ABSTRACT
Over the course of nearly two decades, there has been much speculation about the actual impact of Conservative philosophy. How far did the unwavering belief in the efficiency of the market affect a planning system rooted in a concept of social welfare? The most thorough analysis is Thornley’s (1993) patient examination of Conservative beliefs, of the way those beliefs were translated into a national planning policy and of the impact of that policy in practice. There is no intention within the space of a short chapter to replicate the achievement of Thornley’s work. However, there is scope for considering the way in which Conservative philosophy affected development control in particular. And here, as with the planning system more generally, we face a problem. As Allmendinger and Thomas (1998) argue, commentators have tended to divide into those who conclude that the planning system has survived 18 years of Conservative government more or less intact and those who argue that, on the contrary, the system has undergone a profound change.
