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FAQs
Is it permissive or restrictive?
This again depends on how it is applied. Developers have tended to fear that QoL Assessment would provide a new excuse for a 'BANANA' approach - 'Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything' while environmentalists have tended to fear that it will allow developers to trade everything away! Practical experience so far has tended to reassure both camps. Remember that QoL Assessment does not bypass any of the statutory protection regimes or alter the economic realities of development. It can neither let developers get access to anything currently given statutory protection, nor enable environmentalists to force developers do anything which does not stack up commercially. At best, it should increase the potential for reconciling environmental, social and economic aims. At worst it should clarify and systematise the options and consequences where quality of life and development still unavoidably conflict and a political decision is ultimately needed.
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