{"id":17734,"date":"2018-01-05T16:24:46","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T16:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=17734"},"modified":"2018-01-05T16:24:46","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T16:24:46","slug":"rtpi-responds-to-sunday-times-article-on-planning-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=17734","title":{"rendered":"RTPI responds to Sunday Times article on planning corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/RTPI_Planner050118.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-17735\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/RTPI_Planner050118.png\" alt=\"RTPI Planner 050118\" width=\"250\" height=\"179\" \/><\/a>Following articles published in <em>The Sunday Times<\/em> on 17 December claiming that corruption is endemic in the English planning system, RTPI has complained to the paper and sent a Letter to the Editor from its President Stephen Wilkinson.<\/h3>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Stephen Wilkinson writes:<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Your article (Bricks, bribery and mortar \u2014 the flaw built into our planning rules, 17 Dec) claiming corruption is \u2018endemic\u2019 in the English planning system lacked sound evidence and integrity. Whilst planning\u2019s role and operation is the subject of constant debate, rarely does this descend into such a groundless attack on the profession.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u2018RTPI chartered planners are bound by a strict code of conduct which leads to a high standard of professional ethics. Charges of corruption are extremely rare. Rohan Silva\u2019s dislike of the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 appears to stem from the fact that control over land use and development is vested in the community, and not solely with landowners. Today\u2019s planning system is underpinned by the principle that development should deliver the widest possible range of public benefits.<\/p>\n<p>He went on to state that \u2018Despite severe budget reductions, councils are granting more planning permissions than ever, but planners are right to take time to make sure that the most public good is derived from development before it is allowed to go ahead. What Mr Silva sees as bureaucracy is a vital process to scrutinise and extract the best possible outcome for the community. Improvements to the planning system will not come from giving landowners\/developers pre-existing right to build, but in proper investment in planning services and in a fundamental reform of how physical and social infrastructure is funded. Planning is essential to a modern economy, with decisions vested in the democratic process for which planners are vital guardians.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>A shorter statement was issued to our members&#8217; magazine,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theplanner.co.uk\/news\/news-in-brief-rtpi-responds-to-article-on-planning-corruption-plans-for-emmeline-pankhurst\">The Planner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rtpi.org.uk\/briefing-room\/news-releases\/2017\/december\/rtpi-letter-to-the-sunday-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more&#8230;.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following articles published in The Sunday Times on 17 December claiming that corruption is endemic in the English planning system, RTPI has complained to the paper and sent a Letter to the Editor from its President Stephen Wilkinson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17736,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17734\/revisions\/17736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}