6 2GM Monday August 3 2020 | the times
News
Local councils are to lose their powers
to block individual housing develop-
ments under planning reforms to be
unveiled this week.
Ministers will announce what they
describe as a planning revolution that
will force authorities to allocate land for
developments that will then not have to
go through the full planning process.
Critics said yesterday that the move
would reduce democratic accountabili-
ty and lead to poor-quality new houses
being built in areas without adequate
public services.
CPRE, the countryside charity, said it
Gandhi poised to be first
non-white on British coin
Valentine LowThe days of being haunted by past trau-
mas may be numbered: scientists have
discovered how to remove the sting of
an uncomfortable memory by applying
a magnetic pulse to the brain.
In post-traumatic stress disorder the
recollection of painful events can dis-
rupt a person’s life. Transcranial stimu-
lation offers a potential treatment, ac-
cording to Sara Borgomaneri, of the
University of Bologna.
“The idea that memories are crystal-
lised in our brain is not true,” she said.
“Memories are not written once and for
ever in our mind; we can change them.”
How the technique works is that
when a painful memory is evoked, a
magnetic pulse is delivered to the dor-
solateral prefrontal cortex (DPC), slow-
ing it down.
On the first day of the research led by
Ms Borgomaneri, and published in the
journal Current Biology yesterday, 84
volunteers were shown pictures of two
rooms. When they were shown one of
the rooms they were given an electric
shock on the wrist.
The next time they saw that room,
they had a physical response associatedTreatment for patients
haunted by their past
Rhys Blakely Science Correspondent with fear, as measured by the conduc-
tivity of their skin, even though no
shock had been administered.
A day later they were shown the
room again and some of the subjects
had magnetic pulses applied to their
scalps, targeting the DPC for 15 min-
utes. On the third day, when they were
shown the room again, those whose
DPCs had been pulsed no longer exhib-
ited a fear response.
However, subjects who had been
given the magnetic pulses to other re-
gions of the brain still did.
For most of the subjects the fear re-
sponse faded over time — unless it was
“reawakened” by more electric shocks.
However, the DPC group appeared to
have become immune.
The study was then replicated, and
the same results were achieved with a
new group of subjects.
Ms Borgomaneri said the research
suggested that painful memories could
be neutralised by the careful applica-
tion of magnetic pulses. “This has re-
percussions for understanding how
memory works,” she said. “It might
even lead to the development of new
therapies to deal with traumatic memo-
ries.”Mahatma Gandhi, who led the cam-
paign for India’s independence from
British rule, is to become the first non-
white person to feature on British cur-
rency, it has been reported.
The Royal Mint advisory committee
is said to be working to create a coin fea-
turing Gandhi.
His belief in non-violent resistance
inspired civil rights movements across
the world and his birthday on October
2 is celebrated as the international day
of non-violence. He was assassinated in
1948 at the age of 78 by a Hindu nation-
alist.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has
given his support to a campaign for
ethnic-minority figures to feature
on coins, saying that their con-
tribution to Britain should be
recognised, The Sunday
Telegraph reported
In a letter to the former
Conservative candidate
Zehra Zaidi, who is
leading the We Too
Built Britain campaign,
which has called for
ethnic-minority people
to feature on currency,the chancellor said: “Black, Asian and
other ethnic-minority communities
have made a profound contribution to
the shared history of the UK.
“For generations, ethnic-minority
groups have fought and died for this
country we have built together, taught
our children, nursed the sick, cared for
the elderly, and through their enterpris-
ing spirit have started some of our most
exciting and dynamic businesses,
creating jobs and driving growth.”
The Royal Mint advisory committee
is an independent group of experts who
advise the chancellor on the design of
coins. It is chaired by Lord Waldegrave
of North Hill and members include
Edmund de Waal and Dame Julia
Peyton-Jones.
Mr Sunak said: “I am writing to
the chair of the Royal Mint advi-
sory committee asking the sub-
committee on themes to con-
sider recognising the contri-
butions of black, Asian, and
other ethnic minority indi-
viduals — not just to our his-
tory, but to our present and
future as well.”Councils lose power to thwart housebuilders
Oliver Wright Policy Editor would lead to a “gross oversimplifica-
tion of the planning system” and was
not the answer to the shortage of high-
quality housing.
The Local Government Association,
which represents councils, said it would
result in poorer-quality housing and
take away the protection of residents to
shape the area in which they lived.
The government insisted that the
new system would not only speed up
housebuilding but ensure those devel-
opments happened in the right areas.
Ministers said they would create new
“design standards” to ensure that prop-
erties which get the go-ahead in this
way are in keeping with the style of
existing properties. They will also
introduce a system of developer contri-
butions to fund local infrastructure.
On Times Radio yesterday Robert
Jenrick, the housing secretary, insisted
that councils would still have a say in
where developments took place. He
said the measures would end the prob-
lem of housing being turned down by
planning committees even when it was
in areas designated for development in
local plans. “It will be a system which
places a demand on local areas to build
the homes that they need,” he said. “It
will be much simpler and faster, and
enable people to get on and build.”
Under a new zoning system for plan-ning approvals, all land will be designat-
ed into three categories: for renewal, for
growth and for protection. In the first
two categories there will be a new legal
“permission in principle” approach for
new buildings. Areas of outstanding
natural beauty and the green belt will
come under the protection category
where most new buildings will be
automatically banned.
The reforms will be published this
week in a paper entitled Planning for
the Future. It will also outline plans to
use money from developers to give
local people discounts of up to one third
off the cost of a house.
Leading article, page 27The reforms
6 All land in local authority areas to
be designated as either for renewal,
development or protection.
6 Developers wishing to build on
land designated for renewal or
development will no longer have to
go through full planning procedures.
6 Areas of outstanding beauty and
green belt designated for protection.
6 Standards to ensure properties
match the style of existing homes.
6 New system of developer
contributions to local infrastructure.Mahatma Gandhi was killed
at the age of 78 in 1948