|
May/June 2007
Green Brown
As Gordon Brown marches towards his coronation as Labour leader, what does it mean for house building in this country?
The first thing is that the Chancellor sees the need for more houses to be built. On BBC1's Sunday AM programme on 13 May, he said: "There is a challenge of modern society where young people want to buy or rent their own homes a lot earlier than previously. We have got to make it possible for that to happen".
This was later spun in a more concrete manner, with the pro-Labour Guardian reporting a pledge to build 200,000 new homes a year. Now, if you believe in more homes, you are less likely to remove obstacles to them being built. Indeed, the pro-Conservative Sunday Times quoted him saying: "And I say to those who always say ‘yes, but not here’, you are denying people their rightful aspirations and you are condemning our children never to put a foot on the housing ladder”. This does not indicate someone worried about objectors to new development.
However, he is also keen to see environmentally-sustainable housing. His pledge to build five eco-towns with zero carbon homes and community facilities on brownfield sites is the most obvious example of that. It is not clear whether this focus will be reflected in the White Paper. However, the suggestion in this pledge is that developments that force people to travel miles to the nearest post office may not be a preferred option in future.
There is also an indication that councils may have a bit more freedom to build homes. There has been discussion of allowing councils to keep rental income to spend on building homes, not on the housing revenue accounts.
Opponents will say there is little change: the Cambridgeshire eco-site was already promised; the Barker report, which called for fewer obstacles to development, had Brown's imprint on it already; the rents plan is being piloted now. What is clear though is that the need for new homes is on his agenda in a way that was not the case before.
Elections 2007
The 2007 mid-term local elections have had perhaps more significance than most – Tony Blair, at the end of his decade in power, saw heavy Labour losses whilst the Conservatives made massive gains declaring an early victory. What made the election notable was the Labour meltdown in Scotland and Wales; their traditional heartlands and Gordon Brown’s stomping ground. A new era in British politics, north and south of the border has begun.
In practical terms, what does this mean? The aftermath of these elections has served to highlight the difference between the local and national Conservative parties. On one hand, the increase in Tory councillors and councils may make planning permissions more difficult to achieve in the South East as the grass roots members’ hostility to the regional housing numbers and their defence of green space continues apace. On the other hand, David Cameron has announced that he wants to help young people and key workers get on the housing ladder – so who will win out? The likelihood is Conservative councils will continue to run councils autonomously with Cameron’s HQ unable to impose it’s wishes.
With Tony Blair having announced his departure on the 27th June, Gordon Brown has grabbed the housebuilding mantle and announced plans for five new ‘carbon-neutral’ eco towns. Of course the current chancellor must have planning reform on the agenda for his first weeks in No. 10 if he thinks this will be an easy feat. In raising this issue so early in his race to succeed Tony Blair, Gordon Brown has demonstrated three things:
- Addressing the ‘housing need’ is top of Gordon’s agenda for No.10
- ‘Eco’ developments will tick Tory and Labour’s ‘boxes’
- The environment will be a key battle ground for Brown vs. Cameron at the next General
Election
There is no doubt politics can be extremely fickle indeed. When advising our clients, it is therefore essential we undertake broad consultation, engaging all the potential key players, especially at election time. Our clients must also be kept on top of election issues and timing saving our clients as much pain (delay) as possible at election time. Thankfully, many authorities will now settle down for four years of stability; what better time to sit down with politicians and talk about controversial schemes?!
Office Expansions
Green Issues is proud to reveal a number of senior political appointments to its team. These high-profile acquisitions bring with them an immense amount of political knowledge that will add increased dynamism to the Green Issues family.
Reading
Phil Heath, Conservative, is Chairman of the Planning Committee on Hampshire County Council and also sits on the Planning Committee of Basingstoke and Deane District Council, where his wife is also a member.
Richard Halderthay is a councillor on Southampton City Council. He has a wealth of experience in the Conservative party having held a number of press and campaign roles. He has acted as an election agent to over 100 candidates and most recently ran the successful 2005 Conservative election campaign in Guildford.
James Cox is a Conservative and has worked as agent for the party in Dumfriesshire, leading a rare, successful Conservative campaign. He was recently a candidate in the local elections, standing for election to Reading Borough Council.
Darren Sanders is a Liberal Democrat Councillor for The London Borough of Lambeth. He stood in Streatham in the 2005 General Election and has also been intimately involved with regenerating the nearby Clapham Park Estate.
London
Green Issues’ London office is growing with a number of key appointments.
Andrew Johnson, Deputy Mayor of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, joins the team after working as Political Assistant to the Conservative Group on Surrey County Council. He has worked closely with the then-Chairman of SEERA as well as producing the Conservative Group manifesto for the 2005 County Elections. He has also worked at the DCLG dealing with issues relating to local government finance, as a researcher to Angela Browning MP and is a non-executive Director of Groundwork West London.
Steve Fifer joins the London Green Issues team after working in Andrew Dismore MP's Constituency office, a Public Affairs company in London and an Internet Trade Body. A graduate from the University of Birmingham and UCL, Steve has a strong background in political research. He is an active member of the Labour Party and holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in Human Rights.
Newcastle
Green Issues’ position in the north east has been consolidated by the arrival of Rob Hill, Account Executive, following a number of key business wins. Rob has been with Green Issues for 18 months’ and will now be permanently based in our Newcastle office. His previous work experience was for the Civil Service having been employed in the Ministerial Correspondence Team. Rob also has a strong background in academia having studied Economics with Politics at Aberystwyth University and he completed an M.Sc. in Terrorism and International Relations at the same university.
Their individual expertise will collectively prove an invaluable resource in our quest to exceed client expectations
Blowing Away the Opposition
If there is one thing that Green Issues has learned since entering into the renewable energy sector, it is this: this is a battleground riddled with the ignorance of both councillors and residents. Ill informed planning conflicts now threaten to prevent the development of many wind farms across the country. British Wind Energy Association’s Chief Executive Maria McCaffery recently explained how she often heard of ‘outrageous situations where objections are made by councillors who have not even read the planning policy’.
The national debate surrounding wind energy is frequently transmitted onto the local battlefield along with concerns over height, noise and TV reception. Ecotricity boss Dale Vince described the process of gaining planning permission for a wind farm as ‘no less arduous or expensive than if we had applied to build a nuclear power station’.
Green Issues is committed to raising the awareness of all those concerned in wind farm planning skirmishes. Now representing five of the six biggest wind farm developers in the country across nine sites, from the south west to the north east, Green Issues is a key player in wind farm development across the country.
MIPIM 2007
Operations Director Kelly Edwards and Development Executive Caroline Newson were two of the 27,000 visitors to MIPIM 2007, the world’s largest commercial property showcase which recently took place in Cannes.
With a packed diary the trip was 4 days of non-stop networking set against a backdrop of yachts, sunny beaches and glamorous events. It was really hard work, honest! Their agenda included events held by English Partnerships, South West Regional Development Agency, Gleeson and HSBC.
Caroline said, “What we do and how we do it is unique. MIPIM was a great opportunity to get our message across to the right people. We have made more contacts in 4 days here than we would in 4 weeks in the UK”
Dinner with Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh
On the 4th of April 2007 our guests at the House of Lords enjoyed an audience with the Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh. The event was hosted by Lord Lucas who introduced Green Issues’ Andrew Johnson, Deputy Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham, to open proceedings.
Leading developers including George Wimpey, Fairview and Bellway got a detailed analysis of “Planning Legislation- The Conflict between Local and Central Government.” Cllr Greenhalgh delivered a “refreshing approach to development” in his borough, outlining a real need for regeneration and stating that it, as a council, is “open for business”.
The Final Curtin
A poultry lesson in taxes for the Chancellor
“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing”, as Colbert put it so eloquently.
So when the chancellor sticks another £5 on our cheap EasyJet (as an Irishman, I daren’t give a plug for Ryanair), there is very little hissing.
Because we all want to do our bit for the environment, don’t we?
Even if aeroplanes only contribute 2% of the total.
But is this really environmental protection?
Gordon admits he has no special environmental projects for this dosh. If he was really serious about deterring people from travelling by air, he would slap £50 on each ticket.
On a recent trip to Rome, my fare was 2p. No misprint – two pence…return. Even at £50 extra, I am not going to be deterred. I am old enough to remember the bad old days before deregulation, where a return economy trip to Rome was over £300 – so £100 today is still a bargain.
In case you think this is an anti-Labour rant, it is not. The Conservatives did exactly the same thing with the fuel tax escalator in the 1990s. Did people use their cars less? Was there less congestion?
Of course not.
As soon as man first saw that a horse was a nice way to get around, we fell in love with private transport. And we will pay any amount of tax to keep it.
Although people have a strong consciousness about the environment, this soon stops when it starts to hit the pocket.
For years the government tried to stop the use of leaded petrol and encourage unleaded.
When did it begin to work? When they effectively subsidised unleaded to make it the same price as leaded.
And the man to lead the campaign? Step forward Des Wilson – a leading campaigner for Friends of the Earth, who ended up as head of PR for BAA.
It’s a funny old world.
So if you want to stop the goose hissing while you pluck its feathers, then you had better make sure of a number of things:
Make sure the goose knows that it’s giving its feathers in a good cause.
Let the goose know that its feathers will help save the planet.
The goose must know that having feathers is a privilege and that there must be a price to pay.
Anyway, the feathers will grow back (no need to say that they will be plucked again), so it doesn’t really matter.
But there is now an addendum to Benjamin Franklin’s quote that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes…that save the planet.”
Green Issues Communications
The Green House
9 Southern Court
Reading RG1 4QS
Tel: 0118 959 1211
Fax: 0118 959 8244
Managing stakeholder communications
www.greenissues.com |
