Planning rules

Sir, Planners in the public sector have broad shoulders and accept that they are often a convenient sitting target for ministers (“Cable promises to cut red tape that is ‘stifling the high street’,” Mar 4). But for Vince Cable to claim that “bizarre planning rules” are significantly contributing to the slow down in construction, house prices, the lack of business expansion and that planning is a barrier to development and social mobility, is a curious analysis.

As Dr Cable said in a speech on the same day, the main drivers for growth are fiscal and monetary conditions. The slow down in the property market is the main cause of limited development activity, not the planning system.

Britain’s planners will continue to help the Government to shape a planning system that best helps to promote economic growth at this very difficult and challenging time. Planning is part of the solution. But let’s not pretend that it is a magic bullet for the market and introduce yet more uncertainty with additional reform at a time when the Government already has a Bill going through Parliament.