» Monthly Archives: March 2011
German Election Results Signal New Opportunities For Land Use Politics
[caption id="attachment_5632" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="German Chancellor Angela Merkel"][/caption]
By Stefan Evers
Eagerly awaited results of the state elections in Baden-Wurttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate brought a caesura in the political history of Germany. For the first time ever, the Green Party will provide the Prime Minister of a German state (Bundesland). This break, in a state run by the ...
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The Political Landscape of Planning Pt 3; What Can a Developer Do?
(Robert J. Flavell is vice chairman of The Saint Consulting Group and co-author of NIMBY Wars: The Politics of Land Use. The Saint Report published Part 1 and Part 2 of this series last month.)
By Robert J. Flavell, Vice Chairman, The Saint Consulting Group
Citizens today will not take “no” for an answer. They are wealthier, better ...
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Opponents doubt business case for £17 billion UK high-speed rail link
The economic case for spending £17 billion to build a high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham is losing support from local and county politicians in a UK economy facing multi-billion-pound budget cuts, high unemployment and inflation.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that critics believe Prime Minister David Cameron's High Speed 2 plan -- to link ...
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Canadian tribes take oil pipeline protest to Bank of Montreal AGM
Members of several Canadian indigenous tribal nations opposed plans for an 800-mile oil pipeline with a rally outside and spokesmen appearing inside the Bank of Montreal's Annual General Meeting last week in Vancouver.
They intervened at the Bank of Montreal (BMO) annual shareholders meeting to tell the bank not to finance Enbridge or the company's Northern ...
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Midwest neighbor states divided over coal gasification, pipeline projects
Proposed coal gasification plants have divided Midwest governors, legislatures and energy suppliers. They also spell out the complexity of linear land use disputes across Illinois and Indiana and put in limbo a carbon-dioxide (CO2) pipeline from the Midwest plants to U.S. Gulf Coast enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has vetoed a bill ...
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Canadian power transmission project divides NH along 140-mile path
New Hampshire residents are divided over an electricity transmission project that would provide power from Canada to the southern part of the state for distribution there and in other parts of New England, The New Hampshire Sunday News reports in a survey.
The Northern Pass power project would funnel hydroelectric power south from Quebec along 140 ...
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Mass. high court ruling may reduce nuisance suits against builders
A recent decision in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court could reshape the landscape for builders and developers in the Bay State, giving Land Courts a stronger hand to decide whether plaintiffs bring nuisance lawsuits or legitimate ones, Paul McMorrow, an associate editor at CommonWealth Magazine, writes in The Boston Globe.The state's highest court sided with ...
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Vancouver debate cites Saint Index: Canadians prefer landfill to casino
With the current debate in Vancouver about the new downtown casino, it’s of interest to note that most Canadians would sooner see a landfill than a casino in their backyard, according to the Saint Index cited in the Vancouver Real Estate Market Insight blog.
David Allison of Real Estate News Exchange notes that research into NIMBYs ...
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Strategic Opposition Part 5: 10 Commandments to deal with angry citizens
(Editor’s Note: The Saint Report has explored the changing landscape of real estate development and evolution of land use politics. In this series, we look at strategic opposition to development and a growing industry of consultants who bring new strategies to the politics of planning) By Saint Consulting Staff What can you do when some or ...
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Strategic opposition Part 4: telltale signs to sniff out opponents
(Editor’s Note: The Saint Report has explored the changing landscape of real estate development and evolution of land use politics. In this series, we look at strategic opposition to development and a growing industry of consultants who bring new strategies to the politics of planning)
By Saint Consulting Staff
The chief reason that your competitors will use strategic ...
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