Category Archives: Planning Panic

Bypassing politics won’t work

Posted on September 5, 2013 by David S Taylor

Today Sir John Armitt proposed the creation of an independent body to tackle Britain’s poor record on the planning and delivery of major infrastructure projects. Sir John has a strong pedigree, having chaired the Olympic Delivery Authority for the 2012 … Continue reading →

Posted in Planning, Planning Panic | Tagged , | 4 Comments

It’s not rubbish that needs more room

Posted on August 17, 2013 by David S Taylor

It’s easy to fall out of the habit of blogging.   Eric Pickles has enticed me back to the keyboard. Communities and Local Government Minister Eric Pickles wants to tackle the menace of multiplying bins on our streets.  He has … Continue reading →

Posted in all kinds of everything, Planning, Planning Panic | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Booming London gets new lines

Posted on May 15, 2013 by David S Taylor

More trains are coming online  – but plans for more planes are still up in the air. Yesterday the proposed routes for Crossrail 2 went into public consultation.  This £16bn project will create fast new north-south connections through the capital. … Continue reading →

Posted in Planning, Planning Panic, Transport, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Flight delayed

Posted on September 6, 2012 by David S Taylor

The Coalition and Labour want to defer a decision about London’s airports until 2015: it can’t wait that long Yesterday the Prime Minister announced an independent inquiry into the future of London’s airports.  Sir Howard Davies’s team will not report … Continue reading →

Posted in Planning, Planning Panic, Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chocks away!

Posted on September 4, 2012 by David S Taylor

The overdue debate on the future of London’s airports is finally taking off. I’ve been blogging for about a year, and my most consistent topic is transport and the need to take grown-up and very urgent decisions about the future. … Continue reading →

Posted in Planning, Planning Panic, Transport, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

New towns need a bigger dream than ‘green’

Posted on March 27, 2012 by David S Taylor

If desperately-needed new towns are to take root, and win popular support, planners need to come up with something more inspiring than carbon-neutral houses.  Derwenthorpe, near York, is a case in point. Launched by the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust in … Continue reading →

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Midlands mega-city proposed to ‘obliterate’ countryside

Posted on March 26, 2012 by David S Taylor

Yesterday The Sunday Telegraph revealed a plan to “exploit the new and highly controversial” National Planning Policy Framework” to build up to 100,000 homes on green belt land in the Midlands. This development would “obliterate the open countryside … to … Continue reading →

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Garden cities to stage leafy comeback?

Posted on March 20, 2012 by David S Taylor

A battle has broken out between town and country over the future of planning.  The government is trying to defuse the row by bringing back garden cities: planned communities designed to create a ‘joyous union’ between town and country. Yesterday … Continue reading →

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Economy can’t fly without airports

Posted on March 19, 2012 by David S Taylor

It is sixty-six years since a full-length runway was built in the South East of England. While Amsterdam-Schipol, Frankfurt and Paris have been adding miles more runway, Britain has held ten aviation inquiries since 1946 and gotten nowhere.  The coalition … Continue reading →

Posted in Planning, Planning Panic, Transport | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually.

Posted on January 20, 2012 by David S Taylor

Thinking about HS2… Twelve years ago I worked for West Coast Route Modernisation (WCRM) – the programme to increase speed and capacity on the world’s busiest mixed-use railway.  Basically, WCRM was about stitching together the messy compromises of a 150-year-old … Continue reading →

Posted in Planning, Planning Panic, Transport | Tagged , | 1 Comment