Despite the imminent departure of Tony Blair, his government's centralising tendencies show no signs of going away. A White Paper on reforming the planning process was presented to Parliament yesterday by the Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly.
Planning is an inescapably controversial process. And "nimbyism" can indeed be a factor in holding up necessary infrastructure projects. Between October 2006 and February this year only a third of applications for onshore wind farms were approved, as compared with three-quarters of all major planning applications. But that does not mean that the present system is broken. Wind farms are being built. And it is quite right that the objections of local people are being taken into consideration where appropriate. continue...
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