What Councils can do to promote economic growth

by liamssoft | October 10, 2012 at 02:31 pm

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Many Councils see the van and the car as an opportunity to raise tax revenues, to charge them and to restrict their use.

If Councils really wanted to help the local economy they would see that they need to do much more to allow reasonable vehicle access to potential customers, and to allow potential customers access to shops and other centres of trade. They could:

1. Allocate land for sufficient parking near town centres and residential developments, and provide it free or at low cost.

2.Ensure that all new developments have ample parking at or near people’s homes, to allow trade access as well as taking the residents’ cars off the main highway.

3.Work to create less congestion in existing developments. This includes the need for safer junctions, with sufficient space at the junction to keep pedestrians away from traffic and to separate right turning traffic from the rest.

4.Allowing the delivery of items to the door as long as the road is not blocked for traffic by the drop off

5. Reviewing all their local roads with a view to improving the flow of traffic

6 Making selective junction improvements, increasing the number of bridging points over local railway lines and rivers which usually create the main congestion.

Councils could

1. Lower their fees for seeking planning permission and Building Regulation approval

2.Speed the decision making process up

3. Require objectors to demonstrate that a proposal would have an adverse impact like more noise or the loss of light

4. Be more relaxed about a change of use where there are not reasonable grounds for objection

5. Ensuring all main settlements have land demarked for extra provision of space in all the main categories

6. Encouraging local plans to come forward for more starter units for businesses.

Source: johnredwoodsdiary.com