Myths and Realities of Urban Constraint in the UK:Changing Circumstances and Unchanged Realities

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Myths and Realities of Urban Constraint in the
UKChanging Circumstances and Unchanged Realities

• Alan Evans

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Governments and U-turns

• Governments Dont Like Changing Policies
• Instead the reasons for the policy change

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An Historical Example

• 1950/60s Concern over congestion in central
  London.
• !964 - Labour government introduces Office
  Developments to control office development in
  London
• 1967 Academic postgrad (AE) finds that that
  employment had peaked in 1962/63.

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Result

• Policy was now about encouraging movement of
  offices to the regions.
• (1969) Two Cambridge researchers point out that
  offices wont move that far.
• Then about discouraging office building!
• Then 1978 Labour introduced ODPs so a Labour
  government cant abolish them.

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1979

• Thatcher elected May 5th.
• ODPs abolished May 10th.

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The Policy of Constraint

• Introduced 1945/47 to protect and preserve
  agricultural land.
• Also agricultural support from government, both
  before 1973 and afterwards through the CAP to
  maintain and increase production.

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Productivity

• Farmers increased production
• Yields doubled between 1940s and 1970s
• Increased a further 50 by the 2000s.
• But this altered the countryside.
• And created unacceptable surpluses.

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Changes in Agricultural Policy

• Late nineties set aside
• By 2005 10 of farmland in the South East was
  set aside.
• In 2005 switch to the single payment.
• Owners of farmland now receive a payment
  unrelated to production (in the UK 230 per
  hectare).

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Any change in planning constraint?

• Yes, it has become stricter.
• But the Rogers Report 1999 doesnt mention
  agriculture.
• The constraint is needed to protect the wild
  life, tranquillity, and beauty of the
  countryside.

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The Policy hasnt changed but the reasons for the
policy have!

• But the cost is higher house and land prices and
  the smallest new homes in western Europe.
• And less and less open land within cities!
• But older home owners like rising house prices
  (and the young live in the new small homes.)

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Why is this accepted?

• People believe myths about the countryside and
  only visit a few beauty spots (which are then
  very crowded.)
• Walking, as I do, in the country, I see this,
  but
• Interest groups propagate myths.

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• Near London by far the greatest use of
  agricultural land that one sees is now for
  grazing the horses of the wealthy.
• And large areas of land have been converted to
  golf courses.

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Conclusion

• Like ODPs in the seventies the policy continues
  because it exists.
• But at some point it will have to change.
• The UK cannot continue with a policy which leads
  to house prices doubling in real terms every
  twenty five years.