the tax man engorges himself at the trough.

House owners need help with long planning procedures: ombudsman

Monday 10 October 2011
Infrastructure minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen should do something to help house owners who cannot sell their homes because of government plans, national ombudsman Brenninkmeijer told tv news programme Brandpunt on Sunday.
This is about house owners who are affected by plans for a bridge, a railway line or a road and who spend years wondering if the plan will go ahead, Brenninkmeijer said. In the meantime, they cannot sell their house.
Some planning procedures are 'improbably long' and the government does not take house owners into account, he said.

'The government waltzes over people and sometimes leaves them in uncertainty for twenty years. It's the arrogance of power and it should stop,' he told the programme.© DutchNews.nl

Readers' comments
it's not just home owners that would enjoy some long-term stability in planning.
The successive governments have mucked around with the various tax breaks for years now. Childcare has been reworked numerous times, and having a child is a bit of a long term commitment, it's not like you can dispose of them when times are tough.
It is almost impossible to plan any major life change (children, house purchase, etc.) as from year to year you never know how much income will be left after the tax man engorges himself at the bruto trough.