Tony Wrench on changes government should make for the planning system

[tliouk]

Latest from Tony Wrench

Taken from: www.thatroundhouse.info

UPDATE AUG 3rd 2004
No report was made to the July committee. There will be an August 
committee meeting. The house has been visited by many people over the 
last few weeks, and is currently a case study by a University into 
how comfortable Low Impact householders feel relative to the outside 
temperature, as compared with 'normal' house users. There are heat 
sensors in various locations and we fill in a form four times a day. 
Last week we were also visited by a researcher from the University of 
East Anglia who is putting together the views of planners and low 
impact dwellers, with the aim of finding the most appropriate changes 
government should make for the planning system to plan for true 
sustainability.
For what it's worth, my recommendations to the government, via her, 
are;
1. Issue a simple Planning Guidance Directive saying 'In any planning 
application where a development would be outside current policies, 
the sustainability of the development, if conforming to the criteria 
below (Chapter 7's 15 Criteria), shall be a material consideration.
2. Issue a new planning guidance on Low Impact Development based on 
those criteria only. 
3. Introduce a new land use class of 'Permaculture Land' (see ancient 
article reproduced, poorly, here).
4. Set up a fast-track master plan for at least 100 new ecovillages 
in the next ten years.