Roger Scruton was initially dismissed as (unpaid) chair of the government’s ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’ after a New Statesman hatchet job had him sacked. When a leaked a recording of the interview surfaced, it turned out the remarks had been misrepresented. The New Statesman apologised, the author George Eaton was demoted, and Scruton was reappointed. He was diagnosed with lung cancer later that same week…

Scruton’s work is being released today, the Commission launches its report entitled ‘Living in Beauty’. Guido understands Scruton put all his energy into finishing the Commission’s report. He attended meetings in a wheelchair and was still working on the last details in the final days of his life…

His answer to simultaneously dealing with the housing crisis and the country’s many ugly buildings is boiled down to forty-five adjustments to the current regime to “support the creation of more beautiful communities.” The report’s recommendations include:

• planting two million more trees and opening old canals in urban areas over the next 5 years.
• a new ‘Fast Track for Beauty’ rule for councils to speed up the planning process for beautiful buildings.
• removal of minimum numbers of parking spaces for each new building in urban environments.
• including research on what sorts of buildings and places make people happy and healthier in architect education.
• Community Infrastructure Levy reform to guarantee new development will improve communities overall.
• simplified local design codes based on local tastes and preferences through consultation.
• trials to let residents of a single streets vote on giving themselves permission to build more, subject to a design code.

Scruton’s report aims to shows how the country can be enhanced by building more attractive buildings, rather than concreted over or frozen in time. It has already been backed by the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Town and Country Planning Association. The Government would be shooting itself in the foot to not accept the recommendations…