Poll confirms public distrust of development

Public distrust of development is rampant in Britain (as well as the United States and Canada), according to an international poll carried out by the Saint Consulting Group, part of a land use politics consultancy.

The poll, known as the Saint Index (the result of surveys in the three countries) found that huge majorities in each country want no more development in their local area with the British apparently the most likely to hold 'nimby' (not in my backyard) views. Some 83 per cent of Britons oppose new development in their community, compared to 75 per cent in Canada and 73 per cent in the US.

The poll indicated that that Britons are not very impressed with the way planning authorities deal with planning issues with 62 per cent of Britons giving them a 'fair to poor' rating.

Impact on property values, loss of community character, traffic growth and adverse impact on the environment were the most common reasons for opposing development.

High levels of opposition to many categories of development were apparent in the UK, the consultancy warned, citing casinos (86 per cent); quarries (76 per cent); landfills (81 per cent) and power plants (79 per cent).

Nick Keable, UK vice president of Saint Consulting, said: "Developers need to question how to operate in this climate. It is not about how good your project is – it's about the politics. Successful developers need to do early consultation before they announce a project.

"They need to build coalitions, leverage community planning gain benefits and line up support because the planning process has morphed into a classical political campaign, where the technical details are less important than stacking up the votes."

Read the Saint UK Index press release

Roger Milne

7 June 2007