'Bagpuss' Pickles at it again @ No 10

"This Pickles berk is at it again!" Arturo announced.

"What do you mean - 'at it'?" I asked.

"Trying to wreck the countryside! As long as he gets short-term results he doesn't give a hoot for conservation. Just take a look at this." He pointed at a monitor.

The screen had the headline: Eric Pickles threatens to strip councils of planning powers : Communities secretary says he will hand powers to centralised authority if councils are too slow to make decisions

It was an article in the Guardian by Patrick Wintour reporting the fact that 'Bagpuss' Pickles intends to take away certain powers from local planning authorities. Wintour writes:

Eric Pickles the communities secretary, has warned he will strip local councils of their planning powers and hand them to a centralised Planning Inspectorate if they show a record of poor-quality or slow decision making.

The threat is designed as a lever to force what he described as councils living in "an economic la la land" to allow more housebuilding in their area.

The Planning Inspectorate would also have the power to override all agreements between councils and developers to reduce the number of affordable homes required, so making a development more profitable, and hence more likely to be built.

Labour described the Treasury-inspired measure, buried in a package of housing announcements meant to boost growth, as "a bombshell that threatens local decision making on planning decisions"

Clearly, the only one in 'la la land' is our 'Bagpuss' Pickles. Subtlety is not one of his finer points - you only need to observe him closely to see that!

Pickles received support from - guess who? That's right, the clown without make-up - 'Wailing Lad' Clegg - our very own Nicholas Ridiculous! It just had to be him, didn't it? According to Wintour:

Nick Clegg argued that the measures would not have a negative impact because the government would invest an extra £300m drawn from other departments to help build a further 15,000 affordable homes.

However, the fact is that vast numbers of building permissions have already been granted with no evidence of work being carried out. Wintour writes:

The Local Government Association (LGA) countered that the problem was not the planning system, pointing out that there were already 400,000 planning plots with permission to build. "At the current rate of construction it would take developers three and a quarter years to clear the backlog by building all of the new homes local authorities have signed off," the LGA said.

The association said government figures showed that councils were more positive towards development than ever, with the percentage of planning applications being given the green light hitting a 10-year high last year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/sep/06/eric-pickles-councils-planning-powers?CMP=twt_fd

Ah ha! So there are 40,000 planning plots that already have permission to build - but not a brick has been laid down. So why is 'Bagpuss' Pickles sticking his oar in? Why is Clegg backing him up? They are typical politicians - they'll say or do anything to attract the headlines - even if, as in 'Wailing Lad' Clegg's case it means compromising his principles. 'Bagpuss' Pickles, like several others in his party, is such a one off that it's difficult to know whether he even understands the meaning of the word 'principles'!

The Telegraph also reports the planning announcements. James Kirkup has the headline:

David Cameron: build your way out of recession with home improvements. Home owners will be allowed to build large conservatories and extensions without requiring planning permission, David Cameron will announce, under plans to encourage a home improvements boom to stimulate the struggling economy.

The final paragraph states:

The Prime Minister later convened his new Cabinet, telling ministers they were all responsible for coming up with ideas to stimulate a recovery.

“What really matters now with the Cabinet changes, with the extensive government changes that I have made, is that we really demonstrate that this is a government that means business,” he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9524089/David-Cameron-build-your-way-out-of-recession-with-home-improvements.html

"Well, well!" Arturo said. "After two and a half years in government - the Prime Minister 'Boy David' Cameron has just decided that he heads up a government that 'means business'. So what's he been doing all this time? Playing at being PM?"

I didn't answer the question. I just nudged him and headed for the kitchen - we're going to have a kitchen supper. Appropriate, don't you agree?

'Bye'