Blocking the development of a supermarket because of dormice shows that the planning system really isn’t working.

We really are into the depths of silly season now, and my eye was caught today by a story on a planned Morrisons store which a local council’s planning officers has recommended is rejected because dormice might be present on the site. They’re not even sure they live there, but apparently some have been found 2 kilometres away.

The story is funny and has a cute picture of a dormouse on it, but there’s a serious issue which is that retailers which are trying to create jobs and prosperity are coming up against crazy nimbyism from planners at a time when those jobs are needed more than ever.

Cornwall - where this proposed Morrisons store happens to be - is one of the poorest regions of the country and local councils should be embracing those businesses trying to move in. Obviously that’s not to say that retailers should be able to ride roughshod over planning rules and build wherever they want, and if there’s a good reason new stores shouldn’t be built then fine. But the presence of a small animal on a field over a mile away isn’t a good reason.

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