The government's planning reforms announced last year – the ones the Royal Institute of British Architects warned could "lead to the development of the next generation of slum housing" – produced two responses from the construction sector.
The Construction Industry Council – the body which represents most of the construction industry’s professional bodies and research organisations – disagreed with the proposals, but stressed:
...it is vital that any reforms support parliament’s legislated targets for net-zero carbon by 2050. Therefore, carbon reduction has to be built into every aspect of a revised planning system.
Planning system not broken, Construction Industry Council tells ministry https://t.co/uBxXwETCQw #constructionnews #construction #news pic.twitter.com/WIAjTWWUzV
— Construction Index (@TCIndex) November 3, 2020
No such common sense from the MPA – the body representing Aggregate Industries et al. No mention about carbon reduction in this press release. It bemoaned the fact that the government's planning reforms had ignored minerals:
Planning is about more than housing. The minerals planning system already operates differently to other forms of spatial planning, reflecting the nature of minerals distribution and development, which is dictated by geology. Minerals can only be extracted where they occur whereas homes can be built anywhere.
Homes can be built anywhere? Really?
MPA: Planning is about more than housing it is about mineral extraction and products https://t.co/Ms0CyciBIh #MineralProducts #MineralPlanning pic.twitter.com/PT1q5rlAUV
— Mineral Products Association (@MineralProduct) November 4, 2020
