CPS Research Fellow Keith Boyfield, author of “Simplified Planning“, wrote to the Daily Telegraph about the need for new garden cities.
To see the letter’s original posting, visit the Daily Telegraph letters page.
SIR – It is disappointing to read that the Government has put the brakes on ideas for the construction of new garden cities in England. Building attractive new communities with a broad mix of housing and back-up services is precisely what Inna Ali and I urged in Simplified Planning, our report for the Centre for Policy Studies.
We recommended that a procedure of tender should be adopted whereby all development proposals would be judged, first on their quality and acceptability, and then, in a second stage, a short list of the best could be drawn up and their backers invited to submit competitive bids for permission to develop land.
Enough procrastination: it’s time to get on with building some new garden cities offering housing people want to live in. Doing nothing will simply drive up the cost of housing and prolong the agony for many young families who cannot find an affordable or pleasant place to live.
Keith Boyfield
London SW1
To see the letter’s original posting, visit the Daily Telegraph letters page.
Date Added: Monday 13th January 2014
