The planning trap

Planning laws are always a bone of contention whenever efforts are made to change them in a bid to expand development. People will always object. The so-called Nimby approach is blamed for holding up much-needed building projects and for the dearth of housing for a growing population. Successive governments have tinkered with the rules in an effort to force unwanted projects past local objections for the supposed greater good of the nation.

Robert Jenrick is the latest to fall into this trap. He envisaged using computer modelling to dictate where and how much housing should be built. The problem was that the algorithm favoured rural areas over urban and the South over the North. The backlash from Tory MPS, who are in an unusually rebellious mood so early in a parliament, has prompted a rethink.

The expectation is that the formula will be rebalanced to focus on building in towns and cities. This is as it should be. Brownfield sites should be developed before our countryside is concreted over. And concentrating investment in the South seems to work against the Government’s so-called “levelling-up” agenda, a point made recently by Theresa May, the former prime minister.

The whole approach must be reconsidered in any event because of the Covid pandemic. The impact of home working on city centres needs to be factored into any calculations. For instance, will there be a glut of empty commercial and retail properties that could be converted to residences, meeting housing requirements without new buildings? Many policies that were drawn up before the pandemic will need to be revisited. It is not a sign of weakness to do so.