By Steve Norris2021-05-27T00:00:00+01:00 I am clearly not the only commentator who takes the much-trumpeted commitment in the Queen’s Speech to reform of the planning system with a large pinch of salt. Yes, it would be sensible to scrap S106 and CIL and replace them with a levy – the current system is far too close to chequebook planning for any fair-minded person to want that arbitrary system to continue. And yes, while councillors are obliged to listen to their constituents who are more likely to oppose new settlements than approve them, there is nobody there to argue for those who need the homes – except, of course, the developer who is regarded as a money-driven cynic rather than a humanitarian.