Summaries for: Politicians and Planning
US Chamber: NIMBY cost energy projects $560 Billion and 250,000 Jobs
A flawed permitting process for energy projects is the main contributor to roughly $560 billion in lost direct and private investment and 250,000 jobs, according to testimony delivered by U.S. Chamber Senior Vice President William L. Kovacs before a joint meeting of the Senate and House Western Caucuses. “The ‘Not In My Back Yard’ folks ...
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Whither UK housing – does the Coalition Government have a clue?
By Nick Keable, Vice President, UK Operations, The Saint Consulting Group Fact No 1 – The UK remains in the grip of a housing crisis. Demand remains high (we’re dying older, kids want to move away from Mum and Dad earlier, we’re divorcing more often and immigration has grown considerably). But supply has dwindled down ...
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Coalition planning reform: no big bang; change by a thousand cuts
By Nick Keable, Vice President, UK Operations, The Saint Consulting Group So when New Labour came to power, we had a ‘big bang’ planning reform moment: a green paper, much debate, a Bill and finally the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. In outline, this legislation tried to do two things at once: it dramatically ...
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Post Match Analysis: basic maths, campaign realities of UK Coalition Government
(Editor's Note: In the home stretch of the first 100 days of the UK’s Coalition Government, Nick Keable starts a three-part series that will look at how we got here, the impact of the new Coalition Government on planning reform and whither national housing policy.)By Nick Keable, Vice President, UK Operations, The Saint Consulting GroupThe ...
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The changing landscape for real estate development strategy: Part 5 Competing outside the box
By P. Michael Saint, Chairman and CEO, The Saint Consulting Group So, how do companies use the planning process to raise barriers to entry into a geographic market? Some participate in the local planning process in ways that seek to limit the areas where new competitors are allowed to locate. Some seek to ban new ...
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Credibility? Developers have none, just a target on their backs
By Patrick Fox,
President, The Saint Consulting Group
No matter how good you are or how many times you have gone above and beyond to ensure your projects are designed and built to the highest standards, you come to town with a target on your back. No matter how many times you have made commitments to neighbors ...
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New Chicago public way rules should reduce costs, streamline approvals
Donna Pugh, a partner in Foley & Lardner, a Chicago law practice, has written about the impact of new Chicago public way rules which should reduce costs and streamline the approvals process. Chicago business and property owners who have long lamented the onerous approval process associated with private use of the public way finally have ...
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Regardless how good your project is, people are organizing against it
By Patrick Fox,President, The Saint Consulting Group
Whether you call them NIMBYs, BANANAs, CAVE*, people or uninformed, selfish nutcases, they are organizing to stop your project and, often, they are winning. Regardless of how good you think your project is and how hard you may have worked to address community needs they are still there screaming ...
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Supermarket News: Supermarkets hire firm to block Wal-Mart
The recent Wall Street Journal story about grocery stores engaging in defensive activities against big box retailers has generated a great deal of discussion. This article from Supermarket News does an excellent job of putting it into perspective.
Legal experts contacted by Supermarket News last week agreed that corporate campaigns disguised as citizen petitions are often ...
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Hey! Anyone know how California will reduce greenhouse emissions?
By Jesse McKnight,
Executive Vice President, The Saint Consulting Group
As a Urban Land Institute (ULI) member and California resident, I found it interesting that ULI decided to nationally endorse SB375, a California bill that attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Golden State.
Not that I am supportive or against the legislation, but ...
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