Ribbon development along Regional roads

After the recent controversy over the relaxing of planning regulations controlling one-off housing, several people mentioned the role of the NRA in blocking future ribbon development. However, as far as I’m aware their remit only extends to cover National roads. So, that means they have no power to stop one-off houses being built along the R roads running out of towns.

Unfortunately, R roads lie within the authority of the Department of the Environment and, yes, that means ribbon development along these routes is the responsibility of the very man who seemingly thinks it’s a good thing – Dick Roache.

What I fear this will mean – particularly in the West – is that sprawl will be tightly controlled along the N routes leaving towns but farcically allowed to spill out along R roads. So the result of this inexplicable division of ministerial control over the road network could well result in a planning equivalent of one step forward, one step back. Where ribbon growth is halted in one direction it can carry with even greater vigour in another – all depending on the road’s letter prefix. Great to see joined up government’s alive and well.

Heaven knows what towns will look like after a few years of lop sided growth resulting from this ludicrous set-up.