The Shoreditch Works application has taken 4 years and 9,000 pages of documents. Hackney Council has concluded what this project needs is… more documents.

This is interesting. Looks like the EU is planning to reform the Habitats Regulations out of concern they restrict clean energy development too much. www.tlt.com/insights-and...

NEW: Labour are on track to miss their 1.5 million home by a distance. Our analysis of planning application data predicts only 800,000 homes will be built in England by 2029. Just 3.4% of people in England live somewhere on track to meet their housing target. www.samdumitriu.com/p/labours-15...

thread

Would you say a 9,054-page planning application for an office block and some flats is: A) Too long B) About right C) Not long enough If you answered C, congratulations! You could work at Hackney Council.

This is a must-read. A forensic analysis of a planning application (and a report from planners recommending its refused). Kafkaesque is over-used, but it is the perfect description of the process so far for the extremely popular Shoreditch Works scheme.

One of the big problems for marketeers such as myself is that people absolutely hate prices being used to indicate scarcity. Rent controls are exactly the same as calls for constraints on TicketMaster: requests to move towards a system of queuing for scarce products rather than money.

Britain is a very centralised country. Britain is also a very expensive place to build new infrastructure. Are these two facts linked? @alonlevy.bsky.social, one of the world’s top experts on infrastructure costs doesn’t think so. Here’s why I disagree. open.substack.com/pub/samdumit...

NEW: 45 leading figures from academia, business and politics tell Ed Miliband "Don't U-turn" on the commitment to implement every recommendation of the Fingleton Nuclear Regulatory Review. Full letter below.

Is it me or is this really egregious? Green NGOs have published a briefing claiming that the Fingleton Review into nuclear regulation made up a key case study. The only problem is they didn't. And it isn't hard to check.

The Wildlife Trusts have published a briefing claiming that the Fingleton Review's into nuclear regulation was 'flawed' in its use of evidence. I've read their briefing. And frankly it's laughable. Full of errors and in some cases, outright misleading. www.samdumitriu.com/p/in-defence...

"HS2's £100m bat tunnel isn't a waste of money" argues HS2 Ltd's top ecologist. His argument: There was "no better solution that met species protection law and reduced cost." I'd argue he has completely missed the point. (1/2)

Is offshore wind really 40% cheaper than gas? Sort of, but we need to be clear that the high cost of gas is, in part, a policy choice driven by carbon pricing and lower-capacity factors. My latest attempt to inject some nuance into the energy debate. www.samdumitriu.com/p/is-offshor...

My instinct is, when evaluating a politician, the public indexes less on policy and more on character. It can be hard for the extremely ambitious people in Westminister to grasp, but in the real world loyalty to friends and colleagues comes first.

NEW: Britain's latest CfD auction secured a record 8.4GW of wind capacity. New projects will be awarded 20-year fixed-price contracts at £91 per MWh. The highest price 2015. Why has wind power got more expensive and what will it mean for bills? www.samdumitriu.com/p/britains-l...

It is more expensive to build on previously-developed land than greenfield. A new tax on housebuilding (Building Safety Levy) was meant to have a lower rate for it. One problem: the discount is defined in a way that rules out almost all brownfield sites. www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-buildi...

New: Britain can't decarbonise quickly without buying a lot of Chinese tech. What are the risks of becoming dependent on China for solar panels, batteries, and EVs? Britain Remade's China expert Michael Hill explains what we should and shouldn't worry about. www.samdumitriu.com/p/how-worrie...

From solar panels to EVs, China dominates green supply chains. So how did they get there? @britainremade.bsky.social's Michael Hill explains that it wasn't some grand strategy, but applying the East Asian industrial model to 1.4bn people. www.samdumitriu.com/p/why-china-...

Prediction: Madrid will have better outcomes (when you adjust for economic growth) but the conclusion from the author will be that Barcelona's reforms were 'watered down' and didn't go far enough.

Thread: How reliant are the UK’s Net Zero plans on Chinese goods? Here are some stats taken from @britainremade.bsky.social's Michael Hill. www.samdumitriu.com/p/can-we-ach...

Can Britain get to Net Zero without China? In the short-term, almost certainly not. China dominates the supply chains for wind, solar, batteries, and EVs. Super inisghtful post from my colleague Michael Hill www.samdumitriu.com/p/can-we-ach...

NEW: Labour just announced the biggest change in planning policy in 80 years. My breakdown of the key measures and whether they will succeed. www.samdumitriu.com/p/labour-are...

Britain can't reach Net Zero without Chinese supply chains. What are the risks and what should we do about them? This, from my colleague Michael Hill, is the best thing I've read on Britain's reliance on China to reach Net Zero. www.samdumitriu.com/p/china-the-...

Labour spent ages arguing that the railways should be nationalised. They appear not to have spent much time figuring out what we can learn from the best nationalised systems. catchingmice.substack.com/cp/180687006

This is a vital report. Whether or not the Government accept it in full, is a test of whether they are serious about growth.

The findings of the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce lay bare the litany of regulations that make Britain the most expensive place in the world to build nuclear power stations. 1/4

Hinkley Point C is set to be the most expensive nuclear plant ever built. The numbers below reveal they spent £700m on fish protection. Based on the latest estimates that’s £280,000 per fish.

This is rhetorically the most pro-building govt ever, but housebuilding has ground to a halt and Heathrow still expect their planning app to cost £800m to produce. The problem is there's a massive gap between what Labour say they want and what they're doing. www.samdumitriu.com/p/rhetoric-v...

What do Labour's New Towns plans get right? My latest on why the Government are right to want to build New Towns in Enfield and Tempsford samdumitriu.com/p/will-labou...

My latest: Move over bat tunnel, here’s the wild story of how HS2 were forced to build a multi-million pound bridge for a road that… doesn’t actually exist.

Bad regulations that require us to build bat sheds and produce 80,000 page EIAs clearly make infrastructure more expensive than necessary. But are theu really enough to explain why HS2 and Hinkley are so expensive? Here's my answer. www.samdumitriu.com/p/how-bad-regulations-make-infrastructure

Nuclear works. It’s safe, clean and reliable. In other countries, it’s affordable too. Here's how Britain can lead again in nuclear by fixing bad safety rules, streamlining planning, and creating new routes to market.

Will Labour deliver its 1.5 million home target? New Britain Remade analysis of planning application data finds Labour are on track to be almost 500,000 homes short by the end of Parliament. www.samdumitriu.com/p/labours-15...

On Thursday night, we heard that government was making big concessions on its planning bill, putting lots more controls on its nature recovery plans. I find this disappointing. And to explain why, I have to tell a story I’ve been holding off from sharing.

NEW: Britain Remade's judgment on Labour's amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Plus: What they need to do to salvage their planning reform agenda. www.samdumitriu.com/p/what-happe...

It's very hot today so I wrote about the UK's anti-air conditioning policies and why getting rid of them could be the secret to getting us to install heat pump. samdumitriu.substack.com/p/legalise-ac

☀️A strong front of warming to the idea of new nuclear power is spreading across Europe ☀️ ____________________________________________ 🌧️There's a high chance that Scotland misses out by continuing to ban it 🌧️

Make it easier for cities to build trams... regenerate post-war housing estates... build new towns (in the right places) Here are 10 ways to revive the UK economy, writes @britainremade.bsky.social's Head of Policy @samdumitriu.bsky.social

Britain’s planning system is broken, and working people are paying the price. High bills. Low wages. Sky-high house prices and rents. A system built for blockers, not builders. It doesn’t have to be this way. 🧵

Coventry is doing something that many thought impossible: building a tram line in Britain quickly and cheaply. Read David Milner of @createstreets.bsky.social on how they've done it and what we can learn from it. capx.co/coventrys-tr...

The Government are abolishing the legal requirment to consult the public before submitting a planning application for major infrastructure. Here's why they are right to do so. www.samdumitriu.com/p/britain-is...

NEW: The Planning and Infrastructure bill will abolish the legal requirement to consult before submitting a planning application for major infrastructure projects. Consultation is good in theory, but it has become a box-ticking exercise. This reform will slash years off planning tables.

"This state of affairs is not inevitable or necessary. It is a political choice. Politicians are choosing a system that will, on occasion, put protecting specific species and environmental features ahead of jobs, growth, and energy security." www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-planni...

London has seen a large decrease in fires (~-30%) and fire deaths (~-50%) since 2009. Very much calls into question the value of the new single-stair rules @samdumitriu.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

You can hear me (plus Rosie Pearson and Andrew Boswell) on the @tortoisemedia.bsky.social Slow Newscast discussing NIMBYism, the Lower Thames Crossing, legal challenges and much more. www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/the-s...

They can’t keep getting away with this.

💫 We’re launching the Centre for British Progress Our founding essay: Rediscovering British Progress is a case for growth that drives shared progress, rooted in Britain's values and industrial heritage. It all starts with a postcard from 1870 👇 britishprogress.org/articles/red...

New from me: The OBR estimate that recent planning reforms will boost the UK economy by £7bn a year by the end of the Parliament. Here are 7 thoughts on what this means. www.samdumitriu.com/p/7-thoughts...

My latest on the threat to the Planning and Infrastructure bill from innocous sounding amendments pushed by green groups. www.samdumitriu.com/p/how-to-bre...

New: Has the Government solved the £121m Bat Tunnel problem? My latest looks at the bat tunnel problem and whether or not the new Planning and Infrastructure fixes it. www.samdumitriu.com/p/have-we-so...