BBC: "Showing paintings of British suburban houses to Saudis"

Link to BBC web site

"From LS Lowry's matchstick factory workers, to a haunting depiction of Stonehenge in winter - dozens of works of art have gone on show in Riyadh to try to depict the UK's landscape and people to Saudis.

"The art in the exhibition 'Out of Britain' is dominated by landscapes and abstract compositions - rather than works displaying human form. Selections were made by five Saudi curators, with help from the British Council. Take a look with the council's visual arts director, Andrea Rose."

IEA: "Only liberalisation of land use planning system can address affordability crisis"

Link to IEA web site

"... In summary, there is overwhelming empirical evidence that planning restrictions have a substantial impact on housing costs. It is also fully plausible, albeit not (yet) definitely confirmed, that planning restrictions play a much more important role than scarcity of developable land, be it due to topographic obstacles or past development.

Even in very densely populated and built-up places, regulatory restrictions have been found to be important determinants of housing costs. If such evidence can be found for Manhattan and Hong Kong, then there is hardly any place in Britain where housing shortages could be blamed on scarcity of space. High housing costs are a self-inflicted problem.

"...  Opinion surveys show strong resistance to development, which allows the anti-development lobby to present their views as fully in accordance with the public mood. But this is not the least surprising given that these surveys bear no resemblance to real-world decision-making processes, which involve opportunity costs and trade-offs. They are no more meaningful than asking ‘would you prefer to get up two hours later in the morning’ or ‘would you prefer to work closer to home’: other things equal, how could the answer be in the negative? 

What matters is the choice people make when faced with real-world opportunities, facing the benefit and (opportunity) cost of each, and making trade-offs. Unless the planning system moves a lot closer to a decision-making process of this type, there will be no lasting solution to the housing affordability crisis."

Sunday Telegraph: "Middle England goes to war as the National Trust fights planning reforms"

Link to Sunday Telegraph

"Dame Fiona Reynolds has given the Prime Minister a bloody nose. She wouldn’t put it like that, being a woman who likes to win her battles with cream teas and a smile, but the fact is that the director general of the National Trust and her allies have just forced the Government to rewrite the rules on planning development, preserving swathes of the countryside.

"'They listened and we thank them for it,' says Dame Fiona, sitting in the ultra-modern, environmentally-friendly offices of the National Trust in Swindon. The fight is not over yet. 'We won’t leave it alone now. We will be watching what happens next, and playing our part'."

London Stock Exchange: "Green belt vow in planning shake-up"

Link to web site

"The Government has insisted that the green belt will remain protected under long-awaited reforms to the planning system.

"Planning minister Greg Clark said protection of the green belt and putting high streets and town centres first are national requirements which protect everyone."

Sunday Telegraph: "Radical planning powers are to be unveiled by ministers"

Link to Sunday Telegraph

"The planning framework will be published on Tuesday by ministers who want a new age of 'pro-growth' planning. It was described by one Whitehall source last night as 'the most radical business deregulation there has ever been'.

"Meanwhile, new official figures analysed by The Sunday Telegraph show that two million homes are expected to be built by 2020, to meet demand fuelled by a massive population rise.

"... London itself would have a 'second Docklands' development in the west of the city, said High-Speed-Two chief engineer Prof Andrew McNaughton."

The Independent: "'Visit Britain' could soon become a much harder sell"

Link to The Independent

"... George Osborne – and let us be clear, it is Mr Osborne who is driving the policy, not the man ostensibly in charge of planning, the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles – is sweeping away [protection of the countryside] and replacing it with nothing.

"And it's not only in PPS7. It's also in Planning Policy Statement 4, paragraph 10: the Government's aim is to achieve:

'inclusive and locally distinctive rural communities, whilst continuing to protect the open countryside for the benefit of all.' 

That's being swept away as well."

The Guardian: "Roger Tichborne, blogs at Barnet Eye: 'Crime is on the rise'"

Link to The Guardian

"To watch the sun set over St Joseph's college from the Mill Field in Mill Hill is probably one of my greatest secret pleasures. St Joseph's college is a local landmark, and this is probably the most spectacular view of it. It was a training centre for the Mill Hill Missionaries until they sold it. It has been slowly falling apart ever since, making the odd appearance as a film set, most recently in Call the Midwife."

Daily Telegraph: "Opponents to planning reforms are Nimbys, says IoD head Simon Walker"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, said that the Government should stick with its reforms to boost house building and bring down prices.

"Ministers want to replace over 1,200 pages of planning guidance with a new 52 page document called the National Planning Policy Framework to clear away red tape and to stimulate development and economic growth.

"Campaigners including the National Trust are worried that the plans will put communities at risk of large scale development [in] parts of rural England."

Daily Telegraph: "Getting planning right"

Link to web site

"After months of debate, the Government will shortly respond to the consultation exercise on its draft 'National Planning Policy Framework'.

"...  A streamlined planning policy that is more accessible to the public – and better reflects the competing interests of the economy, the environment and communities – is what everyone should be striving to achieve."

---

Link to Daily Telegraph:
"Forced to build on brownfield sites before the countryside"

The Independent: "Planning reforms would not promote growth, says report"

Link to web site

"A report commissioned by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the National Trust, and the RSPB claims there is no evidence that planning has large effects on productivity or employment, and that the draft National Planning Policy Framework is unlikely to have much effect on growth.

The report, prepared by Vivid Economics, also found that, although there have been a few studies of the costs of the planning system, the resulting claims have been overstated – and very little has been done to measure the benefits that good planning delivers.

Evening Standard: "Saracens: Our new stadium will tie us to community"

Link to Evening Standard

"The boss of Saracens rugby club today vowed to create a 'unique' community stadium in north London if its plans for a new home are approved by Boris Johnson.

"The Aviva Premiership champions have been given permission by Barnet council to move to the Copthall stadium in Mill Hill as part of an £18 million redevelopment. But community and environmental groups say the plans, which would increase the capacity to 10,000, would damage the surrounding green belt."

Anti-Saracens campaigners fight back

Link to 'Copthall Community Initiative'

"We believe Saracens' proposal is wrong for a number of reasons. Copthall is used by the community, amateur sport and the simple pleasures of walking and enjoying the open space. It's part of the 'lungs of London', Green Belt, and the wrong site for up to 10,000 people to come and just sit and watch thirty or so professionals play rugby.

"But worst of all will be the effect on the stadium itself. Four of the running tracks will be out of use for most of the year, and the new indoor facilities, if they're built, could well be partly takem up [sic] by Saracens' souvenir shop, hospitality suites and a restaurant. Is that what we want for our young athletes and schools?"

---

Link to Barnet Times:

"Campaigners confident Saracens' Copthall plans will be stopped".

'State of the Suburbs'

"More than 80 per cent of us live in areas that can be classified as suburban and yet ‘suburbs’ have played a secondary role in regeneration and urban policy. In this publication, we have deliberately set out to contend that ‘city-suburbs’ – to give them a label that more accurately reflects their economic, social and environmental impact today – are an organic and correlative part of inner urban centres and the vitality of the city-region.

As such, the suburban agenda needs to be defined clearly by those that lead suburban boroughs, their city-region counterparts, their city-region partners and central government policy makers. The London Borough of Barnet – itself a suburb - together with the Leadership Centre for Local Government and partners the New Local Government Network and the Academy for Sustainable Communities have commissioned this publication – an analysis of our suburbs today – in order to start the debate."

Leo Boland, London Borough of Barnet, chief executive

(yes. this is a pre-credit crunch report)

Link to 'State of the Suburbs'

"Government policies for sustainable development and, crucially, for sustainable communities, could be seriously compromised if the role of suburbs continues to be overlooked. As Richard Rogers argues:  

“Urban renaissance needs to spread out beyond our city centres…Architects and planners have often neglected, or even derided, suburbs,” (R Rogers, 2006).

"An attitudinal shift was needed to promote an urban renaissance: away from regarding cities as problem areas to be avoided, and towards viewing them as vital engines for a sustainable society and economy. Similarly, we need a cultural shift away from regarding suburbs as isolated and self-sufficient entities. Instead, we should see them as organic extensions of the urban system, deserving as much attention as their inner urban centres. ...

"... We highlight some of the key features of a suburban quality of life, exploring the common perception that suburbs offer a better quality of life and hold many inherent advantages over inner urban areas, therefore not meriting special attention. Our analysis shows that, while the story is mixed, suburbs do provide a range of quality of life assets, including:

• Healthier lifestyles
• Lower crime rates
• Good and accessible local services/amenities
• Decent although unaffordable housing
• Good transport and connectivity

Barnet 'Spider Chart'
(click to enlarge)

Case study: Barnet

"Barnet is a north London borough that closely identifies with its city-suburb profile. In fact, its sustainable community strategy and long-term vision (2006) is entitled 'Barnet: a first class suburb' and is a strategy that reflects the relationship it has with the capital and the issues that can arise out of an area in demand by inner-London professionals.

"For a London borough, Barnet offers a relatively good quality of life, with long life expectancy alongside a high level of connectivity and good amenities.

"One of the downsides is the high level of out-commuting, as many of the borough’s residents travel daily to their highly paid jobs in central London.

"Barnet is typical of many suburbs, where a high proportion of professionals commute out each day to work. This is made possible by a relatively efficient transport system and generally good connectivity. However, many commuters also use their cars and, consequently, we see above average levels of traffic congestion.

"Commuters also experience long travel-to-work times – in Barnet’s case, amongst the longest in the country. Preserving a high quality of life offer, while dealing with the impact of commuting – both for families and the environment – is one of the biggest challenges for ensuring sustainable suburban community strategies."

CONCLUSIONS

The future of suburbs

"More than eight in 10 people in England live in areas classified as suburban. Their future should be of as much concern to policy makers as it is to the businesses that operate in the suburbs and the communities that live in them. 

"We believe a shift of emphasis is required in urban policy, ensuring more priority is given to the suburban agenda. This will require a change in the conception that suburbs have a one-way dependency on their urban centres. Our analysis suggests a much greater interdependence, with the city and its suburbs each contributing in different ways to the economic vitality of the city-region. 

"Pushing suburbs up the political and policy agenda is timely in a number of ways. The city-centric approach to urban renewal has led to significant investment and some major improvements in town and city centres. However, in many cases, a step outside specific regeneration projects still reveals many urban problems. 

"Suburbs can play a part in achieving a more holistic approach to urban regeneration. Wider partnership-working, to include suburban policy, may help to encourage a more integrated and coherent approach to the future of city-regions."

Saracens Mill Hill plan approved by Barnet Council

Link to Saracens web site

"Reacting to the unanimous decision by Barnet Council Planning and Environment Committee [2 February] to approve plans to revive Barnet Copthall Stadium, Saracens chairman Nigel Wray said:

"After 18 months of engaging extensively with local residents, we are delighted that Barnet Councillors have approved our proposals to revive Barnet Copthall Stadium and create a vibrant sports hub for the local community.

The new stadium will provide both a real home for Saracens and a hugely improved venue for athletics in the south east. It will secure the future of the highly successful Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers and offer great facilities free of charge to local schools.

Our plans include the installation of an artificial turf pitch, which may well be the future of rugby. It could enable a faster, safer and more entertaining game and will certainly enable the local community to use the pitch for 349 days per year.

Copthall will, we promise, be a genuine community stadium. We will continue to work closely with the local community, and make Copthall an asset that we can all be proud of."

---

Link to Barnet Times:
"Barnet Council approves Saracens's move to Copthall".

Approved schedule of work

Link to Barnet Planning (application H/04017/09)

Demolition approved by Barnet

Planning application H/04655/11 is available on-line.

From this...

To this!

Daily Telegraph video: "Simpler and more accessible planning system needed, says minister"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"A report by the Local Government Committee looking at the Government's planning reforms has suggested that the reforms are biased in favour of developers.

"The Prime Minister wants to stimulate growth and cut red tape by cutting 1,300 pages of planning guidance to just 52 in the new National Planning Policy Framework."

BBC: "Rewrite planning rules to end 'confusion', say MPs"

Link to BBC web site

"MPs are calling on the government to rewrite its controversial changes to planning rules in England, removing the default 'yes' to development.

"Ministers say a simplified planning system is needed to boost growth and encourage sustainable development.

"But the Commons communities committee says in a report that a 'fetish' with streamlining the planning process could slow it down by creating ambiguity."

Independent on Sunday: "The true scale of Britain's woodland sell-off"

Link to Independent on Sunday

"Thousands of hectares of Britain's forests have been sold off by the Forestry Commission (FC), as it struggles to meet financial targets imposed by successive governments.

"A detailed inventory of woodland sold off by the FC, which is charged with protecting our forests for future generations, shows that it has raked in millions from sales to private companies, many of which hold licences to carry out logging. Campaigners complain that several buyers have barred the public from newly acquired woodland, despite signing legally binding contracts saying they will preserve traditional rights of access.

Daily Telegraph: "Countryside at risk under latest plans to downgrade planning laws"

Link to web site

"George Osborne, the Chancellor, is expected to announce a review of the Habitats Regulations that protect huge swathes of precious landscape.

"... Sources close to the Department for the Environment believe the review will bring the regulations in line with the controversial National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and propose a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ over rules of strict regulations.

"Mike Clarke, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said the habitats regulations have protected the countryside for almost 20 years."

The Independent: "Call for new towns on Green Belt"

Link to web site

"MINISTERS should allow new towns to be built on Green Belt land around the edge of cities to deal with Britain's housing crisis, a think-tank with close links to David Cameron recommends today.

"In a controversial report, Policy Exchange claims that the green belt is having negative effects on the economy and quality of life.

"... Critics are likely to seize on its recommendations as evidence that parts of the Government secretly wants to go much further than the current system allows and scrap the highly symbolic concept of the green belt altogether.

"But report’s author argues that the green belt planning restrictions which date back to 1935 are out of date."

24dash.com: "L&Q and Countryside Properties picked for 600-home Dollis Valley regeneration"

Link to 24dash.com

"Countryside Properties, working in conjunction with housing association L&Q, has been selected by London Borough of Barnet as its preferred partner, for the proposed regeneration of the Dollis Valley housing estate in Chipping Barnet.

"The selection is subject to the council’s formal scrutiny process. The proposals, which are based on a masterplan design by Alison Brooks Architects and HTA Architects, would involve the construction of approximately 600 new, mixed-tenure homes in a wide range of designs and sizes to suit the differing needs of families."

Daily Telegraph: "Stop this planning free-for-all, National Trust warns"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Dame Fiona Reynolds of the National Trust argues that other countries that have embarked on radical deregulation of the planning system, such as Ireland, Greece and Spain, have been plagued by economic crises.

"Ministers should not be tempted by the 'lure of the quick fix' to allow unrestrained development that would have dire consequences for generations to come, she says.

"Dame Fiona issues the warning in The Daily Telegraph as she prepares to hold talks with Prime Minister on controversial planning reforms that would make it easier for major developments to be approved. Campaigners fear the proposals could lead to the destruction of large parts of the countryside."

Daily Telegraph: "Hands Off Our Land: the 'huge' lobbying war chest behind the builders"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Sir Simon Jenkins, the National Trust’s chairman, said the 'fingerprints' of rich builders were all over the planning reforms, which campaigners say will give developers carte blanche to build on large parts of rural England. 

" 'We are up against some very rich and powerful people,' he told MPs on a Commons committee investigating the planning reforms. His comments come amid growing concerns about the influence of lobbyists and business figures on ministers and government policy."

Daily Telegraph: "MPs to air planning law reforms frustration"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"MPs will get their first chance to vent their constituents’ frustration with the Government’s controversial changes to the planning laws in Parliament this week.

"House of Commons business planners have scheduled a 'General debate on National Planning Policy Framework' on the floor of the House of Commons for Thursday."

BBC: "A Point of View: In praise of wind turbines"

Link to BBC Web site

The countryside is often a man-made landscape, not a natural idyll, and wind turbines are just part of that tradition, writes Will Self.

"It was that arch-conservative GK Chesterton, inveighing against the rural purists of his own era, who said:

"The artificial is, if anything older than the natural. ... In the middle of the wildest fields, the most rustic child is, ten-to-one, playing at steam engines."

"He understood intuitively what the work of Oliver Rackham, that great historian of the British countryside, subsequently established factually - that the pattern of land use we see the length and breadth of these isles is as much a human artefact as Stephenson's Rocket."

Daily Telegraph: "Planning minister Greg Clark faces opposition from his own council in Tunbridge Wells"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Conservative-controlled Tunbridge Wells Borough Council this morning voted to accept a report from its own planning officials calling for reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework.

"The study will now be sent to Mr Clark, who is MP for Tunbridge Wells, at the Department of Communities and Local Government ahead of the ending of a consultation on the reforms on Monday.

"The draft NPPF, which distils 1,300 pages of planning guidance into as few as 52, writes into planning rules a new “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, without defining clearly what it means."

Barnet-on-Sea

Link to BBC web site

"Semi-detached houses with gardens, clothes drying in the courtyards, walls and well-made streets - Pavlopetri epitomises the suburban way of life. Except that it's a Bronze Age port, submerged for millennia off the south-east coast of Greece.

"This summer it became the first underwater city to be fully digitally mapped and recorded in three dimensions, and then brought back to life with computer graphics."

Mill Hill East plan gets planning permission

Click above for overall plan (PDF file from 2009)
The dustcart depot is bottom-centre.

The Inglis Consortium a group of landowners (comprising VSM Estates, Annington Property and the London Borough of Barnet) has received outline planning permission from the London Borough of Barnet for the redevelopment of its new ''Millbrook Park' ['Mill Hill East' to anyone else] development in London. The site is now expected to be sold on as a phased development. 

Further details, and web site.

Sunday Telegraph: "Bill Bryson warns the Coalition against turning England into a suburban nation"

Link to Sunday Telegraph

"Bill Bryson, US-born, British resident, incurably Anglophile, is warning that the country he loves is at risk of turning into the country he is from thanks to the Government's proposed reforms to the planning laws:

"Where I grew up, in Des Moines, Iowa, there is hardly any downtown economic activity now. Everybody shops in malls – you don't find a sense of community in malls. The solution, he suggests, lies in building on brownfield sites, or in Britain's 'very appealing, liveable towns' – with their existing infrastructure and unoccupied properties.

The Government talks as if the planning system is an impediment to growth. I would say it stops foolish or greedy people being rapacious to the built environment."