Town and Country Planning articles from January 2001

Town and Country Planning archives from January 2001

But is it a policy?
January 1, 2001... `You wait 20 years for a comprehensive policy statement on our towns and cities and then two come along at once.' This response, heard at a recent conference, is hardly insightful, but does indicate just how far away we are from a `joined-up'...

How much better than no bread?
January 1, 2001... The Urban White Paper, promised more than 18 months ago in response to the Urban Task Force's Final Report, may contribute towards the renaissance of our cities -- but not nearly as much as the Task Force called for, says TCPA Policy Council...

Action, but not quite a strategy.
January 1, 2001... The Rural White Paper is not about strategy so much as it is about short- to medium-term action, but it is impressive in its strength of commitment, in the range and detail of its measures, and in its arrangements to make them stick, says TCPA...

For the Record.
January 1, 2001... November * The DETR issued the Government's strategic programme to tackle climate change, Climate Change: UK Programme (www.environment.detr.gov.uk/ga/07.htm), focusing on shifting to more sustainable patterns of energy generation and...

TCPA issues special briefing on severe flooding.
January 1, 2001... Responding to the recent severe flooding in many parts of the UK, the TCPA issued a `special briefing' paper on the topic, examining the real causes and the changes in policy and practice needed to cope better in the future. There is no...

Urban White Paper may lead to too many partnerships.
January 1, 2001... `Too many partnerships and not enough accountability is the main risk of the Government's proposals,' was the response of TCPA Director Gideon Amos to the Urban White Paper. The TCPA wants to see a genuine urban renaissance, but doesn't...

Local authority planners needed.
January 1, 2001... The TCPA encourages members to come forward for co-option to fill vacancies on the Policy Council, which meets six times per year and reports to the Board of Trustees. The Policy Council develops the Association's policy and steers much of its...

New staff at the TCPA.
January 1, 2001... Robert Shaw, who graduated with a Diploma in Town Planning from Cardiff University and has working experience from Dortmund University and from working with environmental consultants Aspinwalls, will be joining the TCPA full time as Policy...

Join the TCPA online at the `WebShop'.
January 1, 2001... The Association's website has recently undergone major restructuring and now features direct access to online documents and planning resources, as well as a full text advanced search engine. The Association has also opened the TCPA WebShop,...

Real World 2.
January 1, 2001... Shortly before the last general election, the Real World Coalition, an alliance of leading organisations campaigning on sustainability and social justice issues, of which the TCPA is a member, published The Politics of the Real World, analysing...

London meeting space for hire to members.
January 1, 2001... The TCPA's Board Room, which can accommodate 30 persons theatre-style, is available for hire to TCPA members. Situated in the heart of London, close to good public transport connections, the TCPA's offices overlook The Mall and St James's Park....

Fringe benefits.
January 1, 2001... Colin Ward on the urban fringe `Edgelands of promise' Plenty of us have vivid memories of the TV version of Marion Shoard's book This Land is Our Land (Paladin, 1987, re-published with an update by Gaia Books, 1997), and the sight of her...

Goodbye to old certainties.
January 1, 2001... Martin Stott on community strategies and unchartered territory for planning and economic development practitioners It is a time of change for economic development practitioners. The old certainties of the past decade are being swept away...

Knowing if the price is right.
January 1, 2001... Sally Cairns on the need to unravel the complexity of travel costs to allow direct comparisons to be made between different modes The fuel protests have highlighted that there is widespread public dissatisfaction with the costs of motoring....

Re-shaping the nation through the train game.
January 1, 2001... The Strategic Rail Authority's strategy could help shape the future geography of Britain, says Peter Hall It's time to play trains -- seriously. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is due to publish its delayed, eagerly-awaited strategy; it...

Gold, frankincense, and mud.
January 1, 2001... David Lock on some mostly unwelcome Christmas gifts Christmas will be long gone by the time this is read, but it was a season during which there was an abundance of exotic gifts. The Human Rights Act (HRA) has impacted upon the planning...

Emerging with credit.
January 1, 2001... Although much of it is aspirational, the White Paper has undoubted strengths, says Brian Robson We can now stop holding our breath, if somewhat hesitantly. The White Paper necessarily covers a huge field, and much of it is aspirational,...

The radical agenda remains untouched.
January 1, 2001... The many programmes summarised in the White Paper are beginning to make an improvement to some town and city centres, but the serious job has not yet begun to be tackled, David Lock We can understand collective amnesia in the civil service,...

Convincing the community.
January 1, 2001... If existing urban dwellers are to accept more development to meet the housing need, they need to be the ones who identify the trade-offs and ensure intensification is sustainable, says Lesley Punter During my work for the Urban Task Force,...

Recognising the need for positive action.
January 1, 2001... Martin Pope of Boots The Chemists finds insufficient recognition of retailing's role in the urban renaissance within an otherwise largely encouraging Urban White Paper `Comment on the long awaited Urban White Paper' was the brief from the...

Countryside protection or economic revitalisation?
January 1, 2001... Ivan Turok finds questions hanging over the Paper's diagnosis, policy, and vision The first Urban White Paper for nearly a quarter of a century is itself a positive step. There are many important messages in it -- a positive view of the...

The parish discovery trail.
January 1, 2001... The White Paper offers the potential to ensure that the rural voice is better heard, says Richard Wakeford It can be uncomfortable being in the minority. Only 20 per cent of us live in the 88 per cent of England that is countryside. How can...

Squeezing what we can out of an unsympathetic system.
January 1, 2001... The hype may at least spur an interest in rural housing, says Moira Constable If nothing else, the Rural White Paper proves the value of hype and spin. The message we all took from headlines was that a huge increase in (new?) funding was...

Sifting through the bran tub.
January 1, 2001... Philip Lowe welcomes the extra help on offer and looks for an underlying strategy Like its non-identical twin, the Urban White Paper, and the Major Government's predecessor Rural White Paper (Rural England, 1995), New Labour's Our...

A real opportunity for rural planners.
January 1, 2001... John Anfield welcomes the focus on affordable housing and `quality parish councils' The publication of the Rural White Paper is very welcome. First because the front cover of the document (and the summary) has a picture of part of the...

Landscape and biodversity.
January 1, 2001... The White Paper is a useful start, but we need a more substantive, more fundamental re-assessment of the countryside which is less coloured by false images of the past, says Bryn Green The great strength of the Rural White Paper is its...

Regionalism or centralisation?
January 1, 2001... Is the recently issued Reaching Out: Action Plan a laudable attempt to co-ordinate regional policy, or little more than a thinly disguised approach to the strengthening of central control? Gary Pattison casts a wary eye over the document ...

The taxing issue of second homes.
January 1, 2001... Is the Rural White Paper's discretionary approach to full council tax rating of second homes really the `fudge' that some have claimed? Nick Gallent and Mark Tewdwr-Jones urge us to tread with caution, and to show some faith in local...

Received wisdom.
January 1, 2001... Peter White looks at the Panel Report on the Public Examination of Draft East Midlands Regional Planning Guidance and finds that in some situations a more accommodating approach to development would be more appropriate Regional planning in...

Turning three into one.
January 1, 2001... Faced with juggling the familiar social, economic, and environmental objectives of `sustainable' policy integration, few really believe that planning decisions can yield more than the occasional win-win-win outcome -- but, says Joan Bennett, in...

Sustainable housing -- the legal context.
January 1, 2001... In a two-part article -- the fifth in the series on building more sustainable new housing -- Paul Winter reviews the major relevant legal aspects of the planning and development system, and argues that existing powers already make it possible...

Nourishing the city.
January 1, 2001... Joe Howe examines metropolitan planning authorities' attitudes and policy approaches to urban food-growing, as revealed by an ESRC-funded research study The basic premise underlying this article is quite simple: it is that that any...

Merely a staging post?
January 1, 2001... The danger in the evolutionary approach to change taken in revised Scottish National Planning Policy Guideline 1 is that the big questions about reform will never be asked, says Andrew Robinson The recent reshuffle of Cabinet...

The right to a peaceful life.
January 1, 2001... Simon Fairlie on why the Human Rights Act may lead to an impact- rather than area-based planning system `There here is now a legal advantage in moving onto land first, and dealing with the planners later -- a risky platform for a planning...

Of information, pollution, and coasts.
January 1, 2001... Adrian Colwell examines three recent European Commission proposals concerning public access to environmental information, pollution registers, and coastal planning The European Commission has in recent months issued proposals governing...

Buddy, can you spare me a euro?
January 1, 2001... David Boyle on the problem with big currencies -- and what to do about it It's a strange thought, but the euro is now two years old. It hardly seems yesterday that most of continental Europe linked their currencies inexorably together. Not...

Here Comes the Sun.
January 1, 2001... Here Comes the Sun By Ken Worpole Reaktion Books, London, 2000, PB, ISBN 1 86189 073 7, 224 pp., 22 [pounds sterling] This is one of those books you stroke lovingly. Open it, and there is page after page of beautiful photos. Drawing on...

Ecology of Building Materials.
January 1, 2001... Ecology of Building Materials By Bjorn Berge, translated by Filip Henley, with Howard Liddell Architectural Press, Oxford, 2000, ISBN 0 7506 3394 8, HB, 453pp. + xix, index This book neatly matches the increasing interest in sustainable...

What's Out.
January 1, 2001... Planning, local government, and society * Social Exclusion in Rural Areas: A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework. By Mark Shucksmith and Lorna Philip. Central Research Unit. Scottish Executive. The Stationery Office. 8 Jan. 2001, 10...

Planning by voting.
January 1, 2001... Mike Teitz on the US national election's implications for planning Now that the tumult over the 2000 US national election has died down, it may be a good time to look at its implications for planning. Two questions immediately come to...

BACK LOG.
January 1, 2001... Fifty years ago It is a year since Town & Country Planning published its first new towns issue. In the intervening period much progress has been made. The public are now beginning to see something for their money, and the healthy criticism...