A Dictionary of Doublespeak

accountability:
failure to account to and utter contempt for the public

affordable:
not affordable, beyond the reach of lower-income local people; of property snapped up by rental companies and second-home buyers

A.O.N.B.:
an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and therefore a place where luxury homes or industrial parks may be built (e.g. Shakespeare Cliff, Sidfields)

appeal:
a planning law allowing developers to overturn Local Authority planning refusals, Councils usually lacking the will and means to contest

Council House(obs):
a misguided post-war attempt to provide housing for social need; property to be sold off to landlords and to buy votes

democracy:
rule by the fortunate few for the fortunate few

devolution”
a scheme designed to by-pass local democracy by transferring power to self- selecting, unelected, unaccountable people with business interests

five-year land-supply:
a planning device that encourages developers to build on more green fields when they haven’t yet built on what they’ve got

flood plain:
land suitable for large-scale building developments

F.O.I.request:
Freedom of Information request – a system designed to delay, deny and obfuscate the truth, usually treated with contempt by Council Officers

green belt:
highly profitable land near large conurbations earmarked for development

Local Authority:
a soft touch for developers

localism:
a means of transferring local democracy to business associates

Local Plan:
an unintelligible, complicated process involving creative accounting in the calculation of job and housing forecasts, designed to ruin the countryside and cause distress to local communities

Neighbourhood Plan:
a plan involving much time and effort expended by local communities but carrying little or no weight when challenged by developers

N.P.P.F.(obscene):
National Planning Policy Framework, a planning system designed by developers for developers

Ombudsman:
an arbitrator without teeth, an irrelevance or charade

one-nation:
serving the interests of the rich at the expense of the poor and disabled (as in “one-nation compassionate Conservatism”)

Right-to-Buy:
a government scheme offering lucrative investment opportunities for landlords and developers to acquire social housing at taxpayers’ expense

sustainable:
definitely not sustainable; without infrastructure or local services; of land profitable for developers, especially on green fields (obscene, as in a presumption in favour of sustainable development)

transparency:
secrecy and obfuscation e.g. failure to produce, or doctoring of, minutes, failure to consult the public, etc

and if this amuses you, “definitions of numpties” on twitter might appeal:

https://mobile.twitter.com/omandprem/status/688698563690385408/photo/1