In a blatant bit of electioneering, Eric Pickles and Brandon Lewis have this week announced new guidance to reinforce the protection afforded to Green Belt land.  I say new guidance; what I really mean is that they haven’t said anything new at all, or certainly nothing that hasn’t been self-evident for the best part of a year, being that housing need is not going to win a planning permission this side of the General Election – at least where the Secretary of State is concerned.

I won’t be the only one marvelling at the black humour of the champion of Localism issuing diktats from Whitehall to local authorities on how to write their development plans and determine planning applications.  They can do whatever they like, just as long as it absolutely meets the objectives of the Conservative party manifesto for the foreseeable future.  Presumably, once the Election is out of the way, we can recover a semblance of common sense – albeit how much blood is left on the carpet from upturned local plans and perfectly good residential development proposals refused for political reasons, remains to be seen.