The planning system is broken – and it’s the Tories’ fault

The planning system is broken and it was pathetic to read the report of Michael Gove “bigging up” the Tories housing policy.

One wonders whether the Tories have achieved anything after all their years in power, apart from having some good drinks parties.

I have been waiting for over a year to secure change of use for a former retail high street property I plan to transform into a residential space. A straightforward case and in line with the government’s own pontifications about revitalising the high street. Yet the planners cannot move forward due to a single toilet correctly connected to the drainage system.

A nitrate policy that didn’t apply to commercial properties now means that this single toilet will need to have its nitrate potential balanced against a bit of agricultural land forever, preventing development. It would appear that this worthy green legislation was introduced with the aim of dealing with major residential estates on green field sites. However, there is no provision for small unit schemes.

Any politician who had any real interest in providing residential properties on brownfield sites would have addressed this a long time ago. Instead multiple residential developments are held up while people go homeless. This is in Chichester where the water companies are already pumping raw sewage into the sea.

Instead of Tory ministers playing musical chairs, it will be refreshing to see a new government with ministers who will learn their briefs, inject a bit of common sense, and do their jobs.

Alastair Duncan

Winchester

As we have seen with wildfires gripping the European continent, the climate crisis is erecting nefarious and insuperable obstacles around people who bear the least responsibility for it. Our world is already ravaged by wars, environmental nihilism, religious and ethnic hatred, Islamophobia, antisemitism, xenophobia and unholy competition for natural resources.

It is the innocent who pay the highest price in terms of loss of lives and livelihoods. We must therefore work assiduously to ensure that the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised have access to shelter, water, sanitation facilities and protection from severe heat and climate calamities.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London

I was most saddened to hear of the passing of George Alagiah, at the age of 67, after his long and tragic battle with cancer.

Growing up, I fondly remember watching Alagiah on the news, with my parents on occasion reminding me that he was born in Sri Lanka. That mattered very much at a time in which there was not a great deal of South Asian representation in the media and on TV, never mind people from the small but beautiful island which my family and I originate from.

To see him, week after week, reading the news and covering stories of the utmost importance, home and abroad, with great sensitivity, detail, and eloquence, was an utter joy to watch. It also in part gave me a sense of belief that, as a South Asian boy growing up in Yorkshire, my ethnicity would not necessarily be a barrier to professional success.

I ended up choosing law, not journalism, as a career choice. Now, as a 29-year-old practising barrister, I have been thinking about how I can inspire and encourage younger people, especially those of the same or similar ethnic background, to pursue a career in law.

There are no doubt many brilliant lawyers in the legal profession to look up to, but I will remind the next generation that if they want to learn how to speak beautifully and deliver compelling but accurate accounts, whilst oozing charm at the same time (qualities that are no doubt useful to any lawyer), then they need not look any further than George’s glittering career in journalism. He was, after all, a heavyweight news presenter of which the British public were so lucky to have his presence on our screens for so long.

We are currently celebrating South Asian heritage month in this country, and yet we have lost one of our most successful and adored professional pioneers before his time. It is cruel and untimely, but I have every confidence that George’s outstanding broadcasting legacy will live on and inspire many young people down the line.

Chevan Ilangaratne

Birmingham

It utterly disgusts me to see Charlotte Owen being robed in the House of Lords. It belittles the nation and belittles the honour bestowed upon her. Fom what I have seen, she was given the position solely because she was one of Boris Johnson’s cronies.

The brave people of this country working in food banks, the NHS and other voluntary organisations that should be recognised are dismissed as if not important, and yet Owen is rewarded. For what?

What a condemnation of this Tory government.

Paul Atkins

Burntwood Staffs

The “ironic” need to send more polluting aircraft to Greece to collect holidaymakers inconvenienced by the catastrophic wildfires wasn’t lost on Anne Watson in her recent letter. Clearly, the need to exact very savage restrictions on fossil fuels, recreational flying and driving, and the eating of meat and dairy is imperative if we wish to slow global warming.

While these things are unavoidable realities, we must also accept that cessation of these activities will cause irrevocable harm to communities, families and economies. Change must be controlled, measured and planned.

While Greta Thunberg’s eco outbursts, heavily publicised arrests, and refusals to fly makes for great environmental PR, both she and Anne Watson must also be aware of the doubly ironic fact that these devastating fires are being fought with aircraft and diesel-powered pumps and fire trucks. Switching off our reliance on fossil fuels requires a more integrated approach than simply shouting at the gates of a Malmo oil refinery, slow marching in traffic lanes, or deciding not to fly any more.

Easy solutions are rarely easy or solutions.

Steve Mackinder

Denver