Sam Stafford's Blog

Where to start with the news that “homeowners in countryside villages and towns could be given cash payments to offset disruptive developments in their communities”, which was reported in the Telegraph . The concept triggers so many thoughts and feelings. .. The cynically-minded would highlight how little new there is under the sun, and that if you stand still long enough the world will come back around to meet you. Who remembers, for example, the ‘ Boles Bung ’. Former Planning Minister Nick Boles has floated this idea before and it got as far as a share of CIL being directed to parish councils with a neighbourhood plan in place, but not as far as payments directly households. It is easy to see the attraction to Tory wonks of announcements like this every now and then (when new ministers are in post, for example) because it is a policy that simultaneously appeals to both radical reformists and core Telegraph-reading voters. It is floated, it attracts the interest of both wings o...

I wrote this last year about 'Devolution & The Birmingham Shortfall' : The Birmingham Development Plan (BDP) will ultimately establish the scale of housing need as the first step towards achieving an effective mechanism between LPAs in the housing market area, but ultimately that mechanism will not be able to go much further than a commitment on behalf of neighbouring LPAs to either review already adopted plans or have regard to the Birmingham shortfall and the ongoing Duty-to-Cooperate in the preparation of new plans, plus of course a commitment by Birmingham City Council itself to review the BDP if the expected rate of progress is not being achieved. Let’s have a look at what’s changed. The BDP has not been adopted (it remains on hold following DCLG intervention) and an agreement has not yet been reached on the distribution of the shortfall across Birmingham’s neighbours. This was expected (though discussions between LPAs are being held behind closed doors so it...