The snails pace of the planning system...

Cambo

I've made it clear I was referring to London meaning the west end - the Georgia townhouses and so on. I'm not going to use the slums of London docklands as a shining light of unplanned development As it would be foolish to do so.

The point ment being made is that you don't need a tightly regulated market to promote quality. As far as I know, the car industry isn't regulated anywhere near as much as the housing market yet it's the second biggest purchase most of us will make. Despite this lack of regulation we still see excellent quality and workmanship right the way through the price spectrum. Just because slums were erected in the past doesn't means that if left unregulated the house builders would do so again. Society has changed considerably and expectations are now much higher.

It's not so much the intervention and regulation, it's the micro management of economic activity that frustrates. In 15 years or so the uk will build 200 miles of HS2. In six years the chinese build 1200 miles. We are at risk of being left behind due to petty bureaucracy and an inability to flex and bend depending on the individual circumstance.

@reddragon
The point regarding the Georgian townhouses was that almost all of the west end was built before planning and building control came into being yet we don't see these areas as being anything other than the finest addresses in the uk.

After the Great Fire of London in 1666, this act was passed by Parliament:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebuilding ... n_Act_1666

I think regulating the width of streets and what materials should be used is fairly reasonable. however we both know the planning system in the uk is much much more than that nowadays.

I suspect most people do agree that planning has a tendency to get bogged down in details that are unnecessary (or at least unnecessary at the stage of development that is trying to get planning permission to develop something). Changing a window to a french door would likely fall within this pointless detail, albeit I don't know the specifics.

I know of a planning application for five new houses on a site in Swansea (a city that is falling short of its targets for new housing supply). It is brownfield and will replace an old, unattractive house and dilapidated bungalow with five modern homes. They will be fairly aesthetically pleasing, they conform to the (good, worthwhile) local design vernacular and have adequate amenity space and parking. They will have a safe access from the highway. However the granting of planning permission has been delayed almost a year due to slight potential for bat roosts (and a planning officer not requesting specific surveys until too late in the year to carry them out) - there is adequate legislation elsewhere to ensure bats, if present, are protected - and tinkering with the design at the request of the officers, including making a garage door 30cm wider. That, to me, is an example of needlessly slow planning processes. And each minor issue on a planning application creates less time for major issues on major schemes to be discussed.