An increasing number of council’s are being put into ‘special measures’ for their failure to meet local housing targets and poor development management performance. What are the implications of stripping local people of their right to choose what is built in their own communities, and how did it get to this point? Why are home county authorities now voting to reject their own Local Plans? Simon and Stacey examine this power struggle and contemplate whether the planning system will get worse before it gets better.