Development control standards and industrial applications

Recent Central Government advice to local authorities on the matter of business and industry applications Has been towards a relaxation of controls and a facilitating of development. Also the general worsening of the economy in the last few years has probably increased the interest with which local councillors regard industrial applications for planning permission. A study of refusal rates for industrial applications for 317 Districts taken from the DOE Development Control Returns and a case study in Coventry District of all industrial applications in 1970 and 1980 suggest that despite these pressures planning authorities are not lowering standards.