By Chris Dorrell
You may have heard of NIMBYs blocking economic growth, but now there’s a new acronym ready to slip up the UK’s planning system – BANANA.
Dominic Veney, finance director of Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), told the Times that the UK was a banana economy, where the ethos was “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything (or anybody)”.
“Why are so few of these projects getting off the ground? Partly we see this as being related to the UK’s status as a Banana economy,” he said in a publication from PIC that will be published this week.
“We see no shortage of domestic capital to support viable projects. There just aren’t enough viable projects to invest in,” he added.
Veney argued that around £200bn in capital could be directed to infrastructure projects over the coming decade as insurers take on legacy pension schemes.
The UK’s inability to construct major pieces of infrastructure has contributed to sluggish growth and has become an increasingly important reflection of the country’s disjointed planning regime.
Major infrastructure projects are more expensive than in most countries in Europe, often facing years of delays and public opposition.
A report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released earlier this year found that planning consultation allows for “multiple opportunities to object, delay and force changes” to major infrastructure projects.
Labour has promised to put planning reform at the centre of its pitch for economic growth, particularly when it comes to infrastructure.
Daren Jones, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, told the FT in May that he plans to merge the existing Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the National Infrastructure Commission to create an organisation at the “heart of government” to get a grip on the issue.
“Investors look at the UK and don’t believe we’re going to build the things we say we’re going to build,” he said
