The test of first-rate intelligence, so F. Scott Fitzgerald said, is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. Mr Fitzgerald was probably not referring to low-tax areas to drive growth , but he perhaps could have been. Unless you were lucky enough to be living under a rock during the Conservative Party’s summer-long leadership election, the investment zone concept, introduced as part of Kwarsi Kwartang’s’ ‘ Growth Plan ’ announcement on 23 September, will not have come as a surprise. The Daily Express reported that Liz Truss would "rip up red tape that's holding back housebuilding and give more power to local communities". "As a former councillor”, she added, “I remember those painful hours sitting through planning committees. I'll put power back in local councillors' hands who know far better than Whitehall what their communities want." She told the audience in one of the BBC TV debates t...
Hello. My name is Sam, I am a Town Planner and I sometimes write about town planning-related things (in my own time and as an expression of my own opinions). I used to podcast, there is a link to that on this page somewhere, and I circulate a newsletter from time to time. There is a link to that somewhere as well. Should you be so inclined, I am on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford).