Charge for roads, free the greenbelt

Eddington report prescribes road pricing

At last it’s official: road building can’t solve congestion. But road pricing can. That’s the conclusion of Rod Eddington’s recent report on the links between transport and economic growth.

His figures suggest that the road pricing route is well worth pursuing - with a full nationwide scheme potentially delivering £28 billion in direct and indirect economic benefits by 2025. We’d save £2.5 billion just by cutting business travel time by 5%, he reckons.

The report goes on to say that “all transport users should meet all their external economic, social or environmental costs”.

Particular problem areas it picks up on are congested and growing city catchments, “inter-urban corridors” and the need to expand what it calls “international gateways” - which, in plain language, means ports and airports. Not exactly sweet music to environmentalist ears.

There is a nod in the direction of smaller schemes that boost cycling and walking. As for the railways, though, Eddington gives priority to using the existing network better, rather than building new high-speed rail links. That, he says, wouldn’t be “a sensible way to reduce UK emissions”.

Barker report urges planning shake-up

Hard on the heels of the Eddington report, Kate Barker’s review of land use planning proposes a series of measures to streamline the process.

  •  Microgen. Householders wanting to put up mini-wind turbines and solar panels shouldn’t need to apply for planning permission if they can win their neighbours over (so-called ‘third party consent’).
  •  Building on the greenbelt. Easing restrictions on new homes in these long-sacrosanct ‘buffer zones’  will help stop urban sprawl from leapfrogging deeper into the countryside. [Better yet, why not earmark these often derelict areas for community woodland, windfarms and other eco-beneficial development?]
  •  Retail. Supermarkets shouldn’t have to undergo lengthy and expensive ‘needs tests’ before they set up shop in a new area. Barker takes the stand that it’s not a planner’s place to judge.
  •  Major infrastructure. An independent planning commission should have the final say on mega-projects. The report is not explicit about whether this would apply to nuclear new-build - but Friends of the Earth warns of “a devastating impact on the environment and local democracy”. - Hannah Bullock

11 January 2007

Hannah Bullock