Town and Country Planning articles from September 2003

Town and Country Planning archives from September 2003

Flight without restraint?
September 1, 2003... The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom 'National Consultation' Documents for the South East, the Midlands, the North of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the South West. Second Editions. Department for...

Tax aviation fuel and impose VAT, says TCPA.(Inside Stories)
September 1, 2003... Aviation and the Environment: Using Economic Instruments Consultation Document. HM Treasury/Department for Transport, London, Mar. 2003 The TCPA Response The extension of the national aviation policy consultation process--to consider how...

Francis (Jim) Amos--an appreciation.(Inside Stories)
September 1, 2003... The death of Jim Amos in May marks the passing of one of the most dedicated and thoughtful planners of his generation. His qualifications as an architect and social anthropologist as well as a town planner gave him a wide-ranging perspective on...

Parish matters.(People & Ideas)
September 1, 2003... Some readers may remember the late Professor Lewis Keeble attacking what he saw as the selfishness of those rural incomers who sought to exclude all subsequent aspiring new arrivals from the rural paradise that they had colonized--or they may...

Cycle gains.(Getting Somewhere)
September 1, 2003... During the summer many people will have hired bikes as part of their holiday, or will have dug out their own cycles for a day trip. Notably, the level of bike ownership in the UK is about the same as the level of car ownership. And yet huge...

Cumulative causation and the English Sunbelt.(Planning World)
September 1, 2003... On long weekend afternoons, when some people leaf through the illustrated supplements and others potter round their gardens, I have my own semi-mindless pastime: I read that invaluable publication Local Transport Today, discovering where in the...

The Panel's verdict.(Talking Houses)
September 1, 2003... In July the independent planning Panel delivered its verdict on the Mayor's Draft London Plan, following a Examination in Public in March and April. To the surprise of the Mayor's critics, the inspectors on the Panel firmly supported, 'on the...

For want of a design: David Lock examines the consultation draft of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy and finds some worrying weaknesses and shortcomings.(Sub-regional planning)
September 1, 2003... Readers will recall that the parting gift of the dead and buried SERPLAN--the standing conference of local planning authorities in the South East of England that conspired over many years to achieve an acute shortage of housing--was draft...

Transport taxation regime change? Transport policy-makers are coming to realise that road taxation regime change is inevitable if traffic growth and congestion are to be managed; but action is slow to emerge, and when it eventually comes it may be too late.(Road user charging)
September 1, 2003... In the last few months, the concept that the established road transport taxation regime should be entirely replaced has rapidly come to be viewed by the Government in a remarkably positive manner. Indeed, in June at a road demand management...

A space--or a place--for everyone? The appearance and quality of Britain's streets, parks, play-grounds, squares, precincts, and other public spaces is a barometer of how much we value and are prepared to support civic life and culture.(Public spaces)
September 1, 2003... Anybody who works in the field of public policy should from time to time remind themselves that they inhabit a world that is frequently contradictory, both in its intentions and in its outcomes. The painful history of unintended consequences...

Bringing up a child in the city: Liz Wrigley looks at some of the important factors we need to address if our towns and cities are to be made more attractive places for those bringing up children.(Child-friendly cities)
September 1, 2003... In recent years loft-living has been the most high-profile model of city life offered by the UK private housing market. However, the press has begun to reflect more deeply on future urban housing needs. Earlier this year Professor Geoff...

One more milestone: Jim Skea examines the Energy White Paper issued earlier this year, looking at whether it is clear about objectives and about the measures and technologies that will form part of the UK's energy future, and whether it indicates the type of institutional machinery that will be put in place to make sure that policy goals are achieved.(Energy policy)
September 1, 2003... The much anticipated Energy White Paper (1) which finally emerged in February carried with it a ringing endorsement from the Prime Minister. Faced with major environmental challenges such as climate change, and with the UK about to lose the...

Looking for a renaissance in country parks: Mike Collins looks at two recently published reports which are providing a focus for debate on the future of country parks, and asks where the necessary funding is to be found.(Country Parks)
September 1, 2003... In response to 20 years of burgeoning car-borne demand, country parks were devised in 1968 as a means of providing specifically recreational sites near towns and diverting traffic from and so protecting the 'deep countryside', especially...

A test for modernisation: Greg Lloyd and Deborah Peel on a tale of decentralised governance and civil servant relocation in Scotland.(Decentralising governance)
September 1, 2003... The Scottish Executive's vision of raising the quality of life through sustainable economic development right across Scotland involves contributing to the prosperity of Scotland's diverse city and rural regions--from the Highlands and Islands...

Acting locally is the answer--so let's get on with it ...
September 1, 2003... Shaping Neighbourhoods. A Guide for Health, Sustainability and Vitality By Hugh Barton, Marcus Grant, and Richard Guise Sport Press, London, 2003, ISBN 0-415-26009-4, PB, 244pp. (ISBN 0-41 5-27852-X, HB) We are all familiar with, and no...

Filling the gaps.
September 1, 2003... Online TDM Encyclopedia Victoria Transport Policy Institute Available free at the VTPI website--http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/ Transport systems in the UK are facing severe problems of congestion and pollution. For the few that still deny the...

Connections: Paul Burall on waste, land use, and global warning.
September 1, 2003... The waste challenge With only around 12 per cent of municipal waste being recycled in the UK, Britain remains near the bottom of the European recycling league. So it is hardly surprising that a House of Commons select committee recently...