass", and so is just about every class in between.

I, for one, have become increasingly sympathetic to those claiming incapacity benefit, although I've never been a claimant myself, not yet anyway. However, I've found it so difficult to see an NHS doctor in recent years, that I'm seriously considering asking for a state medical, if such things exist these days. There might be some benefit in it for me after all !

We Are Not Being Served !

There has been a flurry (or should that be storm ?) of correspondence in my local paper recently about the wages of local government officers. Many feel these to be too high, and the upmarket vehicles on display in the council's car park are a particular gripe. My own view is that this is a difficult issue. Some council work does need to be well rewarded, to attract and retain high quality staff. However, the remuneration "package" for the new chief executive of said local authority was reported by a local councillor to be approaching £200K, which seemed rather steep, even by the standards of overpaid and under worked GPs.

I have to say that I was particularly unimpressed by a recent encounter with another new director (bearing the name "communities" in her job title) of the same council. A"stakeholder group" meeting for a major PFI project was in danger of being cancelled because of low attendance, so I thought I'd better go (in a voluntary capacity I hasten to add). The meeting was packed with paid staff from other local institutions, with rather fewer people, like myself, attending in the public interest. Needless to say, there was a great deal of waffle by the public sector cronies, and a few probing questions and points made from those attending in their own unpaid time.

At the end of it all, the new local authority director, a busty woman, bearing a passing resemblance to the character of Mrs Slocum in that classic British comedy series "Are You Being Served ?" - who'd spent a good deal of time fiddling with her earrings during the meeting (I'm sure you know the type !) - approached me to ask how I came to be in attendance (incidentally I was invited !) She clearly hadn't liked my contributions - obviously a reality check too far - and was obviously hoping to exclude me from future sessions, something I wouldn't mind, having only attended out of a sense of public service....and local authorities wonder why they can't attract high calibre councillors !

As for Mrs "Director" Slocum, I'm afraid she lacked both customer service skills and any sense of humour : both core competences for her position, I should think. Therefore, dock her pay, I say !