Kendal Civic Society

Tens of thousands of listed buildings and large swathes of the countryside could be destroyed after two key planks of the planning system were quietly dismantled by ministers.

In previously unreported plans, the Government is to downgrade protection on old buildings and those in conservation areas in order to "benefit developers" and "reduce the number of applications for planning permission rejected on heritage grounds".

The professional body representing town planners described the proposal as "unfit for purpose".

In a separate development, the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), a new quango that has been created to speed up planning decisions on "major infrastructure projects", was described as a threat to "valuable landscapes".

The changes to historic building protection are contained in a draft Government "planning policy statement" slipped out during the summer holidays.

It says local authorities should allow the demolition or alteration of historic buildings where the "material harm" caused to an area's heritage "is outweighed by the wider social, economic and environmental benefits of the proposed development”. It says this "is likely to benefit developers" by reducing the number of planning applications rejected.

Martin Willey, the president of the Royal Town Planning Institute, described the policy as "a charter for people who want to knock buildings down".

"This new guidance assumes that heritage stand in the way of development and economic recovery, which is patently untrue. Historic buildings and places are an asset, not a burden," he said.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said it had received more than 300 responses following consultation and would give "careful consideration to all the points and comments that have been made" when the draft was revised.

The IPC is made up of unelected commissioners who have been given 'draconian' new powers to grant planning permission, cancel Green Belt protection allow developers to seize private land, remove footpaths and close roads.

The vast majority of applications it will be asked to considered are expected to get planning permission. Two nuclear power stations and five wind farms are among the first it will assess.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England described the IPC as a "mockery of democracy" that will "threaten valuable landscapes".

Andrew Gilligan Daily Telegraph

“Over 600 Societies now exist in this country which should be superfluous and are not, simply because our standards of national and local government are inadequate.

They are the bodies that have sprung up - ominously, the number has trebled in 10 years - to defend what used to be a land of beauty unexcelled against a mixed force of foes the more dangerous many of them, for being blind to what they do. These enemies are public and private development, traffic and population pressure. As camp followers they bring apathy, lack of taste among officials, architects and planners and sheer conscienceless greed. Unless they are soon contained, little will be left in half a century....”

(Extract from the Society Newsletter July 1968 quoting the Daily Telegraph June 15th by S. J. Salfield)

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

Dear Mr. Darling,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing Britain's economy. Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan : There are about 20 million people over 50 in the work force. - Pay them £1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1. They MUST retire. Twenty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2. They MUST buy a new British CAR. Twenty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.
3. They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.
4. They must send their kids to school / college /university - Crime rate fixed
5. Buy £50 of alcohol / tobacco a week there's your money back in duty/tax etc

It can't get any easier than that!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back their falsely
claimed expenses and second home allowances.

NL0905

Why can’t we build new homes that are as good as the old ones?

There isn’t a lot of sticking power in the blocks of new flats that have been thrown up in the last few years - they are losing value as they age, rather than gaining it. It is depressing that, given the technological advances of the past 100 years, we are unable to design a more comfortable and popular machine for living than was available to the Edwardians. Instead we have made our little dwelling boxes smaller, with thinner walls and lower ceilings, to the point at which many people would rather not live in them. At the moment, the developers are trying to maximise profits by building smaller and smaller homes on less and less space, but still cannot sell them at a profit for the simple reason that these homes are not what people want to buy. Maybe a little less hysteria will result in better machines for living - spacious, modern homes we can be proud to pass on through the generations.

Rosie Murray-West

Daily Telegraph 13th September 2008.

NL0905