Last month, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg used a newspaper column to highlight the fact that a prospectus promised by the government more than two years ago to define the processes for promoting large settlements and garden cities remains unpublished.
Where the prospectus currently sits in government and how far it has progressed is unclear.
Pressure for a clear policy statement on new settlements is coming from a wide range of quarters, with a growing consensus that housing demand is not being met from incremental development.
Planning New Towns 