Complete and Utter Zebu

The government appears to have lost patience with the common people for having the bare-faced temerity to object to their glorious plans to build power stations, windfarms, roads, pylons and the like. So it has changed the planning rules as they have operated for 60 years or so.

The idea that it is going to become almost impossible to object to “major infrastructure projects”, even if they involve the bulldozing of listed buildings or the despoiling of beautiful landscapes is sad, but it isn’t really Zebu.

What is Zebu, however, is the way in which it was done. The planning policy statement PPS15 was brought out during Parliament’s massive 82-day summer skive, while the consultation period closed just after MPs had rolled down their trouser legs and put away their buckets and spades for another year. Such underhand behaviour, trying to ensure that nobody noticed what was going on, is of course, Complete and Utter Zebu.