Letter: Brown-field building
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.FEW would disagree with the principles behind the Government paper published this week on Planning for the Communities of the Future, although there may well be doubts as to the practicalities.
The development of "brownfield" sites not merely provides homes but also removes unsightly dereliction in the inner cities. Regalian has been a leader in urban regeneration throughout the 1980s and has continued this policy in the 1990s, taking a lead in the conversion of redundant office buildings to residential use.
We will however, have no choice but to back away from our previous dedication to urban regeneration if there is a lack of commitment from local planning authorities to review their procedures. Many examples exist in central London of unreasonable delays and unrealistic demands from these authorities, inevitably delaying development. Regalian wholeheartedly supports the need for "a more flexible approach to planning policy". Unfortunately, there has been little evidence of such an approach on the part of planning authorities. For the policy proposed by John Prescott to succeed this flexible approach is now even more essential.
DAVID J GOLDSTONE
Chairman
Regalian Properties plc
London W1
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments