Should we change the name of the planning department?

It maybe hard to believe but….

I get lots of planning permissions for homes that are never delivered, there can be various reasons for this of course including the market, timing and viability.

It is worthy of note, the Construction Index’s assessment that 40% of planning permissions are never delivered.

So if we need 1.5million homes to be delivered in the next 5 years, councils across England actually need to grant permission for 2.1 million homes!!!

Whoever wins today, I truly hope they don’t just ‘tinker’ with the town planning system.

My view as a veteran 20+ years town planner is tinkering does not work, they need to be brave!

It does need a radical response asap and frankly let’s start with the name of the planning department to set the tone and intention….

....instead of development control or development management as it’s now referred, I asked AI🤦

All of these sound far better don’t you think and set a much better tone and intention! Which do you like best😊?