Clarity demanded over home extensions

Clarity demanded over extensions
Campaigners have demanded clarity from the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles after his department refused to give details of how far he was prepared to backtrack over planning reforms for extensions. Critics have argued that the plans will blight communities and could set neighbour against neighbour. They said yesterday that any change should allow neighbours to object if they believed a planned extension was too big. The Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow, who voted against the plans, said: "The cardinal principle is the right for neighbours to have their views taken into account. Without that, there could be poisonous consequences. The Government won't get this through the Lords unless he reinstates that principle." A DCLG spokesman said no details of the compromise will be announced before next week. Meanwhile, an editorial in the FT says that the UK has to address public hostility to development. It says that the housing shortage and resulting high prices are making home ownership seem a pipe dream for an entire generation and that the Government cannot just be on the side of those who own property.