Communities may lose ability to influence decision-making as planning is streamlined in favour of developers, green groups say A planning free-for-all leading to blighted landscapes, urban sprawl, more congestion and an undermining of local democracy is inevitable if the government insists on pushing ahead with proposals for new rules, say the UK’s leading green groups. The National Trust, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Friends of the Earth, RSPB, Greenpeace and other countryside and environment organisations with a combined membership of more than 6 million people, have told the Guardian that they fear communities will lose the ability to influence decision-making as planning is streamlined in favour of developers and as economic growth is prioritised over social and environmental concerns. In addition, one prominent Conservative council has said the proposed changes contained in the contained in the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) will be “undemocratic” and “against the principle of localism”. The fight against the proposed planning rules comes from groups at the heart of middle England and is shaping up to become a major political battleground for David Cameron. Many of the groups were part of the coalition who forced the government into a U-turn on selling off English forests this year. According to the groups, who are working individually and not as a coalition, the most radical reforms of the planning system in 50 years will allow developers to build what they like where they like in the 66% of England that is not formally protected by national park, or other conservation status. The groups say the changes in the planning law may lead to: • Previously refused plans for major developments being re-submitted and automatically passed; • Plans for giant incinerators and factory farms becoming impossible to refuse; • Overcrowding as the space between communities is filled with housing; • Green belt protection around more than 20 English cities becoming weakened; • Airport expansions, new roads and giant business parks on motorways; • Polluting developments imposed on poorest communities. Existing conservation areas will retain protection measures, but nearly two-thirds of England is not protected. In addition, planning approval will be assumed in the nearly 50% of local authorities that have no published local plans. A crucial clause in the draft bill provides a presumption in favour of “sustainable development” over all other considerations. The way it is worded is said by the groups to be so weak to be legally meaningless. Fiona Reynolds, director of the 3.5-million strong National Trust called for a fundamental rethink of the reforms. “We firmly believe that the government has got its proposals for planning reform wrong. We are hearing the same from our supporters and local communities the length and breadth of the country. The government is disregarding the impact that these proposals will have on open space in and around our cities, towns and villages. There is a default ‘yes’ to development which means that local voices will not be heard”. “The risk is that there will be a development free-for-all in all unprotected areas in the mistaken belief that it will generate economic growth. The message for local authorities is build, build, build,” said Shaun Spiers, director of the CPRE. Martin Harper, RSPB conservation director, said: “The planning system is there to represent the interests of the public in the face of complex decisions, and it will fail us all if one factor – economic growth – is set higher than any other.” Joan Walley MP, who chairs parliament’s environmental audit committee , which will question ministers over the changes next month, said: “Stripping the planning system of safeguards that protect the green spaces around our cities, towns and villages is not the answer. The government must be careful that in the rush for growth it doesn’t end up vandalising the countryside.” Greg Clark, planning minister, vigorously defended the proposed reforms, saying communities could draw up their own plans about where development should take place and would be strengthened rather than weakened by the changes. “The reaction of these groups has been unfocused and misconceived. Decisions on development will be made by local communities. Their plans will be sovereign. This puts more power into the hands of local people, not less,” he said. “I believe we will see a different type of development. Rather than huge, banal [ones] imposed from above, you will have more sensitive location of homes designed to higher standards. We will move from types of mediocre development that have been resisted by communities to developments that are more accountable.” But in a signal that Tory councils may react in a hostile way to the removal of many of their planning powers, Hammersmith and Fulham council said the planning proposals would damage local democracy. “To change planning law so that important decisions are not made at local level is anti-democratic, against the principles of localism”, said deputy leader Nick Botterill. Fulham and other London councils say that they will have no power under the new laws to stop a major London sewer being built. “These proposals risk riding roughshod over local democracy. It could take decision-making away from councils. There is a real risk of developers being able to manipulate the [planning] system in their favour. It opens a barn door for them,” said Kate Henderson, director of the Town and Country Planning Association. Not all groups oppose the new planning rules though. Harry Cotterell, deputy president of the Country Land and Business Association said that sustainable development was necessary for economic growth. “The planning system is currently failing to provide either the jobs or housing the countryside desperately needs for its survival. The draft NPPF provides a streamlined and less bureaucratic way of achieving economic and social success, while at the same time protecting the needs of the environment.” Liz Peace, head of the British Property Federation said: “The NPPF simply streamlines the old system, and gives democratically elected councils, rather than unelected regional quangos, the responsibility of deciding how much development is needed in their communities. What is needed is a sensible debate.” Planning policy Rural affairs RSPB Greenpeace Activism Local government John Vidal guardian.co.uk
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Scotland Yard wants to obtain footage filmed during the riots that ‘could show crime in action’ Newspapers and broadcasters, including Sky News and the Guardian, have come under pressure from the Metropolitan police to hand over all videos and pictures related to the London riots earlier this month. ITN, which produces ITV News and Channel 4 News, the Times and also the BBC are among the media organisations resisting efforts by Scotland Yard to obtain footage filmed during the riots that “could show crime in action”. The demands follow David Cameron’s call for the media to take ” responsibility ” and immediately release all material to help police track down and punish suspected rioters and looters. Police forces, including West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester police, began to informally approach media groups a fortnight ago, urging them to voluntarily disclose all footage – used or unused – of civil unrest during the England riots. The Met police has sent follow-up requests to several newspapers and broadcasters. Scotland Yard said it would obtain a court order to force the disclosure if the media did not volunteer material. Each of the media groups said they would fiercely resist the demands to avoid being seen as an evidence-gathering arm of the police. However, the media will be forced to hand over unused material if issued with a production order under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Under Pace, the judge is supposed to weigh the interest of the police in obtaining evidence with the public interest in a free press. Hundreds of police officers are working through about 40,000 hours of CCTV footage in stations across the country. In London, Met officers are believed to be studying more than 20,000 hours of video at 30 viewing facilities. A spokesman for the Met said: “The police are identifying people through pictures, CCTV and through the media to ensure that people are brought to justice. We would ask the media to work with the police to ensure that happens.” Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s head of newsgathering, said a fortnight ago that the corporation would face down requests to hand over footage without a court order. “It’s a matter of principle for us, we don’t just hand over our rushes [raw footage] to the police without them going through a proper process which is via the courts,” she said in an interview on BBC Radio 4′s Media Show . “It doesn’t really matter what the nature of the offences are – if we went down that road of making judgments of the nature of the offences, that would compromise our editorial standards.” A spokesman for the BBC said on Tuesday: “We have standard processes in place to deal with requests from the police through our litigation department, regardless of the subject matter. Any request would need to be dealt with by the courts.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . TV news UK riots Television industry ITN BBC Newspapers Newspapers & magazines Media law Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk
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West Bank settlers are given training before protests predicted to coincide with a Palestinian petition for UN recognition The Israeli military is arming and training West Bank settlers in preparation for mass protests by Palestinians that it expects to erupt around the time that the UN is asked to recognise a Palestinian state, according to a leaked document . Teargas and stun grenades are being distributed and training sessions held with settlement security teams, according to the document obtained by Haaretz. The army has also drawn lines on maps around Jewish settlements close to Palestinian villages to guide troops, police and settlement security chiefs. Protesters who breach the first line will be subject to teargas and other methods of crowd dispersal. If a second “red line” is crossed, soldiers will be permitted to open fire at protesters’ legs. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed it was liaising with settlers over Operation Summer Seeds, its codename for the military response to the expected protests. However, Palestinian leaders vigorously deny that violent protests are planned, and the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, has said he expects September to pass quietly. In a statement the IDF said: “The IDF maintains an ongoing, professional dialogue with the community leadership and security personnel throughout Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] while devoting great efforts to training local forces and preparing them to deal with any possible scenario. “Recently, central command has completed training the majority of the first response teams; these exercises are ongoing. Beyond the aforementioned training, the IDF cannot comment further regarding its operational preparedness.” According to Haaretz, the army has held training sessions for settlement security officers at a military installation near the West Bank settlement of Shiloh. Settlers are pressing the IDF to issue specific instructions on how they should respond to Palestinian protests, the paper says, but the military advocate general is concerned that such instructions could be interpreted as rules of engagement. Hagit Ofran, of Peace Now, an Israeli organisation which monitors settlement activity, said: “We hope the army is making clear that non-violent protest is legitimate and no settlers should use any violence against unarmed demonstrators.” Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights said there were already “serious questions and problems” with settlement security officials acting outside their designated boundaries. “We’re very concerned that [the IDF move] will not reduce conflict but increase it,” he said. Preparation for anticipated protests has been under way for weeks, with extra training given to thousands of police officers and soldiers. The Israeli authorities have allocated funds for training exercises and the purchase of additional equipment. The military has reportedly stockpiled around 200,000 litres of foul-smelling liquid to be fired from water cannon at protesters, or possibly dropped from planes. Supplies of stun grenades, rubber bullets and riot gear are also being topped up. According to the leaked document, the IDF expects demonstrations to turn into “mass disorder”. It says the protests may include “marches towards main junctions, Israeli communities and education centres; efforts at damaging symbols of [Israeli] government. Also there may be more extreme cases like shooting from within the demonstrations or even terrorist incidents. In all the scenarios, there is readiness to deal with incidents near the fences and the borders of the state of Israel.” Earlier this month, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s rightwing foreign minister, said the Palestinians were preparing for “bloodshed the likes of which we’ve never seen before”. Some commentators believed his remarks were aimed at inflaming the situation and stoking fears among the Israeli population. The Palestinian spokesman Ghassan Khatib said Israel was “trying to fuel a fake picture of what will happen in September”, adding: “These Israeli predictions of violence aren’t true.” The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has called for peaceful demonstrations in September to coincide with the Palestinians’ petition to the UN for recognition of their state. But he has repeatedly said protests should be peaceful. “I insist on popular resistance and I insist that it be unarmed popular resistance so that nobody misunderstands us,” he told the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s central committee. The Palestinian leadership is expected to present their request to be admitted to UN membership when the general assembly meets in September. Membership of the UN requires security council approval, which the US has already said it will veto. The Palestinians are then expected to request an enhanced “non-member state” status, which needs a two-thirds majority in the general assembly. They claim to have the backing so far of 124 of the UN’s 193 members, and expect to get a majority by the time of a vote. Israel Palestinian territories United Nations Middle East Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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Fresh revelations about 1940s medical tests come to light, including deliberately exposing people to sexually transmitted diseases Shocking new details of US medical experiments done in Guatemala in the 1940s, including a decision to re-infect a dying woman in a syphilis study, have been disclosed by a presidential panel. The Guatemala experiments are already considered one of the darker episodes of medical research in US history, but panel members say the new information indicates that researchers were unusually unethical, even when placed into the historical context of a different era. “The researchers put their own medical advancement first and human decency a far second,” said Anita Allen, a member of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. From 1946-48, the US Public Health Service and the Pan American Sanitary Bureau worked with several Guatemalan government agencies on medical research paid for by the US government that involved deliberately exposing people to sexually transmitted diseases. The researchers apparently were trying to see if penicillin, then relatively new, could prevent infections in the 1,300 people exposed to syphilis, gonorrhea or chancroid. Those infected included soldiers, prostitutes, prisoners and mental patients with syphilis. The commission revealed on Monday that only about 700 of those infected received some sort of treatment. Eighty-three people died, although it’s not clear if the deaths were directly due to the experiments. The research came up with no useful medical information, according to some experts. It was hidden for decades but came to light last year after a Wellesley College medical historian discovered records among the papers of Dr John Cutler, who led the experiments. President Barack Obama called Guatemala’s president, Alvaro Colom, to apologise. He also ordered his bioethics commission to review the Guatemala experiments. That work is nearly done. Though the final report is not due until next month, commission members discussed some of the findings at a meeting on Monday in Washington. They revealed that some of the experiments were more shocking than was previously known. For example, seven women with epilepsy, who were housed at Guatemala’s Asilo de Alienados (Home for the Insane), were injected with syphilis below the back of the skull, a risky procedure. The researchers thought the new infection might somehow help cure epilepsy. The women each got bacterial meningitis, probably as a result of the unsterile injections, but were treated. Perhaps the most disturbing details involved a female syphilis patient with an undisclosed terminal illness. The researchers, curious to see the impact of an additional infection, infected her with gonorrhea in her eyes and elsewhere. Six months later she died. Dr Amy Gutmann, head of the commission, described the case as “chillingly egregious”. During that time, other researchers were also using people as human guinea pigs, in some cases infecting them with illnesses. Studies weren’t as regulated then, and the planning-on-the-fly feel of Cutler’s work was not unique, some experts have noted. But panel members concluded that the Guatemala research was bad even by the standards of the time. They compared the work to a 1943 experiment by Cutler and others in which prison inmates were infected with gonorrhea in Indiana. The inmates were volunteers who were told what was involved in the study and gave their consent. Many of the Guatemalan participants received no such explanation and did not give informed consent, the commission said. The commission is working on a second report examining federally funded international studies to make sure current research is being done ethically. That report is expected at the end of the year. Meanwhile, the Guatemalan government has vowed to carry out its own investigation into the Cutler study. A spokesman for the vice-president Rafael Espada said the report should be done by November. Guatemala United States guardian.co.uk
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Former finance minister Yoshihiko Noda faces post-tsunami reconstruction and a sluggish economy as Japan’s new leader Japan’s parliament elected former finance minister Yoshihiko Noda as the country’s new prime minister on Tuesday, the sixth leader in five years. A fiscal conservative, Noda faces a host of daunting problems, including the post-tsunami recovery and nuclear crisis, and a sluggish economy and the yen’s surge, which hurts Japan’s exporters. Noda, who was elected on Monday to head the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, succeeds the unpopular Naoto Kan, who officially resigned on Tuesday with his cabinet after nearly 15 months in office. Noda, 54, must unify the fractious ruling party and restore public confidence in politics amid disgust over squabbling in parliament and perceived lack of leadership after the tsunami. He is a “moderate voice” in the ruling party, Sheila Smith, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, wrote. “He has a steady temperament and a reputation for fairness in a party where loyalties have been severely tested of late.” A supporter of the US-Japan security alliance, Noda has angered China and South Korea for comments about convicted wartime leaders revered at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where the souls of all Japan’s war dead are enshrined. Earlier this month, he reiterated his claim that the wartime leaders had paid their debts and should no longer be seen as war criminals. He made similar comments in 2005. Yasukuni visits by postwar politicians have often enraged Japan’s neighbours, who bore the brunt of Japan’s colonial aggression and are sensitive to any efforts by Japan to whitewash its past. As finance minister, Noda has been battling the yen’s recent rise to record highs against the dollar. Earlier this month, he authorised Japan’s intervention in global currency markets to try to weaken the yen. Noda has also said Japan must rein in its huge deficit twice the country’s gross domestic product and has voiced support in the past for raising the country’s 5% sales tax, but has toned that down lately. Japan Japan disaster guardian.co.uk
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• National Housing Federation says home ownership falling • Group predicts house prices to rise 21% by 2016 • Rents forecast to rise almost 20% by 2016 • Call for more housebuilding to tackle crisis The housing market is in crisis as home ownership tumbles and house prices soar, a study warned on Tuesday. Home ownership in England will slump to just 63.8% over the next decade, the National Housing Federation’s forecast said, the lowest level since the mid-1980s. Huge deposits, combined with high house prices and strict lending criteria, have sent home ownership into decline, the Federation said. The Federation, which represents England’s housing associations, warned the housing market will be plunged into an unprecedented crisis as it also forecast steep rises in the private rental sector and a house price boom. The Federation blamed the bleak outlook on an under-supply of homes in the UK. Federation chief executive David Orr said: “With home ownership in decline, rents rising rapidly and social housing waiting lists at a record high, it’s time to face up to the fact that we have a totally dysfunctional housing market. “Home ownership is increasingly becoming the preserve of the wealthy and, in parts of the country like London, the very wealthy. “And for the millions locked out of the property market the options are becoming increasingly limited as demand sends rents rising sharply and social homes waiting lists remain at record levels.” In England, the proportion of people living in owner-occupied homes will fall from a peak of 72.5% in 2001 to 63.8% in 2021, the Federation forecast. In London, the majority of people living in the capital will rent by 2021 with the number of owner occupiers falling from 51.6% in 2010 to 44% by 2021, it added. The north-east will be the only English region to see any increase in owner occupier numbers over the next decade, rising marginally from 66.2% to 67.4%, the Federation predicted. The average house price in England will meanwhile rise by 21.3% over the next five years from £214,647 in 2011 to £260,304 in 2016, according to Oxford Economics, who were commissioned to produce the forecasts. Average rents in the private sector are forecast to increase sharply by 19.8% over the next five years fuelled by high demand and a shortage of properties. Oxford Economics predicted that rents would increase on average in England from £486 a month in 2011 to £582 a month in 2016, meaning tenants would be paying £1,152 more a year in total. Around 4.5 million people are currently stuck on social housing waiting lists – but only those in the most desperate of circumstances have a realistic chance of being allocated a home. The Federation said in 2010/11 105,000 homes were built in England – the lowest level since the 1920s. More government investment in affordable housing would stimulate a wider, faster economic recovery and help fix our broken housing markets, according to the Federation. Orr continued: “At the heart of this crisis is a chronic shortage of new homes. Despite the overwhelming need to increase supply, house building has slumped to a 90-year low, plunging the country even deeper into the mire. “Ministers need to make unused public land available to housing associations, local authorities must assess the level of housing need in their area, and housing has to be finally treated as a top political priority.” Housing minister Grant Shapps said: “The trebling of house prices in the 10 years from 1997 has locked too many out of owning their own home. “I want to see a period of house price stability so that more homes become affordable, but I am also determined that we pull out all the stops to give hard-working first-time buyers the help they need. “That’s why I’ve held summits with lenders to encourage them to do more to help people take their first step onto the housing ladder, and I’ve launched the FirstBuy scheme as a valuable alternative to the Bank of Mum and Dad for those struggling to get together that much-needed deposit. “But we also need to get Britain building again. That’s why I’ve announced plans to release thousands of acres of public land for housebuilding. “Despite the need to tackle the deficit we inherited, this government is putting £4.5bn towards an affordable homes programme which is set to exceed our original expectations and deliver up to 170,000 new homes over the next four years.” Housing market Real estate Construction industry Property First-time buyers House prices guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Rush Limbaugh not only says the media oversold Hurricane Irene —he argues that Obama was “hoping” it would be a widespread “disaster” to justify the nation’s economic woes, the Huffington Post reports. “I’ll guarantee you Obama was hoping this was going to be a disaster as another excuse for his…
Continue reading …Do Women Choose Beauty Over Health? The Surgeon General (And Advertisers) Say So
August 29, 2011 No Comment
You already knew that French fries and cigarettes were bad for you. But were you aware that great hair is, too? Surgeon general Regina M. Benjamin recently warned attendees of the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show in Atlanta, Georgia that women who skip exercising in order to protect their hairstyles should focus more on their health. “Oftentimes you get women saying, ‘I can’t exercise today because I don’t want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,’ said Dr. Benjamin. “When you’re starting to exercise, you look for reasons not to, and sometimes the hair is one of those reasons.” Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, told the New York Times that it was “bizarre” for the surgeon general “to engage in smaller issues like this.” But multiple studies show women worry more about their looks than their health — and that’s a serious healthcare issue that affects us all. The phenomenon is an advertising issue as well: a survey conducted last year by East Tennessee State University found that women are more likely to buy products that ward off “age spots” than skin cancer. And a recent report shows that women spend way more on beauty products than health care: $540 a month on hair products, make-up, and fake tanners, compared to $360 on their physical well-being. “It would be wrong to say that these results come as a surprise, ” a healthcare spokesperson told TheMoneyTimes.com. “So many of us are guilty of taking shortcuts to ensure we look good — often at the expense of our health.” I’m not surprised by the results either. But I think they’re due less to plain old vanity and more related to our fear of being considered unattractive and our fear of aging, which both translate to a fear of being unwanted. A moisturizer chock-full of enzymes or a defrizzing hair mask promise to assuage that fear, at least in the short term. The studies also remind me of what economists call the “Lipstick Effect.” When times are tough, sales repeatedly show that women seek out inexpensive beauty products rather than, say, gym memberships. Beauty products provide a quick fix — or at least the promise of one — when larger problems are or feel unsolvable. But advertisers exist to make profits, so it’s safe to say they’ll continue to market even products that are actually beneficial to women’s health as “beautifying” rather than “healthy.” What’s the solution? Is there a way to combine health and beauty, a la Jessica Seinfeld sneaking zucchini into milkshakes? YouBeauty, a new website with the tagline, “The Science of a Beautiful You,” is counting on it. The startup, which was founded by “Oprah Winfrey Show” veteran Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, targets women aged 25-55 and partners with big-name beauty brands like L’Oreal. According to MedCityNews.com, YouBeauty distinguishes itself by connecting beauty with health instead of asking women to choose between the two and promotes “the belief that the best way to achieve beauty is to live a healthy lifestyle.” But Steve Lindseth, the company’s Cleveland-based CEO, seems to be sticking with the beauty-not-health sell. “Instead of eating your broccoli because it’s good for you, eat your broccoli because it’ll make you beautiful,” he said. Would women exercise more if the surgeon general informed them that sweating improves their looks? I’m not sure. But I hope her message — choose health over hair — will provoke a larger discussion about the message the media sends women about priorities.
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Body of John Wallace, 59, discovered on Friday in remote area known for its high population of bears Wildlife rangers are trying to capture a grizzly bear in Yellowstone after it killed a hiker in the second fatal bear attack this summer at the national park. The body of John Wallace, 59, was discovered on Friday in a remote area known for its high population of bears. An autopsy concluded he died from injuries sustained in a bear attack. After a fatal mauling last month – the first inside the increasingly crowded park in 25 years – authorities let the responsible grizzly go because it was protecting its cubs. This time, rangers have set traps with the intent to capture and kill the bear that attacked Wallace. Its guilt would be established through DNA analysis connecting it to evidence found at the mauling scene, park officials said. “We know of no witnesses to the attack,” park superintendent Dan Wenk said on Monday. “We’re going to err on the safe side of caution since we’ll never really know the circumstances in this case.” The bear that killed Wallace is believed to be a different animal than the one in the July killing. The earlier mauling occurred about eight miles away from where Wallace’s body was found. In that instance, a female bear with cubs attacked a couple from California, killing the man before fleeing. There were no signs of cubs in the area where Wallace was killed. Wallace had entered the park alone last Wednesday and pitched a tent in a developed campground, Wenk said. Authorities said he was probably killed on Wednesday or Thursday during a solo hike along the Mary Mountain Trail. The trail is closed from March to June because it passes through an area frequented by grizzlies feeding on the carcasses of bison that died over the winter. There are more than 600 bears in the greater Yellowstone area. Conflicts between humans and grizzlies have been slowly increasing in Yellowstone and surrounding areas in recent years as the bear population recovered from near-extinction last century. Most interactions are relatively benign, such as raids on orchards or rubbish bins. Yet Wallace’s death was the fourth caused by grizzlies in the greater Yellowstone area in the last two years. Despite the killings, park officials said the rate of dangerous encounters is extremely low given that more than 3 million people visit the park every year. “We’ve averaged one encounter that has caused injuries a year for the past 25 years,” Wenk said. “The record speaks for itself.” United States Animals guardian.co.uk
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