Bodies set up under the Duty to Cooperate have no Duty to Cooperate with each Other!

Some confusion over the suspension of the North London Joint Waste Plan today after two hours following legal submissions  from the South East Waste Planning Advisory Group and the East of England Waste Technical Advisory Body that they were not consulted.

These are bodies set up under the DTC to replace the previous Technical Advisory Bodies:

specifically to give effect to the Government’s stated intention to place the responsibilities of the former Regional Technical Advisory Bodies

But perhaps someone can explain to me where such bodies are ‘prescribed bodies’ under the regulations (reg 4) – they are not?  It might be argued that they are councils under the section 33a duty but this duty applies to individual councils.  The duty does not apply to joint bodies unless they form joint planning committees (becoming then the planning authority for plan making purposes) or to such joint bodies to cooperate with each other.

No legal problem as I can see then it is more of an issue of whether the outcome part of the sounsness tests have been met with regard to unmet needs etc. rather than the legal test which doesn’t apply. Also as these bodies are brand new and given the opinion that the legal test does not apply retrospectively how could it apply?   But it shows up a flaw in the regs.  If you had a statutory joint body for west anyshire it would have no requirement to cooperate with a non statutory joint body for east anyshire.

It ion my view is a case where it is advisable to consult with the body, like LEPS, LNPs etc. rather than a legal requirement.  Be sensible, get on with the EiP.

Lord Lawson Ecosystem Services/Natural Capital Accounting ‘A Lot of Nonsense’

BBC Richard Black

Lord Lawson

“It is all a lot of nonsense, because there is no way that you can introduce objectivity into this and it is just used for political campaigning of one kind or another – you just make it add up to whatever you would like it to add up to.”

Corrie Set Refused Listed Status

BBC NW

An application to give listed status to the Coronation Street set, which would help secure its future when it is vacated next year, has been refused.

The ITV soap is due to move from its current home in central Manchester to a new site in Trafford next spring.

English Heritage said the set, which has been used since 1982, was not historic enough to be listed. Listing would restrict how it could be altered.

ITV is selling the former Granada plot and the set’s future is uncertain.

The broadcaster is considering all bids but has told the council it is looking at whether a tourist attraction based around the famous terraced street would be viable.

Listed status is given to buildings of special architectural and historic interest, but a building has normally to be at least 30 years old to be eligible.

A statement from English Heritage said the current Coronation Street set was “certainly unusual”, but added: “However, the criteria against which we must assess the architectural significance of buildings – or in this case, a television set – is extremely strict.

‘Not appropriate’

“The oldest buildings are just less than 30 years old – and most do not have interiors and therefore exist as facades, most of which have been altered.

“The set as it stands today is an active reminder of the long-running television programme, rather than a survival of an earlier era of television productions.”

English Heritage’s Nick Bridgland added: “While listing is not appropriate for the set, a better solution could be for a local group or organisation with an interest to care for it and allow Corrie fans from all over the world to visit and enjoy it.”

The soap, along with ITV’s other Manchester operations, is due to move to purpose-built studios at the MediaCityUK complex, adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal.

An ITV spokesperson said: “ITV continues to consider the future use of the Coronation Street set ahead of our planned move to MediaCity.”

ITV did not make the listing application. English Heritage said the application was made by an individual and it was unable to reveal their identity.

The Granada set did become a tourist attraction in 1988 and the tours are fondly remembered. But they ended in 2001 after visitor numbers dropped and Coronation Street’s filming schedule increased.

JRF 1/2 Million Young People will be Forced into Private Renting by 2020

JRF 

A report published today by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warns of an escalating housing crisis which is set to lock over one million young people out of home ownership by 2020.

The report, Housing options and solutions for young people in 2020, finds that an extra 1.5 million 18 to 30-year-olds will be forced into private renting in just eight years’ time.

It means many young people’s dreams of owning a home will never come true, while many more will have a much longer wait before they own their own properties.

An extra half a million young people will be forced to stay with their parents well into their 30s, taking the total number of young people living with mum and dad to 3.7 million by 2020.

In 2020, the number of home owners under 30 will nearly halve, with just 1.3 million expected to own their own homes. The number of homeless young people under 25 is predicted to rise to 81,000, with further increases expected.

The influx of young people chasing accommodation in the private rented sector (PRS) means that young families, poorer and vulnerable people will find it hardest to compete for tenancies with around 310,000 more young families looking for private rented housing in 2020.

The report warns of a ‘three-tier’ system developing in a race to find PRS housing, with those at the top who can afford to pay, a ‘squeezed middle’ group who might struggle to pay and a bottom rung of 400,000 who risk being excluded completely.

The authors make a number of recommendations to remedy these problems, including:

• The provision of more affordable rents and longer, more stable private rented tenancies, with tax breaks for landlords who offer such options.
• The expansion of local letting agencies who find suitable private rented housing and protect vulnerable young people by acting as brokers between young people and landlords.
• Addressing the long term undersupply of housing to improve affordability.

Kathleen Kelly, Programme Manager for Place at the JRF, said: “Our badly functioning housing system will see those on the lowest incomes really struggling to compete in the competitive rental market of 2020.

“Renting is likely to be the only game in town and young people are facing fierce competition to secure a home in what is an already diminished supply of housing.

“With 400,000 vulnerable young people, including families, on the bottom rung of a three-tier private renting system we need to avoid turning a housing crisis into a homelessness disaster.”

David Clapham, lead author of the report, added: “With 1.5 million more young people no longer able to become home-owners by 2020, it’s vital we take the opportunity to make renting work better. To do this we need strong political leadership that is willing to work with both landlords and tenants to make it more affordable and stable for ‘generation rent’.

“Young people are at a double disadvantage – it takes longer to raise enough for a deposit and their wages are generally lower. But there are simply not enough homes and those we do have cost too much to rent or buy. While more housing would help address this, it may not come quick enough for young people forced into renting in eight years’ time.”

BBC – Shapps Spins 68% fall in Affordable Housing Starts as ‘Impressive’

Mark Easton

The desperate shortage of affordable homes in England appears to be worsening, following Tuesday’s publication of national housing statistics.

The Homes and Communities Agency has announced that the number of “affordable housing starts” for 2011-2012 was just 15,698 – a 68% fall on the previous year.

The Housing Minister Grant Shapps has said he welcomes the figures as showing a “rapid and dramatic” increase in the numbers of new affordable homes being built.

But one might say this is simply to compare a disastrous six months to March 2012 with an absolutely catastrophic figure for the previous six months…

The seasonal nature of the building trade means the October to March figure is always much higher than the previous six months, and the latest stat is some 64% down on where it was in 2009/10 when Labour was in power.

Nevertheless, the housing minister seems determined to present the statistics as a government triumph.

“Far from the predictions of the doom merchants, today’s figures show work has started on over 15,000 new affordable homes since last September – a massive increase on the previous six-month period. This is clear evidence that our efforts to get Britain building are starting to yield impressive results,” he said….

When one considers that each year in England an estimated 250,000 new households are created, a total housing starts figure of less than 20,000 in the past financial year represents a distinct worsening of the current crisis.

Wherever one looks in Tuesday’s figures, one sees a fall in housing provision from where we were 12 months ago.

Mr Shapps says the figures are “impressive” – and it might be that changes to the government’s affordable housing strategy are still working through.

The housing campaigners Shelter take a different view, saying they are “depressing”.