10th August 2012, 08:43 AM
Sith Wrote:Based on recent experience, there are planners out there who couldn't find their own bottom with both hands and a map.
On a more serious note, there is some sense in Unit's post. There seems to be a genuine belief in Government that the answer to economic stagnation is to deregulate planning to let developers 'create wealth'. In reality I can't see how this can possibly help. As long as world finances are in turmoil, banks aren't lending, growing numbers of people are out of work, and those with jobs are paid less; no one can afford to buy the houses they are building.
And regardless of the rhetoric, developers are not building 'affordable' houses, but property they can sell at the (still massively inflated) local market rate. We may all be in this together but the developers are very much in this for themselves.
Can developers really sell property at a profit the moment unless the building schemes are subsidisied by Government? I like Sith think this Government has decided that development is the only way out of the recession and blindly ploughs on cutting essential services (archaeology included) making people redundant. They then seem really surprised when people who are unemployed or have insecure jobs dont want to buy anything. The only answer they seem able to formulate is more houses = better economy. God help Heritage and archaeology in this mess especially when local Government decides that actually planners can easily advise on archaeoology ( who needs expensive experts).