Nick Boles, the Planning Minister, has come under attack from former ministers, who said yesterday that his planning reforms risked being an “environmental disaster” and would create urban sprawl.
In response, Mr Boles said that it was vital councils developed local plans, setting out clearly where new homes can be built for the next five years.
He also warned that developers would not stop challenging decisions that they think do not accord with local or national policies.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
We say: Urban Sprawl? Sounds like something you’d see on Britain’s Got Talent. Or perhaps the problem here is that Britain isn’t applying its talent as well as it could. It sounds eminently sensible for councils to have a think about clearly setting out the “Computer Says Don’t Build” areas. And of course, it is inevitable that some developers will challenge some of those areas – but if the reasoning is sound enough in the first place – there shouldn’t be a problem, right?