Commission attacks 'excessive' demolition Planning Resource - 21 May 2007
Efforts to build houses rapidly have led to excessive demolition, lack of resident facilities and a neglect of economic development, a report says.
The Sustainable Development Commission, an independent adviser to the government, said that demolition is unduly encouraged because it is exempt from VAT.
And it said people in new developments were frustrated by the lack of pubs, community centres and police stations.
One of the report's authors, Alice Owen, said: "Changes in government policy away from demolition have not filtered through to the ground.
"It's a combination of economics and the fact that it's a more challenging process to engage with existing residents. It's easier to work with a blank page."
Owen said that the split in duties between regional assemblies and regional development agencies hampered regeneration.
"There is a real disconnect between what RDAs are required to do - economic development - and what regional assemblies are responsible for - housing."
The report found that RDAs are "unwilling in some areas... to fund initiatives that can support the housing agenda, make an area more attractive for incoming employers, and that will improve the local economy".
It also said short-term funding for programmes like the housing market renewal pathfinders make it difficult to plan sustainable development.
The commission's report, Building Houses or Creating Communities? is available by clicking here.
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