Tory Conference: Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham today said the UK is shifting from a nation of NIMBYs to BANANAs.
Speaking at a Centre for Cities fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference, the peer called for large-scale reforms to the planning system.
Referring to schemes that have been held up by the discovery of endangered wildlife during the planning process, Jones said: “Why is that anyone whoever deals with the planning system comes up against a Yellow Back Toad? If they are so rare, why are they on every single building site in the UK.”
He added: “We need a planning regime that works. In this country we have gone from being NIMBYs (not in my back yards) to BANANAs (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything).”
During the debate cities minister Greg Clark said the UK need to do more to make its cities more competitive. He cited Liverpool as an example saying it was currently 589th on the competitiveness world rankings and falling despite it being a world famous name.
Jones added: “We have to make sure our cities compete against a backdrop of globalisation in a world where China wants your lunch and India wants your dinner.”
Listen here for the full interview or download Digby Jones on planning at the Conservative conference from the Estates Gazette’s iTunes Channel.
nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
