Cornish Social & Economic Research Group
» What CoSERG Thinks » Press releases » Wrong region, wrong assumptions, wrong strategy
CoSERG in its response to the 12 week Consultation on the Proposed Changes to the South West Regional Spatial Strategy 2006-2026 say they believe the ‘south west’ region has no obvious cultural or historical rationale and this might explain the failure to provide the sensitive treatment that Cornwall’s unique combination of socio-economic problems requires.
They say there has been a staggering lack of imagination accompanying the process of top-down regionalization in England and that this approach rests only on “inertia and the acceptance of technocratic planning regions adopted for Census and Poor Law purposes in the 1830s and 1840s.”
The group lists a summary of ten objections to the strategy. They say that they reject the housing figures proposed in the RSS for Cornwall. They believe they are unsustainable, unnecessary and unacceptable and that developer led housing provision cannot meet affordable housing need.
According to CoSERG the increasing urbanization of Cornwall and densification of Cornish settlements will not improve sustainability. They argue that the evidence indicates that such land-use policies will not lead to reduced car dependency.
Much of the housing ‘demand’ in Cornwall arises not from a local need but from people moving here, the group believes. They go on to say, “For some years Cornwall has had high population growth compared to other parts of the United Kingdom. The number of people living in Cornwall increased by 32% between 1971 and 2001 compared to just 6.5% in England.”
As part of an alternative policy for housing, CoSERG recommends a number of changes to the planning system. They suggest that local councils should be able to restrict permission for inappropriate developments, which do not meet local, needs. They also say there is need to ensure that the transfer of residential property to non-residential purposes is subject to obtaining planning permission. Looking at affordable housing, they consider the focus should alter, possibly by directly providing social housing rather than relying on the developer-led approach.
The full CoSERG report called ‘South West Regional Spatial Strategy 2006-2026, Wrong region, wrong assumptions, wrong strategy - A Response to the SWRSS and Secretary of State's Proposed Changes’ can be found on their website here...Wrong region, wrong assumptions, wrong strategy (PDF)
OR it can be requested by sending an email to: cosergwm@hotmail.co.uk
Release date: 29st October 2008