On Monday our esteemed PM hopped in his chopper and flew to Norwich to join Govey in a bonfire of nasty old EU bureaucracy. HOORAY! It’s all this silly water neutrality business that the pencil pushers in Brussels found time to impose on us between outlawing bent bananas and jailing fruit sellers for selling the straight bananas in pounds and ounces.
Now that shows REAL power! About 300,000 British tourists (including myself) are stuck abroad after the glitch in the air traffic control system and we are facing days of delays to get back but if you are the Prime Minister, your chopper can fly where it likes, when it likes.
Anyway, I digress… Govey told us that the plans to scrap the “clunky” EU-era environmental protections on nutrient neutrality will deliver 100,000 new homes. This will be introduced through an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (remember this one? No? Let me remind you, this is the legislation that is taking away the national housing targets!) Careful what you wish for!
Govey also added that it was a “myth” that water quality in British rivers has deteriorated under the Tory Government, saying they “all cleaner than they have been in the past”. However, in 2022 the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee reported that “Not a single river in England has received a clean bill of health…”.
Anyway, in other news successful planning appeals has fallen to lowest level in five years
Planning applications that have been approved after appeal stood at just 18 per cent in 2022 – the lowest level for five years. Development site sourcing specialist Searchland analysed the number of planning applications submitted on an annual basis, what proportion were initially rejected before being appealed, and their success rate. This shows that 73,515 planning applications were rejected across the UK. Of the 73,515 planning applications rejected last year, 2,210 went to appeal. However, just 392 of these appeals saw the original decision being overturned, a success rate of just 18 per cent.
So, just before we break out the champers and order the new Range Rover let us pause for a few moments and consider the wider picture… I don’t think I need to spell it out for you… but let me put it to you this way, Govey is parading around in the Emperor’s new clothes while Rishi is fiddling with his chopper while the County burns…
Come to think of it, maybe this travel chaos is the way of the fates to tell me to stay in Sicily. (They have an overprovision of homes due to a falling population and you can pick up bargains… I have my eye on a 14th century palazzo in down-town Palermo. Half a city block in size and a snip at £95,000… admittedly it lacks a roof, but the sun is shining here!)
Until next week,
Henry