Planning ahead

Ministers cannot have it both ways. Either they support local authorities taking key planning decisions – or they do not.

As the response, by both the last Labour administration and the current government, has indicated, major infrastructure projects will continue to play a crucial role in kickstarting the economy – growth remains both essential and elusive in equal measure.

Yet there is a world of difference between schemes, such as new nuclear power stations and railway lines, and moderately-sized housing developments that, strictly speaking, should be a matter for the council concerned. And, while many endorse the streamlining of existing rules, ostensibly in the name of “sustainability”, Ministers have a problem when the definition of this term is open to so many interpretations. Given this, they should think again.