RTPI qualifies NPS welcome

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the professional body for Britain’s 22,000 planners, has on 10 November welcomed the publication of the first draft National Policy Statements, but warned that without an overall national spatial plan, we risk missing out significantly on the real economic, social and climate change benefits of planning new major infrastructure in a coherent way.
 
Matt Thomson, RTPI acting Director of Policy and Partnerships said: “We welcome the publication of the first of the draft National Policy Statements which provide, for the first time, an opportunity for genuine debate on the national need for the various types of infrastructure. What is clearly lacking, however, is a national spatial plan which brings together plans for jobs, housing and tackling climate change with those for energy, transport and water. Without this, the nation cannot be certain that it will get the right infrastructure in the right place, and without which, the Government will fail to address the real national needs in a locally sensitive way.”

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